How long to allow at Les Invalides

Two to four hours for most visitors. One hour is enough if you have come only for the Dôme and the tomb. You need three to add the armour and the relief maps, and four to do the two World Wars department as well. The ticket is valid all day, so nothing forces you to do it in one go: you can go out for lunch and come back.

Dôme and tomb only45 min to 1 hr

Dôme + cathedral + armour2 hrs

Adding the relief maps2 hrs 30

Full visit3 hrs 30 to 4 hrs

With children1 hr 30 to 2 hrs

Ticket validityAll day

Why people always get it wrong the same way

They plan an hour. That is the number you give yourself when you think you are coming to see “Napoleon's tomb”, as you would go to see a statue. Then they discover four museums behind it, and either leave after three hours having seen half, or cut it short and regret it. I have never once heard someone say they had allowed too much time.

Four honest breakdowns

One hour: the Dôme, the tomb, the side chapels, and the Saint-Louis cathedral on the way out. You will have seen what you came for, and nothing else. That is a coherent programme, not a cut-price visit.

Two hours: add the armour wing and a quick pass through the relief maps. This is the format I recommend most often to someone with a morning.

Three hours: add the Louis XIV–Napoleon III department, which continues directly from the Dôme and holds the Napoleonic objects.

Four hours: add the two World Wars and the Charles de Gaulle Historial. At that point, break for lunch: the ticket is valid all day and you come back with a clearer head.

What works

The ticket is valid all day: you can split it in two
The spaces are independent: skipping one breaks nothing
The Dôme alone is a perfectly coherent one-hour programme
The relief maps only need twenty minutes to leave a mark

Worth knowing

The two World Wars department exhausts you if kept for last
Internal distances are real: the site is thirteen hectares
A ninety-minute guided tour covers only part of it
Without a plan you will cross the same hall twice

Local tip

The best breakdown I know: the Dôme at opening, then the cathedral and the armour, then lunch on the rue Cler or the rue de Bourgogne, and back in the afternoon for the relief maps and the two World Wars. A full day in the 7th, with the Rodin Museum as an option if your legs allow.

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Availability is below. The detailed route, space by space, is on the what-to-see page.

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A reminder: what you book above is the ticket that opens the Army Museum, the Dôme and the tomb. The great courtyard and the Saint-Louis cathedral stay free to enter, with no ticket at all.

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Frequently asked questions

Is one hour enough?

For the Dôme and the tomb, yes. For the Army Museum, no.

Can you leave and come back?

Yes: the ticket is valid for the whole day.

How long with children?

An hour and a half to two hours, focusing on the Dôme and the armour: see the family page.