Centre Pompidou
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Centre Pompidou tickets and tours

The project of the Centre Pompidou was initially conceptualized to be a large, free and general use public library that until the mid 20th century was...

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Entrance Tickets
2 Days
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Museums

'Bacon en toutes lettres' + museum and exhibitions ticket

FRANCIS BACON: BOOKS AND PAINTING 11 SEPTEMBRE 2019 - 20 JANVIER 2020 GALLERY 2The Centre Pompidou presents an exceptional retrospective ded...

Duration
1 day
Available in: English
Entrance Tickets
$ 16
Must see
Museums
(1657)

Open tickets for the Centre Pompidou permanent collection

Welcome to the biggest contemporary and modern art museum in Europe! This ticket gives you access to the permanent collection of the Centre ...

Duration
1 day
Available in: English
Entrance Tickets
$ 16
Museums
(11)

Centre Pompidou 2-hour private guided tour

Get the most of contemporary and modern art taking this 2-hour guided tour of the Centre Pompidou with an expert guide. In the very heart of...

Duration
2 hours
Available in: English
Guided Tour
$ 70
Museums
(6)

Guided tour of the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou

Visit the permanent collections of the Centre Pompidou with an expert guide.The Centre Pompidou now contains Europe's leading collection of ...

Duration
2 hours
Available in: English
Guided Tour
$ 78
Museums

Skip-the-line guided tour of the Centre Pompidou in small group

The Pompidou Center houses some of the world’s most exciting modern and contemporary art, and on this 2-2.5 hour guided tour, you will learn...

Duration
2 hours
Available in: English
Guided Tour
$ 100
Bike Tours

Bike tour from Pompidou Center to Champs Elysées

Ride the streets of Paris and pass through the most iconic spots of the city. In three hours, you'll roll from the Center Pompidou to the Ei...

Duration
3 hours
Available in: English
Guided Tour
$ 50
City passes
(6)

Paris Museum Pass

Paris at your finger tips with this combo ticket giving you access to museums!The Paris Museum Pass will allow you free entry, without queui...

Duration
2 days
Available in: English
Entrance Tickets
$ 59
Attractions & monuments
(18)

Private tour of Centre Pompidou

Explore Centre Pompidou with a professional guide and get the most out of your visit. This complex building, in the heart of Paris, offers m...

Duration
3 hours
Available in: English
Private tour
$ 224
City passes
(15)

The Paris Pass®

The Paris Pass is the ultimate sightseeing package that will grant you access to over 60 world-famous museums, art galleries, and monuments ...

Validity
Flexible
Available in: English
Entrance Tickets
$ 145

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Good to know

Designed by Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, it's considered a high-tech architectural wonder. All the infrastructure of the building is (radically) exposed, freeing up space in the interior.
Even in the off-season it's busy so it pays to book your tickets in advance. You'll still have to queue but at least it'll be shorter.
It was championed by former president Georges Pompidou (hence the name), who wanted to create a cultural center that would draw visitors to the city.
Don't make the mistake of waiting in the enormous queue for the public library (on the side of the building). Enter from the main entrance.
The pipes, ducts and other exterior elements are color coded according to their function, with blue for air, green for water, yellow for electricity, and red for elevators and lifts.
It's more popular than anyone thought it would be and receives around 25,000 visitors a day, five times more than originally planned for.
The 6th floor has a spectacular panoramic view. Access is included in your entrance ticket, otherwise you can get in by dining at Georges or buying a 5 euro view-only ticket.
Thursdays the center is open until 11pm. It's less crowded, but only the 6th floor exhibition is open til late.
Georges is the fancy French fusion restaurant with the spectacular view. It's where you'll find posh locals and tourists looking to splurge.
Not all the art is inside. The nearby Stravinsky fountain was created in 1983 by artists Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle. Its 16 modern sculptures are inspired by Igor Stravinsky's ‘The Rite of Spring', and his other major works.
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The inside story

The project of the Centre Pompidou was initially conceptualized to be a large, free and general use public library that until the mid 20th century was greatly lacking in the city of Paris. At the same time the city’s Museum of Modern Arts, or Musée National d’Art Moderne was in great need of a new home.

Commissioned by the then President of France Georges Pompidou (whose name was eventually given to this cultural center) an architectural competition began to win the right to plan and build the new structure.

A team of two Italian and one British architects won and gave life to what is today considered a highly avant-garde building that embraces the future. It was not initially received well by the public and critics because thought to create a strong esthetic clash with the surrounding area. One could say that the outer ‘walls’ are missing, leaving exposed the skeleton of the building, with brightly colored tubes of the mechanical systems visible to anyone. More recently it is a structure that has been praised as a great innovation architectural thought on a whole.

At the time of construction IRCAM, a center for music and acoustic research, was already on location and is today also an integral part of the Centre Georges Pompidou.

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How to get there

Centre Pompidou 19 Rue Beaubourg Paris
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