_Berger,_Fonst_(8_mai_1904,_Palais_Royal)_-_btv1b53217249x.jpg){kind=link}
1 min walk · Paris 1er Arrondissement
Salle Richelieu
- Must see
- Art and culture venue
Historic site · Paris 1er Arrondissement, Paris
Palais-Royal
Palais Royal
- Today
- Open today, 07:00 – 23:00
- Visit duration
- 45 min Editorial visit time estimate
- Accessibility
- Step-free
- Price
- Free entry
- Standing
- Must see · Heritage site
- Rank
- Rank 24 of 7,609
Plan your visit.
Opening hours
| Monday | 07:00 – 23:00 |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 07:00 – 23:00 |
| Wednesday | 07:00 – 23:00 |
| Thursday | 07:00 – 23:00 |
| Friday | 07:00 – 23:00 |
| Saturday | 07:00 – 23:00 |
| Sunday | 07:00 – 23:00 |
Checked 2026-08-31 · Source
About Palais-Royal
The Palais-Royal was a cardinal's house that became Europe's first shopping centre and then the place the Revolution started. Jacques Lemercier built it for Cardinal Richelieu between 1633 and 1639 as the Palais-Cardinal. It passed to the crown on Richelieu's death in 1642 and was renamed. In 1781–84 Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, had Victor Louis wrap the garden in colonnaded galleries and let the ground floors as commerce: 145 boutiques, cafés, salons, bookshops and museums, in a private enclosure the royal police could not enter.
Checked 2026-08-31 · Source
What's inside
A quiet formal garden, an arcade of specialist shops, and 260 striped columns. Daniel Buren's Les Deux Plateaux, installed in 1985–86 in the Cour d'Honneur, is a field of black-and-white striped columns of different heights standing in the courtyard. It was hated on installation and is now the most photographed object on the site. The Comédie-Française occupies the Salle Richelieu, completed in 1786 and seating 2,000. The Théâtre du Palais-Royal, of 750 seats, is in the Galerie de Montpensier. Le Grand Véfour, the restaurant under the northern arcade, opened in 1784.
Checked 2026-08-31 · Source
How long to spend
An hour, and it is the best hour in the 1st arrondissement for the money, which is none. The courtyard with the Buren columns takes fifteen minutes. The garden beyond, with its double avenues of clipped limes and its central fountain, is where Parisians eat lunch. The arcades take another twenty minutes if you look into the windows: the shops here are antiquarian, one of them sells nothing but military decorations, and none of them is a chain.
Checked 2026-08-31 · Source
Season and crowds
Palais-Royal garden opens daily on seasonal hours, generally 07:00-23:00 summer and closes earlier in winter.
Checked 2026-08-31 · Source
Tickets
Garden and courtyard access are free; theatre and exhibitions charge separately.
Checked 2026-08-31 · Source
Getting there
The named Metro stations are Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre and Pyramides.
Checked 2026-08-31 · Source
What to watch out for
Step-free entrances or public approaches, lifts where required, and accessible toilets serve principal visitor areas. Historic surfaces, crowds and security remain relevant.
Checked 2026-08-31 · Source
Photography
The Buren columns are the photograph and the way to make it well is from ground level between them, so the stripes stack — not from the arcade above, which is where everyone shoots and where the pattern flattens. Early or late light gives the columns their shadows; midday erases them. The garden's double lime avenues frame the palace at the north end and take morning sun. The arcades themselves are dim, symmetrical and the strongest architectural subject on the site — a long colonnade receding, with the garden bright at the end of it.
Checked 2026-08-31 · Source
Place details and sources
- Type of place
- Attraction OpenStreetMap · Checked 2026-09-09
- Established
- 1628 Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
- Heritage designation
- classified historical monument Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
- Architectural style
- classical architecture Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
- Architect
- Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
- Operator
- Centre des monuments nationaux Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
- Wikipedia article
- Palais-Royal Wikipedia · Checked 2026-09-09
- Website Wikidata · Checked 2026-09-09
- View on Wikidata
Common questions
What are the regular hours?
Palais-Royal garden opens daily on seasonal hours, generally 07:00-23:00 summer and closes earlier in winter.
What is base admission?
Garden and courtyard access are free; theatre and exhibitions charge separately.
Is the complete route step-free?
Step-free entrances or public approaches, lifts where required, and accessible toilets serve principal visitor areas.
Which public transport is named?
The named Metro stations are Palais Royal–Musée du Louvre and Pyramides.
Can operations alter access?
Yes. Worship, events, maintenance, weather and security can change ordinary access.
Are premium products included?
No. Special tours, exhibitions and upgrades use separate tickets.
Loading the interactive map…
The interactive map could not be loaded.
Nearby
Within 2 min on foot-
-
2 min walk · Paris 1er ArrondissementSnake Charmer
- Notable
- Art and culture venue
-
1 min walk · Paris 1er ArrondissementLe Kiosque des noctambules
- High
- Art and culture venue
In Paris 1er Arrondissement
Same category
Fit it into a plan
Last updated:
Source: OpenStreetMap contributors, Wikidata ·