Musée Condé, Château de Chantilly

The Musée Condé is the art museum inside the Château de Chantilly, about 40 kilometres north of Paris in the Oise department. It holds the second-largest collection of old master paintings in France after the Louvre, including works by Raphael and Poussin, and a library of rare manuscripts. A Domain ticket covers the château, the park and the Great Stables, so the estate suits a full day trip from Paris.

Henri d'Orléans, Duke of Aumale and son of King Louis-Philippe, had the Grand Château rebuilt from 1875 to hold his collections of paintings, drawings and books. In 1884 he gave the estate and its contents to the Institut de France on condition that the display stay exactly as he arranged it. The museum opened in 1898 and has changed little since. Paintings hang closely in his chosen order, as in the 19th century, and the bequest forbids lending them, so they can only be seen here.

Raphael, Botticelli and the picture galleries

The museum holds more than 800 masterpieces, with Botticelli and Delacroix among the painters, and the picture galleries hang French, Italian and Flemish painting and a large group of portraits. Raphael is represented by three works, including The Three Graces, and Nicolas Poussin by five. The princely apartments show furniture and decorative arts.

The library and archives hold more than 13,000 works, including rare manuscripts and early printed books. The most famous is the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, a 15th-century illuminated book of hours. The original is very fragile and rarely shown; visitors usually see a facsimile, and the original appears only in occasional special exhibitions. Until 3 January 2027 the château shows Le Diamant rose, an exhibition on jewellery and history.

Le Nôtre's park and the Musée du Cheval stables

The park was laid out by André Le Nôtre and includes an Anglo-Chinese garden and a hamlet. The Great Stables, about 500 metres from the château, were built in the 18th century to designs by Jean Aubert and house the Musée du Cheval, with equestrian shows. The Chantilly racecourse lies beside them, and the forest of Chantilly surrounds the estate.