Search to Discover Top Places in Paris

The Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), founded in 1368 under King Charles V, is one of the oldest and most prestigious libraries in the world. The Richelieu site, opened in 1721, served as the historical home of the national collections for manuscripts, prints, maps, and coins.

The building’s 19th-century renovation by Henri Labrouste introduced the breathtaking Oval Reading Room, a symbol of French academic architecture. After decades of expansion, a major restoration project (2010–2022) revitalized the site, leading to the reopening of the Musée de la BnF, a museum dedicated to showcasing the nation’s artistic and intellectual treasures.

Founded in 1937 by the visionary ethnologist Paul Rivet, the Musée de l’Homme was established to showcase humanity’s biological, cultural, and social evolution. It replaced the former Musée d’Ethnographie at the Trocadéro and became a hub for anthropological research. After a major renovation between 2009 and 2015, the museum reopened with a modern, interactive layout that connects visitors to the story of humankind — from prehistoric origins to global cultural diversity.

The Musée de la Préfecture de Police was founded in 1909 by Police Prefect Louis Lépine, who wanted to create a public archive of the Paris police’s history. The museum traces the evolution of law enforcement, criminal investigations, and famous cases in Paris, from the Middle Ages to modern times. It showcases artifacts such as ancient weapons, police uniforms, forensic tools, and documents from legendary cases like the Affair of Landru and the French Resistance during WWII. Today, the museum is a unique window into the history of crime, order, and justice in the French capital.

Founded in 1833, the Gallery of Mineralogy and Geology was created to house one of the world’s most prestigious collections of minerals, crystals, gemstones, and meteorites. As part of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, it became a scientific hub for geology and mineralogy research. Over the centuries, the collection grew to include tens of thousands of specimens, including extraordinary gems once belonging to French royalty. Today, it serves as both a research center and a dazzling exhibition space for the public.

The Petit Palais was built for the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle, designed by architect Charles Girault as a showcase of Belle Époque grandeur. In 1902, it officially became the Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris, housing Paris’s municipal fine arts collection. Today, the museum presents masterpieces spanning from Antiquity to the 20th century, including works by Rembrandt, Courbet, Monet, Cézanne, and Rodin. Its architecture, mosaics, and grand staircase are as much a masterpiece as the art it houses.

Founded in 1626 as a royal medicinal herb garden for Louis XIII, the Jardin des Plantes opened to the public in 1640. It later became part of the French National Museum of Natural History during the Revolution. Today, it is not only a vast botanical garden but also houses the Menagerie Zoo, the Grande Galerie de l’Évolution, mineralogy and paleontology galleries, and several historic greenhouses. It remains a center of science, education, and recreation for locals and visitors alike.

The Musée Rodin was inaugurated in 1919 inside the Hôtel Biron, an 18th-century mansion where Auguste Rodin once lived and worked. Rodin donated his entire collection of sculptures, drawings, and archives to the French state on the condition that the Hôtel Biron be turned into a museum dedicated to his art. Today, it showcases masterpieces such as The Thinker, The Kiss, and The Gates of Hell, alongside works by Camille Claudel. The gardens display monumental sculptures, making it one of the most unique art museums in Paris.

One of the oldest museums dedicated to Paris’s story, Musée Carnavalet opened in 1880 in the Renaissance Hôtel Carnavalet (built 1548–1560) and expanded over time—including the annexation of Hôtel Le Peletier de Saint-Fargeau in 1989. Closed for major renovations in 2016, it reopened in March 2021 with rich new displays and modernized visitor paths, offering over 625,000 artifacts chronicling Paris from prehistory to today.

Housed since 1903 in the very apartment where Victor Hugo lived from 1832 to 1848, the museum emerged thanks to the generosity of writer friend Paul Meurice, who donated his collections to Paris. Hugo wrote iconic works like Les Misérables and Ruy Blas within these walls. After major renovations (closed 2019–2020), the house now welcomes visitors with restored rooms, a pedagogical space, and a café overlooking the courtyard.

The Panthéon, originally built between 1758 and 1790 by Jacques-Germain Soufflot as a church, was secularized during the Revolution in 1791 to honor France’s greatest citizens. It oscillated between religious and civic use before becoming a steadfast mausoleum in 1885 with Victor Hugo’s entombment. Notable features—including Foucault’s Pendulum and the crypt—make it a monument to France’s intellectual legacy.

Founded by Louis XIV in 1670 as a royal hospital and retirement home for wounded soldiers, Hôtel des Invalides was designed by architect Libéral Bruant, with the iconic golden-domed Église du Dôme completed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1706.

After the French Revolution, the building was renamed Hôtel national des Invalides and gradually evolved into a patriotic symbol. In 1840, the tomb of Napoleon I was placed under the Dôme. The Musée de l’Armée, one of the world’s leading military history museums, was established in the complex by 1905.

Housed in what was once the Gare d’Orsay, a 1900 Beaux-Arts train station, the Musée d’Orsay transformed into a museum and officially opened in December 1986 after a bold renovation by Gae Aulenti and team under a plan initiated in the 1970s. It was envisioned to bridge collections between the Louvre and Centre Pompidou. Today, it hosts the world’s largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, set under soaring glass ceilings and original clocks of the old station. A major expansion, funded in part by a €20 million donation, is underway to extend gallery and educational spaces by 2026.