Escape Tourist Crowds At The Louvre And Join Real Parisians At This Free Museum That's An Underrated Gem

About a 20-minute walk from the Champs-Élysées, the magnificent Petit Palais offers a calmer, more intimate cultural experience than Paris's larger museums, with free admission to its permanent collections. Along with its neighbor, the Grand Palais, it was built for the 1900 Exposition Universelle world's fair. This Beaux-Arts masterpiece houses works spanning antiquity to the 20th century, boasting Renaissance paintings and Impressionist pieces as well as ornate sculptures and iconography. Its light-filled galleries, garden courtyards, and a peaceful café set in a delightfully cozy secret garden make it a favorite retreat for real Parisians seeking culture without the queues.

Over the decades, Paris' Petit Palais has blossomed thanks to a series of donations. Roger Cabal's 1998 bequest brought a rich collection of Eastern Christian icons to France, with pieces spanning the 8th to 19th centuries from post-Byzantine Greek icons to Russian Orthodox works. In 1930, Edward and Julia Tuck's donation enriched the museum with French 18th-century decorative arts, while the Vollard bequest brought works by Cézanne, Bonnard, and more.

But perhaps the biggest draw for visitors to the Petit Palais is the breathtaking architecture, designed by architect Charles Girault. The main entrance is eye-catching, with a stunning wrought iron gate ensconced by a grand semi-circular central archway, flanked by columns and adorned with sculptural reliefs. Above it rises an ornate dome featuring elegant figures and bas-reliefs. Beyond the entrance, there's a lush inner courtyard and garden, creating a tranquil oasis in the heart of the city, and the building features captivating frescoes, stained glass, and elegant pavilions. There's plenty of natural light too, thanks to a series of glass roofs.

If you're flying into Paris, then Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG) has the most amount of international connections, and it takes about 52 minutes to reach the Petit Palais by public transport. You'll find the Petit Palais in Paris' 8th arrondissement, on Avenue Winston Churchill, just off the Avenue des Champs-Élysées and opposite the imposing Grand Palais just across the stret. The closest Métro stations are Champs-Élysées-Clemenceau (Lines 1 & 13) and Franklin D. Roosevelt (Lines 1 & 9), both of which bring you within a few minutes walk of the museum. Pro tip: Check out our guide to using Paris' public transport.

While there are plenty of star museums in Paris, such as the Louvre, the Grand Palais, and the elegant Hôtel de la Marine, an 18th-century museum with impressive decorative art collections, Paris is an excellent choice for anyone who likes their museums a little bit more on the unique side. If you're, for example, the type of traveler who enjoys a hint of the macabre in your cultural viewing, then you could pay a visit to the Musée d'histoire de la médecine (Museum of the History of Medicine), which has a wonderful collection of medical curiosities and artworks depicting surgeries in a delightful wood-paneled room of the Université Paris Descartes. Another, the Paris Sewer Museum, is one of the best ways to explore Paris via a unique underground museum. Of course, there are many different museums in Paris, so it's recommended to get the Paris Museum Pass if you don't want to waste your vacation in line.