Paris on a budget: Museums with free admission

In an attempt to make art accessible to everyone, in January, the French government embarked on a 6 month program which opens up several of Paris' museums free to the public. That means that you have until June 30, 2008 to take advantage of free admission to some of the city's best museums.

Here are the six museums that are participating:

Musée Guimet - National Museum of Asian Art
Musée Cluny - National Museum of the Middle Ages
Musée des Antiquités Nationales de Saint-Germain-en-Laye - National Museum of Archeology
Musée National de la Renaissance d'Ecouen - Everything from Renaissance sculpture and paintings to furniture
Musée des Arts et Metiers - Houses the collection of the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts, which was founded to preserve scientific instruments and inventions
Musée de l'Air et de l'Espace - National Museum of Air and Space

If you are a student, you can also have a pretty complete weekend of Parisian art thanks to the French Ministry of Culture. Four well-known Paris museums are enticing the younger crowd, ages 18-25, with free admission one night a week. This means you can check out the Centre Pompidou (Wednesday nights), the Musée d'Orsay (Thursday nights), the Louvre (Friday nights) and the Musee du Quai Branly (Saturday nights) without spending a penny -- except for your Metro ticket.

Filed under: Arts and Culture, France, Budget Travel