The Hôtel de la Marine at a glance
Louis XV had the future place de la Concorde laid out in the 1750s; Gabriel built two identical palaces there, constructed from 1757 to 1774. The eastern one received the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne in 1765, the administration in charge of the royal furnishings, from tapestries to the Crown Jewels. Its intendant, Marc-Antoine Thierry de Ville-d'Avray, drew up a general inventory there in 1774 that is still a reference. On the night of 16 September 1792, a gang of some forty people stole the Crown Jewels from the building. The Ministry of the Navy moved in in 1789 and shared the building with the Garde-Meuble until 1798, before staying for more than two centuries; the 1848 decree abolishing slavery was signed here. The ministry left in 2015 for the new Defence site at Balard, work began in 2017, and the monument opened on 12 June 2021. The Al Thani Collection galleries followed on 18 November 2021.
What you can visit
The intendants' apartments
This is the heart of the permanent route. Around the Intendant's courtyard, a suite of rooms from the 1770s has recovered its décor, its silks and period or reconstructed furniture: antechamber, dining room laid as if for dinner, Thierry de Ville-d'Avray's large study, the Cabinet des Glaces, the Cabinet Doré, the library and bedroom of Madame de Ville-d'Avray, and the bathroom. The staging shows the daily life of a senior royal official on the eve of the Revolution rather than a series of museum rooms: candles, a laid table, everyday objects. The rooms are small; at busy times, you move through them in single file.
The state rooms and the loggia
On the square side, the first floor lines up the reception rooms redecorated in the 19th century by the ministry: the Salon des Amiraux, the diplomatic salon, the gilded gallery and the grand reception salon, with gilding, chandeliers and parquet floors. These rooms, which hosted official balls and receptions, are still used for concerts and evening events.
They open onto the loggia, the great colonnade running along the façade. The view takes in the obelisk, the fountains, the Jardin des Tuileries, the Grand Palais and the Eiffel Tower. It is one of the few elevated viewpoints over the place de la Concorde open to the public.
The Al Thani Collection
In the former tapestry store of the Garde-Meuble, the Al Thani Collection, a private collection assembled by Qatar's ruling family, has occupied exhibition galleries since 2021. It presents a succession of temporary exhibitions drawing on its works, from Antiquity to the present day, with loans from partner museums. In September 2026, the galleries are hosting "Animalia. Bestiary of the Al Thani Collection", until 10 January 2027: more than 120 works (sculptures, jewellery, precious objects, paintings, archaeological pieces) spanning nearly 4,000 years, many of them shown in Paris for the first time. The previous one, "Dynastic Jewels", with the Victoria and Albert Museum, ran until 6 April 2026. The exhibition ticket also includes the state rooms and the loggia, but not the intendants' apartments.
The "Confident" visitor headset
The self-guided visit is done with the "Confident", an immersive audio headset handed out at the entrance and included in the ticket. It triggers automatically depending on the room you are in: dialogue, period sounds and music accompany the route, with nothing to operate. The permanent route is offered in nine languages (French, English, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic); the Animalia exhibition route in French, English and Spanish. If you prefer live commentary, the monument offers guided tours and lecture tours.
Tickets, prices and free admission
| Option | Includes | Full price | Suggested duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent route | Intendants' apartments, state rooms, loggia | €17 | 1h15 |
| Al Thani Collection exhibition | Animalia exhibition, state rooms, loggia | €13 | 1h15 |
| Express route | State rooms and loggia | €9 | 45 min |
Prices observed in September 2026, Confident included.
Free admission (with proof):
- under-18s;
- 18–25 year-olds who are European Union nationals or legal residents;
- people with disabilities and their companion;
- jobseekers, teachers and ICOM and ICOMOS members;
- everyone on the first Sunday of the month, from November to March.
Paris Museum Pass: it gives access to the permanent route, not to the Al Thani exhibition. With the pass, a visitor who wants to see everything therefore still pays the €13 for the exhibition. Our review of the Paris Museum Pass helps you work out whether it pays off for your stay. The Centre des monuments nationaux "Passion monuments" membership, valid at more than 80 monuments, also covers the visit.
Booking: tickets are sold on the Centre des monuments nationaux online ticket office, via the official Hôtel de la Marine website. Buy them in advance for weekends, holidays and Friday evenings; the principles are the same as in our guide to booking ahead in Paris. Stick to the official website: resellers also offer these tickets, sometimes at a higher price.
Opening hours, closing days and duration
- Opening hours: daily from 10.30am to 7pm, late opening on Fridays until 9.30pm.
- Last entry: 45 minutes before closing.
- Closed: 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. There is no weekly closing day.
- Duration: 45 minutes for the express route, 1h15 for the permanent route, 2h30 if you combine the permanent route and the exhibition.
On Friday evenings, the apartments are lit to evoke candlelight, and a programme of activities (period balls on some Fridays, workshops, tours) is added at the regular ticket price. In the event of industrial action, part of the route may close for the day; the official website announces it on its home page.
Access, security and accessibility
The entrance is through the main courtyard (cour d'honneur), from place de la Concorde or rue Royale. The Intendant's courtyard, under its glass roof, the bookshop-gift shop and the restaurants are accessible without a ticket.
- Metro: Concorde (lines 1, 8 and 12), Madeleine (line 14).
- Bus: 42, 45, 52, 72, 73, 84; Noctilien N11 and N24.
- Vélib': Cambon-Rivoli station.
Because of the Vigipirate security plan, suitcases and bulky luggage are refused. The cloakroom only offers 40 × 40 cm lockers: travel light, especially on a departure day. Pushchairs are not allowed in the visitor areas; they are kept at reception and baby carriers are lent. Photos without flash, animals refused except guide dogs.
The route is wheelchair accessible (passages 70 cm wide at the narrowest point) and wheelchairs are lent on site; the restaurants and café are accessible. Other accessible places are gathered in our guide Paris for people with reduced mobility.
Eating on site
Two venues occupy the main courtyard, with no visit ticket needed:
- Café Lapérouse, a café-restaurant open all day, with two sheltered terraces.
- Mimosa, chef Jean-François Piège's restaurant, in the former stables, focusing on Mediterranean cuisine, with a mimosa egg bar.
These are not cheap places. For a simpler meal, the streets around the Madeleine and the Louvre offer more choice; see our selection of restaurants near the Louvre.
Combining it around the Concorde
- Place de la Concorde: the Luxor obelisk, the fountains and the view up the Champs-Élysées, right in front of the entrance.
- Jardin des Tuileries: across the square, for a break between two visits.
- Musée de l'Orangerie: at the Seine-side corner of the Tuileries, a few minutes' walk away, for Monet's Water Lilies; see our page on the Musée de l'Orangerie.
- La Madeleine: at the end of rue Royale, with its fine food shops.
- The Louvre: 15 minutes' walk across the Tuileries; our Louvre page details how to organise the visit.
A one-day programme could take in the Hôtel de la Marine in the morning at opening time, lunch, the Tuileries and then the Orangerie in the afternoon.
Practical summary
| Item | Information |
|---|---|
| Address | 2 place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris |
| Metro | Concorde (1, 8, 12), Madeleine (14) |
| Opening hours | Daily 10.30am–7pm, Friday until 9.30pm; last entry 45 min before |
| Closed | 1 January, 1 May, 25 December |
| Prices | €17 permanent route, €13 Al Thani exhibition, €9 express route |
| Free admission | Under-18s, 18–25 year-olds from the EU, first Sunday from November to March |
| Paris Museum Pass | Accepted for the permanent route only |
| Duration | 45 min to 2h30 depending on the option |
| Current exhibition | Animalia, until 10 January 2027 |
Prices observed in September 2026.
Further reading
The Hôtel de la Marine is free for Europeans under 26 and on the first Sunday of winter months; other places with no ticket are in our list of free museums in Paris. To organise several paid visits, compare the options in our comparison of tourist passes. And for a day of bad weather, the Concorde state rooms join the ideas in Paris on a rainy day.
