Musée Rodin

Museum

Museum · Paris, France 48.8547°N 2.3159°E

Why you should go

Ninety seconds on Musée Rodin

Time needed

1.5 to 2 hoursHouse and garden

Best time

Late springBefore the summer crowds

Cost

TicketedHouse and garden together

Effort

EasyShort garden walks

Access

Reduced mobilityEntire museum accessible

Guide

Not neededGo on your own

Tickets

How do tickets work at the Musée Rodin?

Entry is ticketed. Tickets are sold on the museum's own website and at the desk on arrival, and the Paris Museum Pass covers entry to the museum as well.

Garden only

Can you visit only the Musée Rodin garden?

No. The standard museum ticket covers the house and the garden together, and the cheaper garden-only ticket that was once sold has ended. A Paris Museum Pass gives the same access to both.

Opening hours

What are the Musée Rodin opening hours?

The museum opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6.30pm. Last admission is at 5.45pm, but the ticket desk closes at 5.30pm, so tickets bought on the spot must be bought by then. It is closed on Mondays, 1 January, 1 May and 25 December, and closes at 5.30pm on 24 and 31 December.

Getting there

How do you get to the Musée Rodin?

Metro line 13 stops at Varenne, and lines 13 and 8 stop at Invalides; both stations serve the museum. Buses 69, 82, 87 and 92 also stop nearby.

Time needed

How long should you spend at the Musée Rodin?

An unhurried visit runs to two and a half or three hours, with a stop at the garden café. A wet day shortens it, since many of the statues stand outside.

Free entry

When is the Musée Rodin free?

Entry is free on the first Sunday of every month from October to March. Visitors entitled to free admission do not book ahead, but must show valid proof of eligibility at the entrance.

The Thinker

Where is The Thinker in Paris?

The Thinker stands outdoors in the sculpture garden of the Musée Rodin, and a museum ticket is needed to see it. A second cast watches over the tomb of Rodin and his wife Rose at Meudon, outside Paris.

Among roses and clipped box hedges, you see Rodin's bronzes outdoors, The Gates of Hell included, and then his marbles inside the house. Give the garden as long as the rooms.

What makes it special

The Thinker sits on his pillar among the box trees, facing The Gates of Hell across the garden. Rodin conceived him as the crowning element of the Gates, so look up at the tympanum above the doors to find him seated there again.

The Burghers of Calais stand in the garden close enough to rue de Varenne for passers-by to glimpse them from the street. Rodin set the six figures at ground level instead of on a heroic pedestal.

The Kiss, in white marble, is inside the Hôtel Biron, on the route through the house. Room 16 shows the work of his fellow sculptor Camille Claudel, a reminder of the ties between the two artists. Her Waltz turns two intertwined figures in a spiralling dance.

Rodin collected paintings too, and the museum keeps about 200 of them. Van Gogh's Père Tanguy is here, which Rodin bought from Van Gogh, along with work by Monet.

Visiting

Enter from the street at 77 rue de Varenne. Coats go in the free cloakroom at the entrance to the collections, inside the Hôtel Biron, while suitcases and large bags are turned away at the gate.

If the day is going to turn warm, see the rooms first, while it is cool, and the garden after.

Outside, start among the trees with Orpheus, then find the Monument to Balzac, with the dome of Les Invalides behind it. Cross to The Gates of Hell and end at L'Augustine, the café-restaurant in the heart of the garden.

Tips

If the Musée d'Orsay is also on your list, buy the combined ticket that covers both museums. The Musée de l'Armée at Les Invalides can be done on the same day as this one.

Photographs are allowed in the garden and in the house, though tripods are not, and flash is off limits indoors.

Know before you goThe sculpture garden closes at a time that varies with sunset from October to February, as of November 2026, and it can shut in severe weather.The museum's second site, Rodin's house at Meudon outside Paris, is closed for the winter and due to reopen in spring 2027.