Musée Gustave Moreau tickets: rates, free admission, booking
What the ticket includes
A single ticket grants access to the entire house: the ground floor with the reception room and its drawings, the first-floor apartment, opened to the public in 1991, and the two superimposed studios on the second and third floors, connected by the spiral staircase. The pivoting shutter cabinets where the drawings are stored can be freely handled, which is not the case in many museums. There is no audio guide, and labels are rare; that is why I wrote a floor-by-floor guide. There is no café either, just a small bookshop near the entrance.
Who gets free admission
The rule follows that of national museums. On the first Sunday of each month, permanent collections are free for all, and this is actually the only time I have seen crowds on the staircase. Visitors under 18 are admitted free all year round, regardless of nationality. EU nationals aged 18–25 are also admitted free; you may be asked for proof, so keep it with you. For a couple with two teenagers, only the adults pay, and the total remains very reasonable. The page Is the museum free? summarises these cases in a few lines, and the one on free museums in Paris broadens the question to other institutions.
The reduced rate with five museums
This is the detail almost no one knows. The Musée Moreau ticket entitles you to a reduced rate at the Musée Guimet, the Musée Jean-Jacques Henner, the Musée d’Orsay, the Palais Garnier, and the Musée de la Vie Romantique, and the reverse is true: a ticket from one of these five venues grants you a reduced rate at 14 rue de La Rochefoucauld. So keep your ticket. If you visit the Palais Garnier in the afternoon, present it at the ticket desk. The Musée de la Vie Romantique, five minutes away in the same neighbourhood, is in any case free for its permanent collections.
Do I need to book?
No, and this is what sets this museum apart from almost all others in the capital. There is no mandatory time slot, and attendance—around 40,000 visitors per year—bears no comparison to the millions at the Louvre. In fifteen years, I have never seen the ticket desk turn anyone away. The two slightly busier times are the first Sunday of the month in the early afternoon and school holidays; in those cases, come at opening time, at 10 a.m. Full opening hours, the closure on Tuesdays, and public holidays are listed on the opening times and access page.
At the ticket desk or on the official website?
Both work. I buy my ticket at the desk because I often decide on the morning itself. The official website is useful if you want to be certain of a date, if you are coming as a group, or if you prefer not to use your card at the entrance. In any case, do not look for the museum ticket on a booking platform: it is not available there, and this site does not sell it.
The Paris Museum Pass: when it is worth it, when it is not
The Musée Gustave Moreau is one of the sixty or so sites covered by the pass, along with the Louvre, Orsay, the Orangerie, and the Arc de Triomphe. For the Musée Gustave Moreau alone, the pass makes no sense: the ticket is too inexpensive for a pass to pay off. It becomes worthwhile from three or four major museums in two consecutive days, provided you book your time slots at the Louvre and the Orangerie before leaving. EU residents under 26 do not need it, as they enter national museums free of charge. I have detailed how it works, the pitfalls, and reviews on the Paris Museum Pass page; availability is below.
Come with a ticket from another network museum, such as Orsay or Garnier, and you enter at a reduced rate. Conversely, the Moreau ticket grants a discount at Garnier on the same day: this is the most economical combination I know in the 9th arrondissement.
To prepare for the visit itself, the complete guide explains what to see and in what order.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Musée Gustave Moreau free?
It is free on the first Sunday of the month for the permanent collections, all year round for those under 18, and for EU nationals aged 18–25. The rest of the time, the ticket is modestly priced. The is it free? page provides the details.
What is the price of the ticket?
I do not publish the ticket price because it changes, and only the official website musee-moreau.fr is authoritative. What I can say: it is one of the least expensive tickets in Paris, it is free in the cases mentioned above, it is included in the Paris Museum Pass, and it entitles you to a reduced rate at five other museums.
Do I need to book?
No. There is no mandatory time slot, and the museum is rarely full. Buy your ticket at the desk when you arrive. The only case where I advise coming early is on the first Sunday of the month, when entry is free; see the opening times.
Does the ticket include a guided tour or an audio guide?
No. The visit is self-guided, the labels are few, and there is no audio guide. That is why I recommend reading the artwork itinerary or the complete guide before climbing the stairs.
Does the Paris Museum Pass include the Musée Gustave Moreau?
Yes, along with around sixty other museums and monuments. It is only worth it if you visit several major museums on consecutive days; for the Musée Gustave Moreau alone, simply buy a ticket at the counter. Compare the options on the all visits page.