A recent survey suggests that about 80% of visitors to Paris come to see the museums and monuments, hardly surprising considering the City of Lights is home to such wonders as the Musée D’Orsay and of course, the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum.
There are lots of other museums though, lesser known and crucially less crowded (it can take half a day just to get through the line for the Louvre) that can help visitors explore Paris’ history in different rich and varied ways–here are four of the best of the lesser known museums in Paris.
1. The Musée Carnavalet For History And Culture Lovers
The beautiful gardens of Carnavalet museum, open since 1880, dedicated to the history of Paris.GETTY
Set inside a stunning 16th century building worth a visit in its own right, the Musée Carnavalet is the oldest museum in the city, telling the story of Paris from its origins through to the present day.
The museum Carnavalet covers the pre-historic period, the founding of the city Lutèce on the river Seine by the Romans between the 1st and 4th centuries and the founding of universities in the 12th to 14th centuries. It tells the story of the additions of new palaces and bridges by each successive king, the building of the Eiffel Tower and public transportation and through the occupation and liberation of Paris from the Nazis. A potted history of Paris that the museum covers can be found online.
You can get to the musée Carnavalet on four metro lines: line 1 at stop Saint-Paul; line 5 at stop Bréguet Sabin; line 7 at station Pont-Marie; and line 8 at stop Chemin Vert. It is free to enter to see the permanent exhibitions but temporary exhibits will require paying a few euros. The museum is open Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 6pm. 23 rue de Sévigné, 75003, Paris.
2. Museum Of The Liberation Of Paris
A bunker from where Henri Rol-Tanguy commanded the Parisian Resistance during the liberation of … [+]AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
This impressive museum covers the liberation of Paris from the Nazis at the end of World War Two, also looking at Nazi resistance and life under occupation. It begins at the command post and former bunker of Henri Rol-Tanguy, a leader of the Parisian resistance, 20 meters and 100 very steep steps underground (there is no elevator and visitors must be fit enough to make the descent/ascent).
The museum is dedicated to military leader General Jacques-Philippe Leclerc and resistance hero Jean Moulin and the mixed reality headsets offer an insight into everyday life starting 25 June 1940 when Paris was first occupied, to the six days of liberation starting 19 August 1944. There are lots of explanations, photos, leaflets and day-by-day accounts of how the city came back into French hands.
You can get to the Museum of the Liberation of Paris on metro lines 4 and 6, as well as RER line B. The museum is open Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am to 6pm. Admission is free. Place Denfert-Rochereau, 75014, Paris.
3. Le Petit Palais For Art Lovers
The Petit Palais was built for the World Fair in 1900 and now houses the City of Paris Museum of … [+]GETTY
This beautiful building was built for the 1900 Universal Exhibition to introduce the world to French art, something it is still doing today. It is free to enter and houses hundreds of works of art predominantly from the 19th and 20th century but it also has antiquities and modern art.
The Guardian describes how the Petit Palais has brought some major realist paintings back into the public eye, describing the Paris of the humble and destitute, the Paris of Emile Zola. Take Léon Lhermitte’s 1895 painting Les Halles, the historic food market that shows Paris in all its wonderful color or Fernand Pelez’s La Parade des Humbles, a critique of circus performers.
From 12 June 2024 to 17 November 2024, there is a temporary exhibition of street art, where street artists have been invited to collaborate with the fine arts museum in time for the Olympics.
You can get to Le Petit Palais on Metro lines 1 and 13, station Champs-Élysées—Clemenceau and line 9, station Franklin D. Roosevelt. You can also take RER line C, stop Invalides. The Petit Palais is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm. Le Petit Palais is closed on 1 January, 1 May, 11 November, and 25 December and has specific opening hours during the Olympic Games. Admission to the permanent and some temporary exhibitions is free. Avenue Winston-Churchill, 75008, Paris.
4. Le Corbusier’s Molitor Building And Maison Du Roche
Corbusier was a pioneer of brutalist architectureGETTY
The acclaimed French architect Corbusier built lots of impressive structures across France, like the famed Cité Radius in Marseille, but lovers of his brutalist structures can also visit two buildings in Paris.
In 2016, Maison La Roche was classified as a UNESCO protected site (along with 16 other Corbusier works) and the house is open to the public. It was built to commission for banker Raoul La Roche in 1924, who wanted a house divided in half, one part a home and the other to house his extensive art collection. Le Corbusier used the reinforced concrete that would become his signature.
You can also visit the Molitor building, designed in the early 1930s. It was Corbusier’s studio apartment where he called home and it is the first known apartment building to be created with a glass facade, all eight storeys. It has all the well-known Corbusier trademarks—a roof terrace, polychromy, and a free plan space with pivoting doors that allow its residents to change the layout of the space into different sections throughout the day.
You can get to the Molitor building on either metro line 9 at station Michel-Ange Molitor or on metro line 10 at station Porte d’Auteuil. The apartment is on the 7th floor and only elderly people or those with reduced mobility are allowed to use the elevator and it stops at the 6th floor. It is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday mornings from 10am to 1pm and Saturday afternoons from 1.30pm to 6pm. It’s closed for annual vacation between 20 July and 5 September. Full price admission is €10. 24 rue Nungesser-et-Coli, 75016 Paris.
You can get to Corbusier’s Maison du Roche using metro line number 9 near the Jasmin station. It is open 10am to 6pm, Tuesday to Saturday. It’s closed between 25 July and 20 August and 23 December to 1 January. Full price admission is €10. 10 square du Docteur Blanche, 75016 Paris (access is via 55 rue du Docteur Blanche).
