The museum of the former Orsay railway station, built for the 1900 World's Fair and opened as a museum in 1986, opens its reception spaces to private events after closing time: cocktails for up to 1,200 guests, dinners for up to 300 and a 330-seat auditorium.
| Address | Esplanade Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 75007 Paris |
| Operator | Établissement public des musées d'Orsay et de l'Orangerie |
| Overall capacity | Cocktail up to 1,200 guests, dinner up to 300 |
| Restaurant | Listed historic monument, the former dining room of the station hotel; cocktail 600, dinner 300 |
| Café Campana | Cocktail 350 to 400, dinner 150 |
| Salle des Fêtes | The former ballroom of the hotel; cocktail 350, dinner 150 |
| Auditorium | 330 seats, level -2; every evening except Thursdays, outside the museum’s programme |
| Private evening | 19:30 to midnight, with set-up access from 18:00 (17:00 on Mondays); every evening except Thursdays |
| Other formats | Private visits from 18:30 to 21:00; breakfast and private visit Tuesday to Friday, 8:30 to 10:30 |
| History | Station and hotel inaugurated on 14 July 1900; museum opened to the public on 9 December 1986 |
| Public transport | Musée d’Orsay (RER C), Solférino (metro 12) |
Sources: private events page and May 2025 brochure of the Établissement public des musées d'Orsay et de l'Orangerie, checked on 17 September 2026. The web page and the brochure describe the available days slightly differently; confirm availability for your date.
Holding an evening among the collections of the Musée d'Orsay gives an event a setting that very few cities can offer. The museum rents out its reception spaces, inherited from the station hotel of 1900, as well as its auditorium, outside public opening hours, and the schedule of these evenings is the first thing to plan around.
Client dinners of up to 300 guests in the Restaurant, a listed interior; cocktail receptions of up to 1,200 people; conferences or presentations of up to 330 participants in the auditorium followed by a reception; private visits of the collections for guests before dinner; and breakfast visits for small groups.
Private evenings run from 19:30 to midnight, with set-up starting at 18:00, and are not possible on Thursdays, when the museum stays open late. The auditorium depends on the museum’s own cultural programme. The museum also proposes a responsible events charter to organisers renting its spaces, whose recommendations are worth building into the brief from the start.
Other museums and heritage venues, such as the Bourse de Commerce and the Hôtel de Soubise, are compared in our guide to unique event spaces in Paris, and seated evening capacities in our guide to gala dinner venues.
Yes. The museum rents out its Restaurant, Café Campana, Salle des Fêtes and auditorium for private events, with cocktails of up to 1,200 guests and dinners of up to 300.
Private evenings run from 19:30 to midnight every evening except Thursdays, with set-up from 18:00. Breakfast visits take place Tuesday to Friday from 8:30 to 10:30.
330 seats, on level -2.