Is it possible to claim to be the tourist capital of the world and close its museums one day a week? In 2014, the idea of opening major French museums 7 days a week surfaced in order to meet tourist demand and increase museum revenue. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, then also responsible for tourism, publicly defended this orientation. He considered it “abnormal” that major museums like the Louvre, Orsay or Versailles were closed one day a week while tourists were not stopping.
President François Hollande took up this idea in October 2014 during the inauguration of the renovated Picasso Museum, saying that major museums could be open every day. However, the project did not materialize due to budgetary constraints, the complexity of work organization and opposition from unions. They remind us that the closing day is essential for the maintenance of the building and the conservation of the works. Henri Loyrette, who had just left the management of the Louvre, believed that the works should “breathe”. In 2015, the ambition was revised downwards. The extra day is reserved for schoolchildren, and not the general public. The Louvre, Orsay and Versailles did open their closing day to school groups, but on a limited basis. This provision was subsequently gradually abandoned.
What about museums abroad? Globally, as competition between major cultural destinations intensifies, a large number of institutions are giving up their weekly closing day to cope with an increase in tourist numbers.
Europe: contrasting situation
In Europe, the situation is contrasted. Museums open every day are mainly concentrated in Anglo-Saxon and Northern European countries. Elsewhere, closing on Monday or Tuesday remains the norm. This practice nevertheless tends to become more flexible in the most tourist sites.
The British capital has long adopted 7-day-a-week opening in its major public museums. The British Museum, the National Gallery and the Tate Modern and Tate Britain galleries welcome the public every day, without exception. The British Museum, for example, is open every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (late night until 8:30 p.m. on Friday). This policy of maximum accessibility is coupled with free entry to the permanent collection.
In the Netherlands, since its major renovation in 2013, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has become one of the first national museums in the world to open 365 days a year. Its doors are open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., including public holidays. Other major Dutch sites such as the Van Gogh Museum or the Anne Frank House are also accessible every day, with occasional exceptions.
In Italy, the opening of museums seven days a week remains far from being the norm, with the exception of the Capitoline Museums. Many museums in Italy still observe a weekly closing day, such as the Uffizi Gallery (Florence), the Museo del Novecento (Milan) or the Vatican Museums.
Madrid illustrates recent developments. The Prado Museum moved to daily opening in November 2011. It offers a very wide opening time, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day. Opposite, the Reina Sofía Museum (modern art) continues to close on Tuesdays. The Prado justified this move to 7 days a week as much by the service to visitors as by the need to increase revenues in a context of falling public subsidies during the economic crisis.
North America votes 7/7
On the American continent, New York was one of the first metropolises to massively adopt the continued opening of its major museums, in order to meet sharply increasing public demand. In 2013, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) waived its Tuesday closing. The MoMA, renovated and expanded in 2004, saw its attendance explode (from 1.5 to 3 million visitors annually). He felt that staying open every day would help manage this influx. Today, MoMA is open every day from 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (late night until 8:30 p.m. on Fridays). Other major New York museums were already following this approach or began doing so shortly after. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, famous for its Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, has long been closed on Thursdays. This exception ended in 2019, when the Guggenheim adopted a 7-day-a-week schedule to celebrate its 60th anniversary.
The Whitney Museum remains one of the few major New York museums to maintain a weekly closing day, in this case Tuesday. An exception shared with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which remains closed on Wednesdays, despite an attendance of 5.7 million visitors in 2025. But these exceptions tend to be reduced.
In Washington, DC, almost all of the Smithsonian Institution’s federal museums are open every day of the year, closing only on December 25. Access is free. These establishments have public funding allowing them to cover the costs of continued opening.
Latin America: one day of closure
In Latin America, the tradition of the weekly closing day remains largely in force. In many cities in South and Central America, national museums typically close on Mondays. For example, in Mexico City, the famous National Museum of Anthropology is open Tuesday to Sunday (9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and closed every Monday, like most Mexican museums.
However, there are some exceptions in the tourist hotspots of Latin America: the Gold Museum in Bogotá (Colombia) is open 7 days a week in summer, as are certain archaeological sites in Peru or Ecuador which welcome visitors every day. But these cases remain in the minority. The norm, from Buenos Aires to Lima, remains to grant museums a weekly respite, often on Mondays.
Oceania in the footsteps of North America
In Oceania (Australia, New Zealand), museums have generally adopted extended hours, many being open 7 days a week, in line with Anglo-Saxon countries. The culture of public service is strong there. In major Australian cities, most museums are open daily, only closing on a few major holidays (such as Christmas or Good Friday). In Sydney, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is open Monday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (with late-night viewing on Wednesday) and only closes on Christmas and Good Friday. In Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) also welcomes the public every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closing only on Christmas Day.
In New Zealand, the Te Papa Tongarewa National Museum in Wellington is emblematic of this openness 7 days a week. Te Papa is accessible every day of the year from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., closing only on December 25. Entrance is free, with a view to cultural democratization. Likewise, the Auckland Museum or the Art Gallery of New Zealand are open daily, with extended hours on weekdays and weekends. New Zealand adopted this practice early on for its national museums, saving tourists and locals the worry of a possible “closing day.”
Contrasted situation in Asia
In Asia, many museums, particularly in China, Japan and South Korea, remain closed on Mondays (sometimes Tuesdays) to carry out maintenance work. The Tokyo National Museum traditionally remains closed on this day. In China, the Forbidden City (Beijing Palace Museum) is closed on Mondays outside peak periods.
In contrast, the city-state of Singapore has adopted a policy of maximum openness for its museums, aligned with its tourist positioning. The main cultural establishments are open every day. The National Museum of Singapore is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The same goes for the National Gallery or the Museum of Asian Civilizations. This policy is facilitated by the modest size of the country and the priority given to the tourism sector.
Africa: often on a closing day
Finally, on the African continent, continued openness remains the exception. However, a few important institutions deviate from the rule, generally in countries where cultural tourism is important. The Egyptian Museum in Cairo welcomes visitors every day without exception. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The new Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza also announces an opening 7 days a week. Egypt, whose economy benefits largely from tourism, has every interest in keeping its leading museums open every day.
Major South African museums, such as the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg or the Zeitz MOCAA Museum of Contemporary Art in Cape Town, traditionally have one day of closure (e.g. Monday or Tuesday). However, it has happened that these institutions open 7 days a week during special events or school holidays to attract more visitors. Generally speaking, in southern Africa, it is more on weekends that museums are full.
Ultimately, on the basis of a census carried out by Le Journal des Arts of around fifty museums around the world, the opening of museums 7 days a week tends to become a norm for large cultural institutions. It appears in particular that the countries of the North favor the continuous opening of museums while the countries of the South maintain one day of closure.
