--- title: "Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon: Free Entry and Ducal Tombs" description: "The tombs of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless with their alabaster mourners. Permanent collections free, closed Tuesdays. Driver from Beaune." url: https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/musee-des-beaux-arts-dijon lang: en updated: 2026-10-01 generated: 2026-10-08 image: https://www.cote-privee.com/og/things-to-do/musee-des-beaux-arts-dijon.png --- # Dijon Fine Arts Museum (Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dijon) > Dijon Fine Arts Museum: One of the oldest museums in France, home to the tombs of the Valois dukes of Burgundy. Dijon Fine Arts Museum is in Dijon (Côte-d'Or), 44 min by road (48 km) from Beaune. Opening hours: 1 June to 30 September: every day except Tuesday, 10:00 to 18:30; 1 October to 31 May: every day except Tuesday, 9:30 to 18:00 · Admission: Free entry · Allow 1 to 3 hours · Private driver from Beaune: €120 one way for the whole car, up to 4 guests. Dijon's Fine Arts Museum occupies part of the ducal palace and is one of the oldest and richest museums in France. Its permanent collections are free. The highlight is the dukes' great hall, where the tombs of Philip the Bold and John the Fearless stand surrounded by their famous alabaster mourners. ## Key facts - Type: Museums - Location: 35 km north-east of Beaune · Côte-d'Or - Coordinates: 47.3216, 5.0424 - 44 min from Beaune - Open all year - Allow 1 to 3 hours - Where: [Dijon · Côte-d'Or](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/dijon) - Official website: [musees.dijon.fr](https://musees.dijon.fr/) - From Beaune: ≈ 44 min · 48 km - €120 one way from Beaune with a [private driver](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver) - Or add it to our [full-day wine tour, €560](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day). ## Getting there - [Private driver from Beaune](https://www.cote-privee.com/private-driver): 44 min by road (48 km), €120 one way for the whole car. Coming by train or plane? [Transfers from stations and airports](https://www.cote-privee.com/transfers) Estimates per vehicle for up to 4 guests, tolls included. Your price is confirmed when you book. ## History The museum grew out of a free drawing school founded in the 1760s at the suggestion of the sculptor François Devosge. The Estates of Burgundy built an east wing of the palace for the school and its models, and the collections opened to the public in 1799. Between 1804 and 1812 the state sent 72 paintings from the central museum of the arts in Paris, the future Louvre. The ducal tombs came from the Chartreuse de Champmol, the monastery Philip the Bold founded outside Dijon as his family's burial place. Damaged during the Revolution, they were restored and installed in the palace's great hall in 1827. Philip the Bold's tomb was begun by Jean de Marville, taken up by Claus Sluter and finished by Claus de Werve around 1410. The tomb of John the Fearless and Margaret of Bavaria followed between 1443 and 1470. A long renovation began in 2006. The Middle Ages and Renaissance galleries reopened in 2013, and the whole museum reopened in May 2019, with about 1,500 works shown in 50 rooms. The collections now number more than 140,000 works, from ancient Egypt to contemporary art, including the large Granville donation of modern paintings. Attendance soared after the reopening, reaching about 315,000 visitors in 2019. ## What you will see Start in the Salle des Gardes, the dukes' banqueting hall with its monumental fireplace, where the two tombs stand. Walk slowly around them to study the mourners, each hooded figure different. Nearby are the gilded altarpieces carved by Jacques de Baerze and painted by Melchior Broederlam for Champmol. The route then runs from Italian and Flemish painting to a marble polar bear by François Pompon and modern works. The vaulted ducal kitchens of the 1430s are part of the visit. ## Opening hours and tickets - Opening hours: - 1 June to 30 September: every day except Tuesday, 10:00 to 18:30 - 1 October to 31 May: every day except Tuesday, 9:30 to 18:00 - Closed: 1 January, 1 May, 8 May, 14 July, 1 November, 11 November and 25 December - Admission: Free entry - Booking: Not needed Only the temporary exhibitions are charged, €9 or €5 at the reduced rate. Checked on 1 October 2026 on [the official site](https://musees.dijon.fr/infos-pratiques-2/). ## Planning your visit Entry to the permanent collections is free, and only temporary exhibitions are charged. The museum is closed on Tuesdays. A free app, Nomade, offers themed routes. Allow about an hour for the ducal rooms and three hours or more for the whole museum. ## Did you know? In 1945 one of the ten 19th-century replacement mourners was traded to an English collector for a medieval one. It returned to the museum as a gift in 2025, completing the set. ## Around Dijon Fine Arts Museum What to combine with Dijon Fine Arts Museum on the same day, nearest first. ### Villages - [Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/dijon) (1 km away): Burgundy's historic capital, city of the Valois dukes and northern gateway to the Route des Grands Crus. - [Marsannay-la-Côte](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/marsannay-la-cote) (7 km away): Gateway to the Côte de Nuits and Burgundy's only village appellation making red, white and rosé. - [Fixin](https://www.cote-privee.com/villages/fixin) (10 km away): A quiet wine village with Napoleon in the woods, a Romanesque church in the vines and firm reds. ### Châteaux - [Château de Montmusard](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-montmusard) (1 km away): The surviving wing of a daring neoclassical pleasure house designed by Charles De Wailly. - [Château de Fontaine-lès-Dijon (Maison natale de saint Bernard)](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-fontaine-les-dijon), 3 km away: The hilltop birthplace of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, overlooking Dijon. - [Château de Marsannay](https://www.cote-privee.com/chateaux/chateau-de-marsannay) (7 km away): A modern wine château at the northern gateway to the Côte de Nuits. ### Things to do - [Grand Théâtre de Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/grand-theatre-de-dijon) (1 km away): A neoclassical theatre of 1828 with a portico of eight Corinthian columns, on the site of the dukes' Sainte-Chapelle. - [Palace of the Dukes and Estates of Burgundy (Palais des Ducs et des États de Bourgogne)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/palais-des-ducs-dijon), 1 km away: The seat of Burgundy's dukes and later of its Estates, now Dijon's town hall and museum. - [Tower of Philip the Good (Tour Philippe le Bon)](https://www.cote-privee.com/things-to-do/tour-philippe-le-bon), 1 km away: Climb 316 steps up the dukes' 46-metre tower for a sweeping view over Dijon's rooftops. ### Restaurants - [Loiseau des Ducs](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/loiseau-des-ducs-dijon) (1 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): The Loiseau signature in Dijon, served beneath the vaults of a sixteenth-century mansion - [La Maison des Cariatides](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/la-maison-des-cariatides-dijon) (1 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A chef couple from Le Bristol regains a star behind one of Dijon's most ornate Renaissance façades - [CIBO](https://www.cote-privee.com/restaurants/cibo-dijon) (1 km away · 1 MICHELIN star): A starred table in old Dijon that sources everything within 200 kilometres ### Events - **Saturday, 10 October 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Show les papilles](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/show-les-papilles-dijon): Dijon's free festival of taste at the Cité internationale de la gastronomie et du vin. (Food & markets · Dijon) - **Sunday, 11 October 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Marathon des Grands Crus](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/marathon-des-grands-crus): A marathon on the closed Route des Grands Crus, from Dijon to the Clos de Vougeot and back. (Sport · Dijon) - **Friday 23 – Sunday 25 October 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Salon des Vignerons Indépendants de Bourgogne et du Jura](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/salon-vignerons-independants-dijon): Some sixty independent growers from Burgundy and the Jura pour and sell their wines in Dijon. (Wine festival · Dijon) - **Saturday 31 October – Wednesday 11 November 2026 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Foire internationale et gastronomique de Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/foire-gastronomique-dijon): Burgundy's great food fair, held every autumn in Dijon since 1921. (Food & markets · Dijon) - **Usually from the last Saturday of November to the first Sunday of January.** · [Les Fééries de Noël de Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/feeries-de-noel-dijon): Chalets, vin chaud, an ice rink and a big wheel across the heart of Dijon. (Christmas · Dijon) - **Usually from late November to early December.** · [Les Nuits d’Orient et d’ailleurs](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/nuits-d-orient-et-d-ailleurs-dijon): Dijon's winter festival of music, dance and art from the Orient and beyond. (Culture · Dijon) - **Each year on the weekend after the Saint-Vincent Tournante, usually a Saturday in late January or early February.** · [Saint-Vincent de Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/saint-vincent-de-dijon): Dijon honours the patron saint of winegrowers with a parade and a tasting village. (Tradition · Dijon) - **Usually a weekend in early June.** · [Grand Prix de l’Âge d’Or](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/grand-prix-age-d-or-dijon-prenois): France's oldest historic motor racing meeting, on the hills just outside Dijon. (Sport · Prenois) - **Every Sunday from late June to late September.** · [Le Brunch des Halles](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/brunch-des-halles-dijon): Summer Sunday brunches cooked by local chefs under Dijon's iron market hall. (Food & markets · Dijon) - **Every two years, in even-numbered years; recent editions were held in early July. The next is expected in 2028.** · [Les Fêtes de la Vigne de Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/fetes-de-la-vigne-dijon): Dijon's international folk festival, born in 1946 and held every two years. (Culture · Dijon) - **Friday 27 – Sunday 29 August 2027 (Confirmed by the organiser)** · [Golden Coast Festival](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/golden-coast-festival-dijon): Three days of French and international rap in a park on the edge of Dijon. (Music · Dijon) - **Usually a Sunday in mid September.** · [Vélotour Dijon](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/velotour-dijon): A playful bike ride through Dijon that opens places normally closed to cyclists. (Sport · Dijon) - **Usually the third weekend of September, during the European Heritage Days.** · [Fête de la Pressée](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/fete-de-la-pressee-chenove): The dukes' giant wine presses come back to life in Chenôve's old village. (Tradition · Chenôve) - **Usually the last days of September and the first days of October.** · [Tribu Festival](https://www.cote-privee.com/events/tribu-festival-dijon): Dijon's festival of world music, jazz and adventurous sounds, at the turn of October. (Music · Dijon) ### Guides about Dijon Fine Arts Museum - [Beaune or Dijon: where to stay](https://www.cote-privee.com/guides/beaune-or-dijon-where-to-stay) - [Burgundy with children](https://www.cote-privee.com/guides/burgundy-with-children) ## Questions about Dijon Fine Arts Museum ### How far is Dijon Fine Arts Museum from Beaune? Dijon Fine Arts Museum is about 44 min from Beaune by road (48 km). With a private driver, the trip from Beaune starts at €120 for the whole car, up to 4 guests. ### How long does a visit to Dijon Fine Arts Museum take? For the visit, allow 1 to 3 hours. ### When is Dijon Fine Arts Museum open? Opening days and times change during the year, so check the official website (musees.dijon.fr) before you go. Your driver can plan the day around them. ### Is Dijon Fine Arts Museum a UNESCO World Heritage site? Yes. Dijon Fine Arts Museum is part of a site inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. ### Can a private driver take us to Dijon Fine Arts Museum? Yes. Your driver collects you in Beaune or at your hotel in an electric Polestar 2 (up to 4 guests), waits while you visit and plans the rest of the day with you. The driver speaks English, French, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. → [Full-day wine tour, €560](https://www.cote-privee.com/wine-tours/full-day) ## Book - [Book a driver here](https://www.cote-privee.com/book?service=driver&place=sight:beauxartsdijon): €120 one way from Beaune · up to 4 guests ## Sources - - - - - - - - --- Canonical page: