Petit Palais
Photo: Own work — CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The Petit Palais, built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts, featuring art from antiquity to the early 20th century.
Planning your visit
The Petit Palais was built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle and kept afterwards as the city of Paris's own fine arts museum — and unlike almost every other major museum in the city, admission to its permanent collection is free.
That collection is substantial: Rembrandt, Rubens, Poussin, Delacroix, Courbet, Monet, Cézanne, Bonnard and a strong holding of nineteenth-century French painting, alongside medieval and Renaissance objects, antiquities, and Art Nouveau decorative arts including Gallé glass and Guimard furniture.
The building is the other attraction — a Beaux-Arts palace with a domed entrance, painted ceilings, mosaic floors and a semicircular interior garden with a colonnade and pool, where the café sits.
It faces the Grand Palais across Avenue Winston Churchill, near the Champs-Élysées and the Seine.
Allow two hours. Bookable options include guided tours with tickets. Current availability is listed below.
Before you book
Where is Petit Palais?
Petit Palais is in Paris, France. The map on this page marks its exact location.
How long should I allow for Petit Palais?
Allow two hours. That is the time the collection itself takes at an unhurried pace, before any queue.
Do I need to book Petit Palais in advance?
Tickets can be bought on the door at quiet times, but booking ahead fixes the date and avoids the queue at busy ones. Live availability is shown on this page.
