The Best Small Museums of Paris: What Not To Miss

The Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay are amazing, but where do you go if you’ve been there, done that? Well, the smaller museums in Paris are even better.

Here are a few you should add to your list next time you’re here to see something different and escape the crowds.

Musée Marmottan-Monet

The Marmottan-Monet is my absolute favorite small museum in Paris. It’s tucked away off the beaten path (but still very accessible by metro) in a leafy, quiet residential arrondissement.

It reminds me of the Isabella Stewart Gardner in Boston, or the Frick in New York: an eclectic but talented collector’s home. Filled with Second Empire furniture and medieval bibles, the top two floors are beautiful and opulent.

Solo female traveler at the Marmottan-Monet museum in Paris.

And the lower level? Monets as far as the eye can see. It’s uncrowded enough to actually see them all too! Peep his “Impression, soleil levant” which gave Impressionism it’s name.

Musée de la Vie Romantique

This free (!) small museum dedicated to the French Romantics is tucked away in a beautiful courtyard in Montmartre.

Garden cafe at the Musée de la Vie Romantique in Paris France.

Check out the George Sand collection, which includes a giant locket of her hair (I guess that used to be romantic?!) (it’s an eclectic collection) and then head for the highlight: the beautiful tearoom in the garden.

Musée Jacquemart-André

The Jacquemart-André museum is over the top in the best way possible. It’s in a mind-bogglingly opulent mansion, full of textures and colors and frescoes and tapestries. It’s like the Marmottan-Monet on really expensive acid.

Jacquemart-André muséum in Paris France.

I LOVE it. I would live there.

Go to picture the salons and music nights they had there, and marvel at the beautiful art too. When I visited in 2018, they had a wonderful Caravaggio exhibit, where I learned so much about his life and art (he got in a lot of brawls). Then have a really lovely lunch in the opulent tea room.

Maison Victor Hugo

Stroll through the Place des Vosges (bring a picnic if you plan ahead) and up to Victor Hugo’s former abode. Also free (which is awesome if you’re on a budget like me) this museum recounts his works and his life as one of France’s most beloved authors.

Maison Victor Hugo in Paris France

I mean, worth it for the carpet alone!

Musée Picasso

Also based in a mansion (or hotêl particulier as they were called) (yes I also just like looking at fancy houses), the Museé Picasso collection is a view of his life and his phases of his works. Did you know he was a sculptor too?

Musée Picasso in Paris France

I say this as someone who admires Picasso but isn’t a passionate fan: this was a wonderful museum. It has his personal collections too, so you can get an idea of what he admired as well.

Other recommendations for small Paris museums

  • The Musée Cluny is also one of my favorites, as it has the tapestries of the Lady and the Unicorn which I adore. And the Roman baths in the foundations are incredible to visit too! It reminds you just how old Paris is underneath it all.
  • The Orangerie is famous and not small, but goddamn it’s good. Seeing Monet’s Nympheas in full scale as they were designed by the artist to be seen is an incredible experience, and the collection downstairs is excellent too. Don’t miss Marie Laurencin’s beautiful, sloe-eyed ladies including Coco Chanel.

As the home of so many artists through the centuries, you can’t miss the best Paris museums when you visit. But go a little off the well-worn and wildly crowded path next time and I promise it’s worth your time.

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