The Musée Rodin is unlike any other museum in Paris: an 18th-century mansion — the Hôtel Biron, where Rodin himself lived and worked — set in three hectares of sculpture garden in the middle of the city.
The Thinker sits among the roses. The Gates of Hell towers over a gravel path. That outdoor half is what makes the visit special, and it’s also the thing to plan around.
Tickets
- Standard ticket: €13 — includes both the mansion and the sculpture garden. Book at musee-rodin.fr
- Free entry: under 18, EU residents 18–25 — and for everyone on the first Sunday of the month from October to March
- Combined ticket with the Musée d’Orsay is available — the two are one metro stop apart
Opening Hours
- Open: Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:30 (last entry 17:45)
- Closed: Monday, January 1, May 1, December 25
Best time to visit: a dry morning. The garden is half the experience, so check the weather before you pick your day — light rain empties the garden but soaks the paths.
Getting There
- Metro: Line 13 → Varenne (3-min walk)
- RER C: Invalides (10-min walk)
- On foot: next door to Les Invalides; about 25 minutes from the Eiffel Tower
Garden and Mansion: How They Fit Together
- The garden holds the icons: The Thinker, The Gates of Hell, The Burghers of Calais, Balzac. You could see Rodin’s greatest hits without ever going indoors.
- The mansion holds the intimate work — The Kiss in marble, the studies, and Rodin’s own art collection, including a Van Gogh.
Our Musée Rodin must-see guide maps all 11 essential works across both halves.
How Long Does a Visit Take?
90 minutes to 2 hours covers everything at an easy pace — roughly half outdoors, half inside. It slots perfectly into a morning before the Orsay or an afternoon after Les Invalides.
Practical Tips
- Garden first. Do the outdoor sculptures while your energy (and the light) is best, then cool down indoors.
- The garden café is one of the nicest museum lunch spots in Paris — under the trees, behind the rose beds.
- Photography is free and easy outdoors; morning light hits The Thinker face-on.
- Don’t skip the upstairs rooms — the marble Kiss and the plaster studies are where Rodin’s process comes alive.
A 2-Hour Plan That Works
- Arrive at 10:00 and go straight into the garden — The Thinker, then the Gates of Hell
- Loop the garden — Burghers of Calais, Balzac, the long pool at the back
- The mansion — The Kiss, the studies, Rodin’s own collection
- Coffee in the garden café before you leave
Final Thought
Pick a fair-weather morning, take the garden slowly, and the Musée Rodin will feel less like a museum than a visit to the artist’s home — which is exactly what it is.
Plan your visit with MuseCat →
Deciding what to see? Read our guide to all 11 Musée Rodin must-sees, garden and house.
Artwork images via Wikimedia Commons — public domain or licensed under CC BY-SA.