Musée des Impressionnismes

A short walk from Monet's house, this museum holds changing exhibitions of Impressionist and post-Impressionist work rather than a permanent collection — which means it is worth checking what is showing before making it a priority. The building is modern and well-designed, set in gardens that complement rather than compete with Monet's own.

When the exhibitions are well-chosen — which they often are — the museum offers a welcome counterpoint to the house: it situates Monet in the broader movement and shows what the generation after him did with his ideas. Entry is reasonable, and there is a good café in the garden.

things to do museum
A story
The museum opened in 1992 as the Musée d'Art Américain — it was initially devoted to American Impressionists who came to Giverny in Monet's wake, inspired by the master and drawn to the same Norman light. The village attracted dozens of American painters from the 1880s onward. When the museum was rethought and reopened in 2009, the scope was broadened to cover Impressionism worldwide.