Les Invalides opening hours

The site and the halls, two regimes

The Invalides precinct — the outdoor complex you walk through freely — opens in the morning and closes in the late afternoon or early evening depending on the season: later from April to October, earlier from November to March. That is what you use to walk the moats or cross the great courtyard, described on the free-access page.

The museums and the Dôme open later and close earlier. Last admission is some way before closing, and the Dôme empties first: if you arrive in the final hour, go to the tomb before anything else.

The closures that catch people out

Three days a year everything is closed: 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. On top of that come regular partial closures: some spaces are not accessible on the first Monday of the month, and halls close occasionally for works or for a military ceremony in the great courtyard. The detail is on the closing-days page.

The ceremonies

This is the point guidebooks leave out. Les Invalides is still a working military site, and the great courtyard regularly hosts parades and national tributes. On those days the courtyard is closed to the public for several hours, without much notice. The museums stay open. See the page on today's soldiers.

Book

The entry ticket does not impose a time slot: it is valid for the whole day and you go in when you like. That is what makes it convenient when a train runs late or a lunch overruns.

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.

Frequently asked questions