Which ticket do you actually want?
This is the decision that trips people up. The Hôtel de la Marine has three spaces worth seeing, and the ticket you buy decides which of them you get. Everyone sees the gilded State Rooms and steps onto the loggia over Place de la Concorde. Only the €17 permanent tour includes the Intendant's Apartments, the restored 18th-century rooms that make this place special.
The current exhibition, Animalia: Bestiary from The Al Thani Collection, runs until 10 January and gathers more than 120 objects with animal themes, from a Greek bronze mare to a Fabergé snake-head cane handle. While it's on, the express tour isn't sold, so the €13 exhibition ticket is the cheapest way to reach the loggia.
Paris Museum Pass covers only the apartments tour
The Paris Museum Pass gets you the permanent tour (Intendant's Apartments, State Rooms, loggia), not the Al Thani exhibition. Book a free slot online using the Pass holder rate.
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How busy is the Hôtel de la Marine?
Compared with the Louvre down the road, it's calm. Entry is managed by time slots, so the rooms never get as packed as a free-flowing museum. What does fill up are the slots themselves on weekends, in school holidays and on free first Sundays, and the narrow rooms of the Intendant's Apartments, where a few slow-moving headsets can create a bottleneck.
Crowds by day and time
From the typical weekly visitor pattern for Hôtel de la Marine, based on Google’s popular-times data.
Booking, time slots and the queue
You don't have to book: the monument says entry is possible without reservation, subject to availability. But booking online is the only way to guarantee a slot, and the official FAQ is clear that an online ticket doesn't let you skip the queue. Everyone goes through the same bag check.
- Book on the official ticket site, choose "self-guided tour", the route, then a date and time slot.
- Pick your audio language and theme while booking. It's loaded onto your Confident headset; the permanent tour is offered in 9 languages, the exhibition route in French, English and Spanish.
- Arrive 10-15 minutes before your slot. Your ticket is valid for up to 30 minutes after the time shown (15 minutes for guided tours).
- Collect your Confident at the ticket desk and put your bag in a locker.
No changes, no refunds
Tickets can't be exchanged, changed or refunded once paid. Double-check the date and route before you confirm.
If your slot is sold out
- Try a Friday evening: hours run to 9:30 pm and the late slots are often the last to go.
- Turn up on the day. A few tickets, including some free ones, are held back for the ticket desk.
The route, room by room
The building was the Garde-Meuble de la Couronne, the royal furniture store that supplied Versailles, and then the French Navy's headquarters for more than 200 years. The Confident headset plays music, voices and sound effects as you move, so it feels more like a guided drama than an audio guide.
1. The Intendant's Apartments (permanent tour only)
The private rooms of the officials who ran the royal furniture store, restored to how they looked at the end of the 18th century. Look for the sky-blue paint in the tiled antechamber, found under 18 later layers. The furniture includes three pieces by cabinetmaker Jean-Henri Riesener, two of them classed as national treasures. The dining room is staged as if a meal has just ended, inspired by de Troy's painting *The Oyster Lunch*.
2. The State Rooms
Dazzling white-and-gold reception rooms redecorated for the Navy, full of anchors, dolphins and horns of plenty if you look closely. In the Diplomatic Salon, once the room where the Crown Jewels were kept, there's a concealed door that let a listener eavesdrop on conversations: see if you can find it. Winterhalter's portraits of Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie hang by the fireplace, and the desk on which Victor Schœlcher signed the decree abolishing slavery in the French colonies stands here too.
3. The loggia
The long colonnaded balcony over Place de la Concorde, with the obelisk, the Seine and the Eiffel Tower in view. It's the photo everyone comes for; at a 10:30 am or Friday-evening slot you'll have more space to take it.
4. The Al Thani Collection (exhibition route)
A small, beautifully lit gallery that hosts rotating exhibitions from the Al Thani family's collection of art and antiquities. It's worth the €13 if you've done the apartments before or love decorative objects.
Plans for different visitors
One visit only
Book the €17 permanent tour at the 10:30 am opening or a Friday evening slot. Allow 90 minutes door to door, then lunch in the courtyard.
Families
Under 18s are free, and there are family-specific tours and workshops led by a heritage educator (see the family page on the official site). Strollers aren't allowed on the route; there's a stroller park and you can borrow a baby carrier.
Paris Museum Pass holders
You're covered for the permanent tour. Reserve your free slot in advance on the official site, especially on weekends, because Pass slots share the free-ticket quota.
Visitors with reduced mobility
The routes are wheelchair accessible, but the layout of the Intendant's Apartments can't take wheelchairs wider than 65 cm. Wheelchairs and folding seats can be borrowed. Disabled visitors and a companion enter free.
Food lovers
Le Cordon Bleu runs combined cooking or pastry demonstrations followed by a tour of the apartments and State Rooms. Book through the official visits page.
Practical rules that catch people out
Getting there
The entrance is at 2 Place de la Concorde, in the right-hand of the two colonnaded buildings on the north side of the square (the other is the Hôtel de Crillon). Take the metro to Concorde (lines 1, 8 and 12) or Madeleine (line 14), 5 minutes away. Buses 42, 45, 52, 72, 73, 84 and 94 stop nearby. There's no visitor car park; the nearest public one is under Place de la Concorde.
FAQs
How much does it cost to visit the Hôtel de la Marine?
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€17 for the permanent tour (Intendant's Apartments, State Rooms and loggia) and €13 for the Al Thani exhibition route with the State Rooms and loggia. A €9 express tour is sold only between exhibitions.
Is the Hôtel de la Marine free with the Paris Museum Pass?
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Yes, for the permanent tour only. Book a free time slot online with the Pass holder rate and show the Pass on arrival.
Who gets in free at the Hôtel de la Marine?
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Under 18s, EU citizens and non-EU legal residents of France aged 18-25, disabled visitors and a companion, jobseekers, and Passion Monuments members. Everyone is free on the first Sunday of the month from November to March.
Do I need to book the Hôtel de la Marine in advance?
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It isn't compulsory, but it's recommended. A booked time slot guarantees entry; walk-up tickets depend on availability.
Does an online ticket skip the line?
Heading to Hôtel de la Marine?
See how busy it is right now and the quietest hours for your date, then walk in when the line is short.
Check live crowds →Sources
How we research: every guide is written by the BeatTheCrowd team from official sources and recent traveller reports, cross-checked against each other, and dated so you know how fresh it is. Last checked 11 November 2026. Prices and rules change, so always confirm on the official site before you book.
