The Grand Palais, reopened in June 2025, is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30am to 8pm (10:30pm on Fridays); tickets depend on each exhibition, and booking online is advised. The Grand Palais in Paris is an imposing steel-and-glass structure built at the same time as the Pont Alexandre III for the 1900 World's Fair. The structure features a majestic façade adorned with Ionic columns. Large bronze statues stand at each of the building's four corners. The complex is located in the Champs-Élysées area and was designed by architects Henri Deglane, Albert Louvet, Albert Thomas, and Charles Girault, each of whom worked on a different section. It's in the north wing of this building that you'll find the Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais. These galleries were created in 1964 by Reynold Arnould at the request of the then Minister of Culture, André Malraux, with the aim of hosting major temporary exhibitions. It was in these Galeries Nationales that, in 1966, a retrospective of the painter Pablo Picasso and a major exhibition of African art were presented.
Highlights
The Grand Palais Nave
The nave of the Grand Palais lies at its very heart. It draws the eye of every visitor thanks to its glass roof, the tallest in Europe. Since 1900, the nave has hosted art exhibitions and grand events. In 1993, the Galeries Nationales closed for restoration work on the foundations, framework and façades, before reopening in 2005. The Grand Palais then closed entirely from 2021 to 2025 for a major renovation and reopened to the public in June 2025: its nave once again hosts events, trade shows and temporary exhibitions on a scale worthy of its vast space.
Art Basel Paris
Since 2022, this major international fair of modern and contemporary art, which succeeded the FIAC, has taken place every October at the Grand Palais, bringing together gallery owners, collectors, curators, museum directors and figures from the international contemporary art world.
Practical info
Tips
- At the Galeries nationales, avoid the first and last two or three weeks of an exhibition: crowds are noticeably heavier. Late-night openings are the quietest times.
- At weekends, choose the afternoon; it is generally busier on Sundays than on Saturdays.
- Book your tickets online: you can get in within half an hour of your chosen time.
- For exhibition lovers, the Sésame card gives unlimited skip-the-line access to the Galeries nationales exhibitions for 1 year.
- Wheelchairs and lifts are available for visitors with reduced mobility, subject to capacity in the exhibition rooms.
- The Pont Alexandre-III leads from the Grand Palais to the esplanade of the Hôtel des Invalides; the Petit Palais is just opposite and the Avenue des Champs-Élysées a short walk away.
- Every spring, the Festival du Livre de Paris takes over the glass roof hall; the next edition is announced for 16 to 18 April 2027.
How to get there
The Grand Palais is located at 17 Avenue du Général-Eisenhower, 75008 Paris. To get there, you can take metro lines 1, 9, or 13 to the "Franklin D. Roosevelt" (lines 1 and 9) or "Champs-Élysées Clemenceau" (lines 1 and 13) stations. You can also take RER C to the Invalides station. It's also possible to get there by bus via lines 28, 42, 52, 72, 73, 80, 83, or 93.
Opening hours
Our guides that feature it
Nearby
See on the map →
Comments
No comments yet.