How to get there, what to see on each level, and the small details — from the cloakroom to the great clock café — that make the difference between a rushed visit and a memorable one. Everything you need to walk in prepared.
The Musée d'Orsay holds the world's most important collection of art from 1848 to 1914 — Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces, the sculpture nave under the iron-and-glass roof, the Art Nouveau rooms and the temporary exhibition wing. Spread across five levels in the converted 1900 Gare d'Orsay, it can feel overwhelming on a first visit. This guide walks you through the route most visitors find rewarding, the practical details that catch people out, and where each masterpiece sits. See also our opening hours and best time to visit guides for planning tips.
The vast central nave under the original 1900 iron-and-glass roof holds 19th-century sculpture and the realist and academic painters that preceded the Impressionists — Courbet (including the famously confronting Origin of the World), Manet's scandalous Luncheon on the Grass and Olympia, and the early Degas ballerinas. The space sets up everything you'll see upstairs.
The reason most visitors come. Monet's poppies and water lilies, Renoir's Bal du moulin de la Galette, Degas's pastels and the small bronze Little Dancer, Pissarro and Sisley landscapes — the world's richest single concentration of Impressionist painting, behind the great clock window with its Paris view. Allow 60–90 minutes here.
Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles, Self-Portrait and Starry Night Over the Rhône; Cézanne's apples; Gauguin's Tahitian women; Seurat's pointillist circus scenes; and the Art Nouveau rooms with Lalique glass and Guimard furniture. Don't miss the Pavillon Amont stairs to a second clock face on this level.
The museum is at 1 Rue de la Légion d'Honneur, 75007 Paris, on the Left Bank of the Seine opposite the Tuileries Gardens. Métro Solférino on line 12 is a two-minute walk from the entrance. RER C stops directly underneath at Musée d'Orsay station. Buses 63, 68, 69, 73, 83, 84 and 94 all serve the area, and the most pleasant arrival of all is on foot across the Pont Royal or Pont du Carrousel from the Tuileries side.
Entry for online ticket holders is through Entrance C on Rue de la Légion d'Honneur, on the side facing the Seine. Coats and bags larger than 56×45×25 cm must be checked at the free cloakroom — there are no exceptions in the galleries. Pick up a free floor plan at the information desk, then take the escalator straight up to level 5 to start with the Impressionists. From there, work your way down to level 2 for the Post-Impressionists, then back to level 0 for the great nave and Manet.
Practical answers to plan your visit