Marmottan Monet Museum and/or Petit Palais?

The Marmottan is terrific and Petit Palais is vastly underrated , a great collection

Well, I've done all 3. I would and have gone back to all 3. Here are my thoughts:

Marmottan - Absolutely awesome if you are a Monet fan. They also have excellent works by Berthe Morisot, Sisley and others. The basement area where the Monets are has always felt delightfully air-conditioned which some museums lack. It is harder to get to than Petit Palais and Hotel de la Marine. I had seen somewhere before my last trip that they may close in 2027 for a reno.

Petit Palais - The main collection is free but the entrance to their special exhibitions is paid. I've done a number of their special exhibitions and they are excellent. They have a good collection with a wide-ranging time period. Sometimes I have found some of their rooms closed. Last time I could not get to area with the Renaissance artists. There is a cafe here that just reopened in April or so. I did not go on my last visit so no idea if it is still a nice place or not. This location always feels very accessible to me and since it's free, easy to spend an hour or hour and a half here and move on without feeling you have to see everything.

Hotel de la Marine - I went for the first time last October and WOW I was impressed. It has an excellent audio guide which is based on who might have lived or worked in the various rooms. In no way did I feel like this was similar to the Petit Palais. Here the emphasis is on the building and who lived/worked there. The Petit Palais is all about the art collection. This venue is a bit spendy. IF you are going to get the Passion's Monument subscription that forum member jeanm often recommends, then this is covered by that. Easy to get to and on a long ago walking tour the guide pointed out bullet holes in the east side of the building from the street fighting during the Liberation of Paris in 1944.

My thoughts, but maybe they will help. To me there is ALWAYS too much to see in Paris. Whatever time you have will be taken up by something magnificent!

Since seeing paintings is one of the main reasons I travel, the Marmottan Monet and the Petit Palais were on my must-visit list last year. On the other hand, I have no interest in interior living spaces with furniture and objects; therefore, I excluded the Hotel de la Marine (same reason I avoided Versailles). All depends on your interests and the amount of time you have.

Marmottan for sure...you'll remember being surrounded by Monet for for the rest of your life!

The Marmatton is a must for fans of Monet and Impressionism. Within the permanent collection is Monet’s “Impression, Sunrise,” the namesake of the art movement.

This past May, I had a light lunch at the cafeteria-style courtyard cafe at the Petit Palais, Cafe 1902, that Pam mentioned. The food was fresh and the space is charming and unique. Compared to other museum cafeterias I thought that the prices were a bit higher than some but the food was good and you get the lovely setting, plus the free admission to the permanent collection.

I'm not sure when your upcoming trip is, but we are going for visit number eight in October.

We plan to visit L'Orangerie again, purely because of the Monet et Temps exhibition that starts at the end of September.

It will apparently showcase 40 works, mostly taken from the d'Orsay and the Marmottan.

This might change your desire to visit the Marmottan if you are going in that time period.

If not, as a Monet lover, it is well worth a visit.

I really loved the Marmottan. Also nice because it gets you out of the central arrondissements and a bit (but not too much) further out.

I agree with Pam. Hotel de la Marine was a pleasant surprise. The audio guide is excellent.

Logistically, the Marmottan is further from the "main" sights of Paris, so it's not quite as convenient if you're on a tight schedule.

The Petit Palais does have one work by Monet on display, Sunset on the Seine at Lavacourt, Winter Effect.

The Hotel de la Marine and the Petit Palais are apples and oranges, totally different experiences.

Adding to the comments about the Marmottan , In addition to the paintings , there is a fine collection of Medieval Illuminated manuscripts which are really a visual treat . I'm a sucker for these , and will take a day trip from Paris to Chantilly to see the collection there this coming October .