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What Is Actually Free in Paris? (Full List, 2026)
Paris has a reputation for being expensive, and for hotels and restaurants it often is. But the city’s cultural infrastructure — museums, parks, viewpoints, architecture — is more generously free than almost any other major city in the world. A visitor who knows where to look can have an extraordinary Paris day for under €25 total, and that includes lunch.
By Mara Vale for Eurly
Last updated: 2026-04-25
Free world-class museums (always free)
Musée Carnavalet — Paris history museum in the Marais. Two linked Renaissance mansions covering the city’s history from Neolithic times through the 20th century. Recently renovated. Genuinely excellent. One of the most undervisited great museums in Paris. Address: 16 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois, 3rd arrondissement.
Petit Palais — The City of Paris fine arts museum. Permanent collection spanning ancient Greece to early 1900s. The building alone (a grand Beaux-Arts palace built for the 1900 World Fair) is worth visiting. Free entry. Boulevard Winston Churchill, 8th arrondissement.
Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris (MAM) — The city’s modern art collection. Strong on Fauvism and European early modernism. Matisse’s La Danse is here. Permanent collection free; temporary exhibitions paid. Avenue du Président Wilson, 16th.
Musée de la Vie Romantique — A charming house museum in Montmartre (9th). Pretty garden café. The permanent collection covers 19th-century Romantic era artists and writers including George Sand’s personal effects. Free. 16 Rue Chaptal, 9th.
Musée Cognacq-Jay — 18th-century European art and decorative objects in a beautiful Marais mansion. Free. 8 Rue Elzévir, 3rd.
Maison de Victor Hugo — Hugo’s apartment at Place des Vosges. His furniture, personal effects, and drawings. Free. 6 Place des Vosges, 4th.
Major paid museums: first Sunday of the month free
Every first Sunday of the month, these national museums are free for all visitors:
- Louvre (normally €22 EU / €32 non-EU)
- Musée d’Orsay (normally €16)
- Centre Pompidou (normally €15 permanent collection)
- Musée de l’Orangerie — Monet’s Water Lilies (normally €12.50)
- Musée Rodin (normally €14)
- Versailles (normally €21.50)
- Musée du Quai Branly (normally €14)
- Musée de Cluny (normally €12)
Caveat: these days are crowded, especially in summer. First Sunday of November–February is the best version of this benefit — you get free entry without peak-season crowds.
Always free for under-26s (EU residents)
EU residents under 26 get free entry to all French national museum permanent collections. This includes the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Pompidou, Versailles, and all other national museums. Valid ID required.
Free viewpoints
Sacré-Cœur steps and parvis — the view over Paris from the steps below the basilica is one of the most recognisable in the city. Free (the interior of the basilica is also free). The tourist-facing streets at the top are heavily commercialised; the view itself costs nothing.
Centre Pompidou piazza — the open-air plaza in front of the Pompidou has excellent views over the Marais rooftops and is a lively public space. Free. The escalators on the building exterior (going to the paid floors) pass through a free stretch with views.
Pont de Bir-Hakeim — the two-level bridge in the 15th/16th arrondissements, with an elevated walkway that runs under the metro line above. One of the most photogenic spots in Paris with Eiffel Tower views. Free.
Trocadéro esplanade — the best free viewpoint of the Eiffel Tower. The long esplanade across the Seine from the tower gives the full front-on perspective. Crowded but free.
Montmartre (Abbesses area looking toward the city) — the overlooks from the Montmartre hill looking south toward central Paris. No ticket required.
Free parks and gardens
Luxembourg Gardens (6th): The most beautiful park in Paris, arguably. The formal French gardens, the octagonal basin, the puppet theatre, the orchard, the children’s play area. Free entry. Open daily from 7:30am (closing time varies by season).
Tuileries Garden (1st): Between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde. Free. Cafés, fountains, statues, temporary art installations.
Champ de Mars (7th): The large park under the Eiffel Tower. Free. Best enjoyed with a picnic from a nearby boulangerie.
Parc Monceau (8th): Beautiful English-style landscape park in the 8th arrondissement. Free. Less visited than Luxembourg.
Parc des Buttes-Chaumont (19th): One of the largest and most dramatic Paris parks. Hilly, with a lake, a cliff island, and a suspension bridge. Not in the tourist centre but very worth visiting on a longer stay. Free.
Père Lachaise Cemetery (20th): One of the most beautiful cemeteries in the world. Chopin, Proust, Oscar Wilde, Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, and Molière are all buried here. Free entry. Maps at the entrance or downloadable at pere-lachaise.com.
Free churches and religious sites
Sacré-Cœur Basilica (18th) — the interior of Sacré-Cœur is free. The crypt (€8) and dome (€8) are optional paid additions.
Notre-Dame Cathedral exterior — the exterior and immediate surroundings are free. Interior access is currently limited following the 2019 fire; check current access at notredamedeparis.fr.
Saint-Chapelle — this is a paid attraction (€13) but worth noting as one of the most extraordinary Gothic interiors in the world. It is occasionally included in free open days.
Sainte-Chapelle is not free, but many other Paris churches — Saint-Sulpice, Saint-Eustache, Saint-Germain-des-Prés — are free to enter and worth visiting for the architecture.
Free outdoor experiences
Walking the Seine and Île Saint-Louis — a circuit from Île de la Cité across to Île Saint-Louis and back along either bank costs nothing. Some of the best architecture in Paris is viewable from the riverbank.
Covered passages — Paris’s 19th-century glass-roofed shopping arcades (Galerie Vivienne, Passage des Panoramas, Galerie Véro-Dodat) are beautiful and free to walk through. Open during shopping hours.
Street markets — the Marché d’Aligre (12th, Tuesday–Sunday morning), the Marché Bastille (11th, Thursday and Sunday), and the organic Marché Biologique Raspail (6th, Sunday) are free to walk through and excellent for food purchasing.
Related guides
- Paris free things to do — full ranked list
- Paris budget guide — full daily cost breakdown
- Paris museums guide — when to pay and when not to
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