1. The Louvre
Surely the world's most famous museum — and certainly the world's most visited. No trip to Paris is complete without a tour of the Louvre. The vast museum covers over 60,600 square metres and houses some of the world's most recognisable artworks, including Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo — not to mention another 380,000 objects including 35,000 works of art. Understandably, it can be a little overwhelming, so it's best to plan your trip beforehand and focus on one area — children invariably adore the Egyptian Antiquities department with mummies galore. Alternatively, hook up with one of the excellent English-language guided tours to whizz you around the museum's greatest hits. louvre.fr
2. The Musée d'Orsay
This iconic museum overlooks the Seine on the Left Bank, and is surely one of the best places in the world to while away an art-filled afternoon. A former railway station from the Beaux Arts period, the Gare d'Orsay was converted to a museum in 1986. Light floods the interior through the striking iron and glass canopy roof and, on a sunny day, the illumination of the world's largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist masterpieces is mesmerising. The Orsay boasts some of the best-loved works of artists such as Manet, Monet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Gauguin and Van Gogh. Simply stunning. musee-orsay.fr
3. The Pompidou Centre
Unmistakeable and unmissable, the Pompidou Centre was designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers and opened in 1977. The building is strikingly modern with a network of coloured tubes and piping weaving across the façade. A celebration of modern and contemporary art, the permanent collection at the Pompidou numbers over 50,000 pieces, including works by Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Rothko and Pollock. Film buffs will enjoy the excellent cinema cycles held there, literature fans will adore the bookshop and public library and those more in interested in the scene than the art will love the rooftop restaurant, Georges, which is surely the world's hippest museum café. centrepompidou.fr
4. The Musée du Quai Branly
Paris's newest national museum, and one of former President Jacques Chirac's Grand Projets, the Quai Branly is dedicated to objects and art from Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas. Intended to function as a postcolonial museum celebrating cultural diversity, the Quai Branly caused quite a stir when it was inaugurated in 2006. Debates over the success of these intentions aside, the glorious pieces on display transcend argument: the striking building, designed by French architect Jean Nouvel and featuring an impressive vertical garden, brings together over 260,000 pieces rehoused from the now-closed Museum of African and Oceanic Art and Museum of Man. quaibranly.fr
5. The Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
Contemporary art lovers visiting this museum (which translates as the Museum of Modern Art of the City of Paris), near Trocadero in the sedate 16th arrondissement, are in for a treat: the museum boasts an extensive collection of modern and contemporary pieces including works by Picasso, Matisse, Raoul Dufy, Yves Klein and Robert Rauschenberg. Alongside the wonderful permanent collections, the venue organizes a roster of consistently crowd-pleasing temporary exhibitions, lectures, tours, concerts, film presentations and performance art. mam.paris.fr
