Exploring the Museum of Antiquities, Rouen, France
I visited Rouen as part of a larger tour of France, and one of the highlights of my visit was going to the Museum of Antiquities & Museum of Natural History. (They’re basically in the same building so it’s easy to go to both in one visit.)
I really liked this museum– or at least I liked half of it! The rooms featuring artifacts from the Roman era and onwards were great, with some amazing statues, tapestries, pots, etc.! But the natural history part was so weird: tons of taxidermy animals inside of glass cabinets. Turns out the taxidermy is fairly typical for French museums, though unusual compared to US museums where we have more things like skeletons and animal recreations.
This post shares some of the interesting things I saw in the museum(s) during my visit.
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Know Before You Go: Museum of Antiquities, Rouen, France
- Address: 198 Rue Beauvoisine, Rouen
- Plus code: C3WX+RP Rouen, France
- Phone: +33276303950
- Website: https://museumderouen.fr/en
Essential Details
- Recommended Duration: 2 hours for highlights, 3+ for intense study of every room
- Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM; Sundays 2:00 PM – 6:00 PM. Closed Mondays.
- Closed on the following days: 1 January, 1 May, 1 and 11 November, and 25 December.
- Admission: Free entry for permanent exhibits, €4 admission for temporary exhibitions.
Entry & Tickets
- Skip-the-line Options: Not needed
- Online Booking: Only needed for groups
- Entry Requirements:
- Bag restrictions: Large bags need to be put in the free lockers at the entrance
- Security check: None
- Dress code: None
💡 Pro Planning Tips
- Going during the week means you may run into school groups doing a class trip
Building Overview
- Suggested Route: Start at the bottom in the antiquities museum and work your way around to the natural history side
- Floors: 3 floors
Accessibility
- Elevators: Yes, one
- Ramps: Yes, at the entrance on Maurois square
- Wheelchair Access: The exhibition spaces, workshop areas and toilets are wheelchair accessible
Navigation Tips
- Main Pathways: Marble flooring in the antiquities museum, old wooden floors in the natural history museum
- Bottleneck Areas: The Natural History Museum part has weird corners that you can get jammed up in
- Signage: French majority, some English translations
💡 Pro Navigation Tips
- If you make arrangements ahead of time, museum staff are available to guide visitors who are blind, visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, as well as people with reduced mobility or learning difficulties.
- They have a version of the museum map in braille or large print as well
Seating Areas
- Main Hall: Some benches in hallway
Facilities
- Restrooms: 1 near the entrance/main hall
- Accessible Restrooms: Yes
- Water Fountains: Yes (next to the restroom)
- Temperature: Air conditioned but not overly cold
Food & Drink
- Museum Café: No, but they have a coffee vending machine near the coatroom
- Outside Food Policy: Not allowed
- Nearby Options:
- Together Asia Fusion Food
- Moby’s Café
Available Services
- Bag Storage: Free lockers at entrance
- Audio Guides: Not available
- Gift Shop: Yes (mostly books)
- Information Desk: Same as ticket desk, some English
Additional Amenities
- Wifi: No
- Photography: Allowed
Special Services
- Guide Services: Available for special needs visitors, not sure if English is available
- Special Needs: Large print and braille maps available
🤔 Looking for other fun things to do in Rouen?
Antiquities Museum, Rouen
The museum is housed in a converted 17th century convent, so it’s got some great vaulted ceilings reminiscent of the nearby gothic churches.
Religious Artifacts
This is the majority of the collection, I’d say, and most of it is Christian religious artifacts in particular. They do have a room for Ancient Egyptian artifacts as well, and some Greek/Roman/Mesopotamia artifacts.
Ancient Roman Artifacts
I was hoping this section would be bigger than it was, but most of the interesting things were tiny carvings and small jugs and whatnot. However, they do have an amazing mosaic you can see and walk around!
Tapestries
When I visited, they had a special section for tapestries and included modern artists! It was very difficult to get good photos as the room was super dark, but here’s one I managed to get.
Natural History Museum
The majority of the display is behind glass in these cabinets, which makes it a bit difficult to see the items but it DOES have a fun, almost spooky 19th century haunted school feel to it. The floors are all wooden and creak ominously every time you move.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to the museum(s). At the time, they didn’t have every info plaque in French AND English, so I had to do a lot of translating with Google Translate. The major parts of the exhibits did have large English language plaques going over the history of the things in that particular section, but the smaller parts weren’t 100% translated. Just fyi!
I’d say give yourself at least two hours to get through everything in the museum, more if you plan to translate and read every info plaque. If you only have a little bit of time, then just quickly go through the main part of the antiquities museum and skip the natural history museum.
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