Free Things to Do in Paris: Honest Picks Beyond the Tourist Trail (2026)

The Louvre costs €22. The Musée d'Orsay costs €16. The Petit Palais — permanent collection, 1,300 works, free every day — most first-time visitors to Paris never find it. Most second-time visitors don't either.

The paid museums get covered elsewhere on this site. This list is the other stuff.

8 free Paris picks worth planning around

Petit Palais A Belle Époque palace built for the 1900 World's Fair, with a permanent collection running from ancient Greek vases to Impressionist painting. Free, no booking, open Tuesday to Sunday. One of the best free museums in any European capital — we have a full guide.

Musée Carnavalet Paris's city history museum, free always, in a pair of mansions in Le Marais. Proust's reconstructed bedroom has been here since 1935. Most visitors to the Marais walk past without knowing it exists.

Promenade Plantée A disused railway viaduct turned 4.5km elevated garden, built fifteen years before New York's High Line and still less famous. Starts behind the Opéra Bastille and runs through the 12th arrondissement into the Bois de Vincennes. Free, open daily from sunrise.

Palais Royal gardens Enclosed courtyards and arcades a minute from the Louvre, where Parisians eat lunch on the benches and tourists mostly photograph the Buren columns. Free, open daily. One of the few central Paris spaces that somehow stays calm in summer.

Parc des Buttes-Chaumont A 25-hectare park in the 19th with a lake, a waterfall, and a cave you can walk through. Built on a former gypsum quarry. Locals from the surrounding arrondissements treat it as a Saturday morning destination; most visitors to Paris never reach it. Free, daily.

59 Rivoli A former squat near the Seine, now a legal collective with six floors of open artist studios. Saturdays are the best day — more studios open, artists present. Free, no booking.

Canal Saint-Martin The canal in the 10th and 11th with iron footbridges and lock gates. Sunday mornings the canal-side roads close to cars and the neighbourhood fills with Parisians cycling and picnicking. Free.

La Butte aux Cailles A pocket neighbourhood in the 13th with cobbled streets, murals, and no tourist infrastructure. The local pool has outdoor swimming in summer. Walk from Place d'Italie — twenty minutes from Notre-Dame, nothing around it looks like central Paris.

What about the big museums?

First Sunday of each month, the Louvre, Orsay, and most national museums are free. Crowds are significant — the Louvre on a free Sunday is busy even by Louvre standards. Details, hours, and what to skip in the free window: Louvre free admission 2026. For Notre-Dame: it reopened in December 2024, entry is free, timed tickets online are recommended on weekends.

Frequently asked questions

What Paris museums are free every day?

Petit Palais, Musée Carnavalet, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris, and Maison de Victor Hugo. The Louvre and Orsay are paid except on the first Sunday of each month.

Which Paris museums are free on the first Sunday of the month?

The Louvre, Musée d'Orsay, Musée de Cluny, and most national museums — year-round. Expect higher crowds.

Is Notre-Dame free to visit in 2026?

Yes. Notre-Dame reopened in December 2024 and entry is free. Timed tickets online are recommended for weekends.

What free things can you do in Paris on a Sunday?

First Sunday of the month = free national museums. Canal Saint-Martin is at its best when the canal roads close to traffic on Sundays. Marché d'Aligre runs Sunday mornings in the 12th.

For a full breakdown of which paid museums are worth the price, the Paris Museum Pass guide does the maths.