Paris is full of famous museums like the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay. But the city also has many smaller, quieter museums that are just as interesting—and often less crowded. In this list, I’m suggesting museums that show a different side of Paris. From medieval castles to artist homes, these places are full of stories, beauty, and surprises.
Musée Carnavalet
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The Musée Carnavalet shows the whole history of Paris, from ancient times to today.
It’s inside two big houses from the 1600s, and each room takes you to a different time.
You can see real furniture, paintings, and objects from the past, like how people lived in the 18th or 19th century.
One part of the museum focuses on the French Revolution.
You can see things that belonged to King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette, like letters and objects from when they were in prison.
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There’s also a piece of the Bastille, the famous prison that was destroyed during the Revolution.
The museum has lots of old shop signs, which people used before most people could read.
You can also see models and pictures of how Paris looked long ago, and learn how the city changed over the years.
It’s a great place to understand how Paris became the city it is today.
After your visit, you can relax in the museum’s quiet garden or grab a snack at the small café. It’s a peaceful spot in the middle of the city.
Musée de Cluny
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The Musée de Cluny is a museum about the Middle Ages, a time from about 500 to 1500.
It’s inside a real medieval building, with stone walls, towers, and even parts of ancient Roman baths from when Paris was called Lutetia.
The most famous thing in the museum is a group of six tapestries called “The Lady and the Unicorn.” These huge, colorful cloths were made around the year 1500.
They show a lady with a unicorn and other animals, surrounded by flowers and symbols.
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People still don’t know exactly what they mean, but each one seems to show a different human sense, like hearing or touch.
The museum also has medieval swords, armor, stained glass windows, and statues from old churches.
Everything helps you imagine what life was like in the Middle Ages—what people wore, believed, and made with their hands.
Musée Marmottan Monet
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The Musée Marmottan Monet has the largest collection of paintings by Claude Monet in the world.
Monet was a French painter who helped create a new art style called Impressionism.
He loved painting nature, gardens, and how light changes during the day.
At the museum, you can see one of his most famous paintings, called “Impression, Sunrise”. This painting gave the name “Impressionism” to the whole movement.
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There are also many paintings of water lilies, trees, skies, and flowers, where the colors feel soft and full of light.
The museum used to be a big private house.
Today, it also shows works by other artists like Berthe Morisot, who was one of the first famous women painters in France.
The rooms are quiet and filled with color, and they help you understand how Monet and his friends saw the world.
Musée de l’Orangerie
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The Musée de l’Orangerie is famous for its huge paintings by Claude Monet.
The most special part of the museum is two oval-shaped rooms that show his series of Water Lilies.
These paintings are very big and go all around the walls, so when you stand in the middle, it feels like you’re inside a peaceful garden.
Monet painted these water lilies at his home in Giverny, where he had a pond with flowers and a small bridge.
He studied how light changed the colors during the day and painted the water at different times.
There are no people or buildings—just water, flowers, and reflections.
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The museum also has other paintings by famous artists like Renoir, Cézanne, Picasso, and Matisse.
Their art shows how painting changed in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
It’s a small museum, but it’s full of peaceful colors and beautiful scenes.
Musée Rodin
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The Musée Rodin is a museum about Auguste Rodin, one of the most famous sculptors in the world.
He made powerful and realistic statues that show movement and emotions, like people thinking, walking, or dreaming.
The museum is inside a big old house where Rodin once worked.
You can walk through beautiful rooms with wooden floors and high ceilings, where many of his sculptures are shown.
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One of the most famous is “The Thinker”, a statue of a man sitting with his hand on his chin, deep in thought.
You can also see “The Kiss”, a sculpture of two people hugging.
Outside, there’s a large garden filled with trees, flowers, and even more sculptures. It feels calm and quiet, like an art park.
You can walk around and see the statues from all sides, just like Rodin wanted.
The museum also shows some of his drawings and works by Camille Claudel, another talented sculptor who worked with him.
Musée Gustave Moreau
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The Musée Gustave Moreau is the former home and studio of Gustave Moreau, a French painter who loved myths, dreams, and fantastic stories.
He filled his paintings with kings, heroes, magical creatures, and symbols.
His art is full of detail and mystery, like pages from a storybook.
The museum still looks like the place where he lived and worked.
On the lower floors, you can see the rooms where he spent his daily life, including his bedroom and his private collection of drawings and small paintings.
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Upstairs is his large painting studio, with high ceilings and walls covered in big, colorful artworks.
One of the most special things in the museum is the beautiful spiral staircase, which connects the floors.
It looks like something from a castle or a fairy tale.
All around, the museum feels quiet and strange, like stepping into the private world of an artist who lived to imagine and create.
Musée Jacquemart-André
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The Musée Jacquemart-André was once the home of a rich couple, Édouard André and Nélie Jacquemart.
They loved art and traveled across Europe to collect paintings, sculptures, and furniture.
After they died, their house became a museum to share their collection with everyone.
The building is like a small palace, with fancy rooms, golden mirrors, big staircases, and painted ceilings.
Each room shows a different kind of art—some are filled with Italian paintings from the Renaissance, others have statues or beautiful old furniture.
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It’s not just a museum, it’s also a way to see how wealthy people lived in the 1800s.
One of the best parts is the private chapel inside the house, where they placed paintings just like in a real church.
Walking through the museum feels like being invited into someone’s home from another time, where every room tells a story through art.
Maison de Victor Hugo
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The Maison de Victor Hugo is the apartment where the famous French writer Victor Hugo lived for many years.
He wrote books like The Hunchback of Notre-Dame and Les Misérables, which are still read all over the world today.
The apartment is in a beautiful square called Place des Vosges, right in the center of Paris.
Inside, you can see the real rooms where Victor Hugo lived, worked, and welcomed his guests.
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The museum shows his furniture, letters, drawings, and personal objects, just the way they were when he lived there.
Each room tells something about his life.
One room shows his childhood and early writing.
Another is decorated with Chinese-style furniture that he designed himself.
You can also see the desk where he wrote some of his most important books.
The museum helps you understand not just his stories, but also the man behind them—how he thought, how he lived, and what he cared about.
Musée Picasso
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The Musée Picasso is a museum all about Pablo Picasso, one of the most famous artists of the 20th century.
He painted in many different styles and loved to experiment with shapes, colors, and ideas.
Some of his art looks realistic, while other pieces look strange or abstract—but all of it shows how creative he was.
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The museum is inside a big old building in Paris called the Hôtel Salé.
It has hundreds of Picasso’s works: paintings, sculptures, drawings, and ceramics.
You can see how his art changed over time, from his early paintings as a young man to the bold and colorful works he made later in life.
The museum also shows letters, photos, and personal items, so you can learn more about Picasso’s life.
Some rooms are filled with art he collected from other artists too.
It’s a great place to see how an artist thinks, tries new things, and never stops creating.
With a passion for travel and having visited over 50 countries, Dorian is eager to share his favorite spots and expert tips to help you explore Paris and France like a local.
