Rouen’s museums, from Monet to the Gros-Horloge
Rouen can keep you busy through a rainy Sunday, and a few more after that. The Métropole’s museums are free, and the others are well worth the ticket. Here’s where to go, depending on the mood of the day and the age of your troops.
Musée des Beaux-Arts
The most important Impressionist collection in France after Paris: Monet, Sisley, Pissarro, Caillebotte. You’ll also come across Caravaggio, Velázquez and a vast canvas by Raoul Dufy. Entry is free. Allow two hours, then take a break in the Square Verdrel, just behind.
Esplanade Marcel-Duchamp, 76000 Rouen
Coming up here: "La Cathédrale de Rouen : de l'atelier au musée", Claude Monet - Exposition-dossier (until 8 March), Les incontournables (until 27 March), "De l'ombre vers la lumière" - Charles Angrand - Exposition (11 November to 9 January)
Musée Le Secq des Tournelles
Thousands of keys, locks, shop signs, jewellery and wrought-iron gates, on show in a former church. It’s the most surprising collection in town, and children have fun spotting the oddest-looking key. Free. Allow an hour, often a little more.
Rue Jacques-Villon, 76000 Rouen
Coming up here: "La Cathédrale de Rouen : de l'atelier au musée", Claude Monet - Exposition-dossier (until 8 March), Les incontournables (until 27 March), "De l'ombre vers la lumière" - Charles Angrand - Exposition (11 November to 9 January)
Musée Flaubert et d’histoire de la médecine
Gustave Flaubert was born here, at the Hôtel-Dieu, where his father was a surgeon. You see the room he was born in, then a medical collection that never fails to get a reaction: surgical instruments, apothecary jars, an 18th-century childbirth mannequin. The medicinal plant garden rounds off the visit. Free.
51 rue de Lecat, 76000 Rouen
Coming up here: Visite commentée (Saturday 21 Nov, 3 pm), Visite commentée (Saturday 28 Nov, 4:30 pm), Visite commentée de la collection permanente (Saturday 5 Dec, 3 pm)
Le Gros-Horloge
Everyone walks under the old clock, but few go inside. The tour climbs up the belfry: the dial room, a 14th-century clock mechanism, the bells, then the view over the rooftops and the cathedral. Allow 40 minutes with the audio guide, which also comes in a children’s version. Narrow stairs, no wheelchair access.
Rue du Gros-Horloge, 76000 Rouen
Coming up here: Escape game au Gros-Horloge (21 to 28 November)
Historial Jeanne d’Arc
In the former archbishops’ palace, where Joan of Arc’s name was cleared. The tour follows an investigation from room to room, from the Gothic crypt up to the attic, with projections and voice-overs. A good way to tell children her story without burying them in dates.
7 rue Saint-Romain, 76000 Rouen
Coming up here: Slow visite co-animée par Gaëlle Piton (Thursday 12 Nov, 6 pm), « Incorporer » : Spectacle chorégraphique par la Compagnie La Ressaque (Saturday 14 Nov, 11 am), Nouvel orgue Renaissance (Wednesday 25 Nov, 5 pm)
Munaé, musée national de l’Éducation
A half-timbered house on Rue Eau-de-Robec tells the story of school through its objects. The permanent exhibition makes parents smile and children curious, and new exhibitions are added regularly. Entry is free, and an hour is enough.
185 rue Eau-de-Robec, 76000 Rouen
Coming up here: Exposition : Enfants et alcools (until 15 January), Exposition : Fantastique physique ! (11 November to 30 December)
Corderie Vallois
On the edge of Rouen, in the Cailly valley, a 19th-century spinning mill where the waterwheel still drives the machines. You follow how ropes and braids are made, from raw cotton fibre to coloured thread. Free, and perfect with children who are curious about machinery.
185 route de Dieppe, 76960 Notre-Dame-de-Bondeville
Updated 10 November 2026.