Musée de l'Orangerie Tickets 2026: Monet's Water Lilies, Prices & Hours
Orangerie ticket prices, opening hours, what to expect from Monet's Water Lilies rooms, and how to combine with the Orsay. Updated April 2026.
Monet spent the last 30 years of his life painting water lilies. Eight of those final panels — 91 metres of canvas in total — live in two oval rooms at the Orangerie. The museum was built specifically for them. Natural light enters through skylights overhead, shifting with the weather outside. On a cloudy morning, the paintings look different than on a bright afternoon. Monet planned it that way.
The rest of Paris gives you art on walls. The Orangerie gives you art you sit inside.
How much are Orangerie tickets?
Online: €12.50. On-site: €11.
Free entry: Under 18 (all nationalities), EU residents 18-25, disabled visitors and one companion.
First Sunday of the month: Free for everyone. Online reservation required.
Combo with Orsay: €20 (buy at the Orangerie desk). Valid for 6 days. If you plan both museums, buy this first — it saves about €8.
The Orangerie guide — your room-by-room route through the Water Lilies and the lower level
- Exactly where to stand in each oval room (and why the centre bench changes everything)
- Room 2's Setting Sun — what Monet could barely see when he painted it
- The Walter-Guillaume collection: Cézanne, Renoir, Rousseau — and why almost no one goes
Opening hours
Monday, Wednesday to Sunday: 9:00-18:00 (last entry 17:15).
Friday evenings: Open until 21:00 (reduced rate).
Closed every Tuesday, plus May 1, July 14 (morning), and December 25.
Note: The Orangerie is open on Mondays when the Orsay is closed. This makes Monday a smart Orangerie day — visitors who planned Orsay for Monday discover it's shut and default to the Louvre, not here.
The Water Lilies rooms
Two oval rooms on the ground floor. Eight panels, each 2 metres tall. The total length wraps 91 metres around you.
Room 1: Morning and afternoon light. Greens and yellows dominate. The reflections of clouds on the water surface are the subject, not the lilies themselves.
Room 2: Evening and twilight. Darker blues and purples. The willows appear. The mood shifts from contemplation to something closer to melancholy.
Monet designed the oval shape so there would be no corners — your eye moves continuously. Sit on the benches in the centre. Most visitors walk around the perimeter and leave in 5 minutes. The paintings reveal more the longer you stay. Twenty minutes changes what you notice.
The skylights mean natural light enters from above, exactly as Monet specified. Visit on different days or times and the paintings look genuinely different. Overcast mornings make Room 2 particularly striking.
What else is inside?
The Walter-Guillaume Collection occupies the lower level. It's smaller but exceptional: Cézanne, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Soutine, and Rousseau. Most visitors come for Monet and skip this entirely. Their loss — Cézanne's late landscapes here are among his best.
The Orangerie also hosts temporary exhibitions. Current: Henri Rousseau "The Ambition of Painting" (until July 2026).
Tips most sites won't tell you
Arrive at 9:00. The Water Lilies rooms are at their most powerful when they're quiet. By 11:00, tour groups arrive and the contemplative quality disappears.
Do Orangerie before Orsay, not after. You want fresh eyes for the Water Lilies. After 3 hours of Impressionism at Orsay, your attention is spent. Walk from Orangerie to Orsay along the Seine — the 10-minute walk through the Tuileries is a natural reset.
The gift shop has one of the better postcard and print selections in Paris. Monet reproductions here are well-printed and reasonably priced.
Photography is allowed in the Water Lilies rooms. No flash. The best photos come from the centre benches looking toward the curved walls.
Where to book
Our take: Official €12.50 is cheapest — buy there unless sold out. GYG has allocations when official slots are gone and adds free cancellation. If visiting both Orsay and Orangerie, buy the €20 combo at the Orangerie desk.
- Address
- Jardin des Tuileries, Place de la Concorde, 75001 Paris
- Hours
- Mon, Wed–Sun: 9:00–18:00 · Fri: until 21:00
- Closed
- Tuesdays · May 1 · December 25
- Standard ticket
- €12.50 online · Combo with Orsay: €20
- Free day
- First Sunday of each month (book online)
- Book at
- GetYourGuide (timed entry) · official site
- Metro
- Line 1, 8, 12: Concorde
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
Frequently asked questions
How much are Orangerie tickets in 2026?
Online tickets cost €12.50. On-site tickets are €11. Free for under 18, EU residents under 26, and on the first Sunday of each month.
How long do you need at the Orangerie?
Most visitors spend 1 to 1.5 hours. The Water Lilies rooms take 20-30 minutes if you sit and absorb them. The Walter-Guillaume collection adds another 30-45 minutes.
Can you buy a combo ticket for Orsay and Orangerie?
Yes. A combo ticket costs €20 (available at the Orangerie desk). It's valid for 6 days and saves you about €8 compared to buying separately.
Is the Orangerie crowded?
Less than most Paris museums. The Water Lilies rooms get busy between 11:00 and 14:00. Go at opening (9:00) or after 15:00 for the best experience.
The Orangerie sits between the Louvre (15-minute walk through the Tuileries) and the Musée d'Orsay (10 minutes along the Seine). It makes a natural third stop in a Paris Impressionist day. If you want a fourth — and a free one — the Petit Palais is 10 minutes east on foot, permanent collection included at no charge.
Last verified: April 2026