Les Invalides Tickets: Napoleon's Tomb and the Army Museum in One Visit

One ticket covers Napoleon's tomb, the Dôme and the Army Museum at Les Invalides, and it costs €17. That leaves one real decision, which is what to see first, because the complex is larger than its famous grave and a visit can easily swallow half a day. Start with the tomb while the dome is quiet and let the museum fill whatever time is left.

Which Les Invalides ticket: one for everything, or with the Rodin

The full ticket covers the permanent collections, the Dôme, Napoleon's tomb, the current exhibition, the Order of Liberation museum and the Relief Maps museum. The reduced rate is €12 with proof. EU nationals and residents aged 18 to 25 pay €5 for the permanent collections and the Dôme, and under-18s and other eligible visitors enter free, though they still collect a ticket at the desk.

On the first Friday of the month the site opens in the evening, and the ticket then costs €10. A combined ticket with the Musée Rodin costs €26 for one entry to each museum, which is less than buying both separately at €17 and €14. The Paris Museum Pass is valid here and needs no booking.

Under-18s and other eligible visitors enter free but collect a ticket at the desk. The Paris Museum Pass is valid and needs no booking.

When to come and which entrance

Opening hours: daily 10 am–6 pm; the ticket desk closes 30 minutes earlier; first Friday of the month until 10 pm. Les Invalides is closed 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. The ticket desk closes half an hour before the site does, and on the first Friday of the month the complex stays open until 10 pm while the desk shuts at 9.

Use the main entrance from the Esplanade des Invalides, which opens at 10 am. The quietest visit is the first-Friday evening, when the same ticket costs less as well. In summer and at weekends the queue at the desk grows, so buy online and walk straight to the control. Once past the control, the courtyard is a good place to decide your order, because the museum and the dome are both part of the same ticket and nothing forces you to start with either.

Napoleon's tomb under the dome

The tomb lies beneath the golden dome, and you first see it from a gallery above, looking down into a sunken crypt. The sarcophagus is red quartzite, and twelve statues of Victories stand around it.

Napoleon has been here since 1861. Go to the gallery rail first, while it is quiet, and look down before the tour groups fill the space, because the view from the rail is the whole point of the room.

The museum is far larger than the tomb and takes two to three hours, or three to four if you read the world wars in depth. The medieval and Renaissance halls with their armour draw the biggest crowds, so they are the place to come early or late.

The two world wars are covered in detail, including a section on de Gaulle. When time is short, choose one wing, the Middle Ages or the wars, and do it properly instead of walking through both. The Order of Liberation museum and the Relief Maps museum sit on the same ticket if there is time left.

SightThe Musée Rodin is about five minutes on foot from Les Invalides, and because the combined ticket stays valid for three months, the two visits need not share a day.Musée Rodin Tickets: the Garden, the House and What to See in Two Hours →

When you only have an hour

With one hour, the tomb and the dome come first and the museum becomes a single wing. That is enough to leave with a clear picture of the place, and the rest of the day stays free for the Rodin or the river.

• Go to the tomb and the Dôme first, while the gallery is quiet.
• Pick one wing of the museum, the Middle Ages or the wars.
• Walk to the Rodin, about five minutes away.
• Come on a first-Friday evening for a calmer visit.

Getting aroundMetro lines 8 and 13 and RER C all stop at Invalides, and the same single fare as the rest of the city covers the trip: €2.55.Getting around Paris →

MuseumsLes Invalides is not in the table of five museums, but the Museum Pass works here, and Orsay is one RER C stop away.Museums in Paris →