Museum of the Great War Entry Ticket: A Comprehensive Tour of WW1 History
4.6
34 Ratings
Meaux
Discover the Museum of the Great War, a comprehensive tour of WW1 history. Explore a collection of over 70,000 objects and documents, suitable for all ages. Engaging activities and workshops available for the whole family.
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: 1 day learn more
Highlights
  • Musee de la Grande Guerre - With a collection of nearly 70,000 objects and documents retracing the daily and military life of the 14-18 war, the Museum of the Great War allows you to learn more about the First World War, also called the Total War.
    Please note that the Museum is still closed for the last three weeks in August, please consult the official page before any reservation and ticket purchase to check the closing dates https://www.museedelagrandeguerre.com
What's Included
  • Museum and exhibition entry included
What's Not Included
  • Personal expenditure
Additional Information

Why should you explore our museum? Beyond the call of remembrance, the Great War Museum offers an immersive experience into the 14-18 war through numerous artifacts and archives within our vast collection. The museum facilitates users of every age bracket by offering visitor-friendly tools and activities perfect for the entire family, inclusive of a children’s section, educational games, audio assistance, creative workshops, and more.

The museum’s inception was the brainchild of one individual, Jean-Pierre Verney, a history enthusiast, who devoted almost five decades of his life gathering materials that paint a vivid picture of World War I. In 2005, the Pays de Meaux acquired this rare, extensive collection of over 50,000 pieces and made the decision to construct a museum to magnify its historical significance! Till this day, the collection numbers over 70,000 exhibits.

  • Wheelchairs and cane chairs are available
Location
Musee de la Grande Guerre
rue Lazare Ponticelli
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
4.6
(34 Ratings)
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Leoline78
Mar 26, 2024
Essential to understand everything about the Great War - Simply unmissable museum. Everything is balanced… bold exterior architecture… even moving manicured park… with its statues, its machines and subtle originality with a circuit for broadcasting sounds outside linked to this war… the welcome is perfect. Reasonable price. Then the visit is quite simply very intelligently organized... educational without falling into gimmickry or excessive teaching... poignant films... perfectly eloquent reconstructions... an exhaustive visit for anyone interested in this war. Note the many buses of very young people who bring forth generations of future historians. It’s very encouraging to see this intergenerational mix. A magnificent moment of hope for peace. The shop is very well stocked... unfortunately no catering is a fairly notable lack or even not acceptable for such a place... otherwise go ahead.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
433bertrandp
Feb 28, 2024
Great - A must-see in the city of Meaux for HISTORY enthusiasts. Video documents, reconstruction of battlefields, exhibition of weapons, uniforms, etc. Small shop of Goodies and books. Pleasant moment
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Gigi0171
Nov 27, 2023
Very nice museum - A very beautiful museum which should be visited by all middle and high school students in the region. It's more telling than any history lesson! Easy to access in every sense of the word... Everyone, depending on their age, will discover parts of this history that is despite everything not so distant... That our life is different from that of our great-grandparents.. .
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P3935jtthomast
Oct 30, 2023
The Best World War I Museum! - One of the best depictions of the Great War (WWI), of course, with a French perspective. That said, it was objective in presenting all sides and highlighting the utter futility and waste of waging war as a means of settling disputes between nations. The exhibits took us from the humiliation of the French in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the loss of Alsace and Lorraine through the horrors of WWI and up to the 2010s and the continuing conflicts plaguing the world. I would highly recommend it as a side trip from Paris. Make it an overnight so you can fully appreciate the museum and take the two hour ride east to see the sites of the First Battle of the Marne.
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Travelero279
Jul 16, 2023
Excellent Museum on the Great War - An excellent museum on the Great War, you could easily spend the better part of an entire day here going through all the exhibits, and then proceed to the north and east to visit the many battlefields of World War I nearby. There's a short film upon purchasing your ticket followed by an exhibit that begins with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 and how these sowed the seeds of discontent decades before the Great War erupted. There's free wifi for following the audio tour on your phone - recommend bringing bluetooth headphones so you can click and listen throughout the tour. Great info and very well laid out information from start to finish with interactive exhibits that kids will find interesting. There are trenches laid out the way they would've looked at the time along with first hand accounts, charts of what happened and when, as well as vehicles, tanks, field guns, etc.. Lots to see. At the end of the tour, there's a rooftop terrace open at times that gives a nice view of the surrounding area along with a path that leads to a monument commending fallen American soldiers - although as of this writing the statue had scaffolding around it for refurbishment and was closed to visitors for the time being. There's a gift shop and toilets at the of the tour as well with what appeared to be vending machines on the ground floor (lift available for those who may need it). World War I - history buffs will especially enjoy this museum. Free parking on site.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cliu
May 9, 2022
Very informative and lovely museum but a bit far - First time visiting this museum. We went to Gare de L’Est and took the P train to Meaux…no washrooms on train and trip is covered by Navigo. The train ride was about 40 mins then upon arrival we had to wait for Bus G which goes directly to the museum. Being a Sunday and holiday, bus G was the only one that goes there and every bus comes in 55 mins or so. We just missed one so we took a bus at stop 7 or 8 that stops at Jean Vilas, it is the 3rd stop get odd and walk 35 minutes straight ahead until museum. On a weekday would be much better because there are about 5 different buses that go to the museum unlike the weekends. A very kind lady that works for the trains told us to just walk after getting off at Jean Vilas. She was so helpful and nice, but everything was spoken in French. The museum is 7 euros for seniors and one can easily spend 3 to 4 hours enjoying all the artifacts, the life sized models, the short videos, the section on the role of the women during WW1, all the exhibits, and the beautiful roof top with a beautiful view. By about 5:15 pm we were at the roof top and had a pate baguette as we did not eat lunch. We could have spent more time on the roof top looking at what was the battle field but security came to close up the roof at 5:30 but museum still open til 6 pm. Our visit was great and we enjoyed the museum as we learned a lot but my only suggestion is the museum should have more English translations beside many of the French only exhibits like journals and letters written by the women. During the French videos, they should also have English translation perhaps on the screen. There were many exhibits in French only. To take the bus back to the train station, hop across the street to the right and again the bus comes every 55 minutes. Again on a Sunday and holiday, it was bus G. It was sunny and pleasantly warm sitting on the bus bench so we sat patiently for the bus.
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Gordonj430
Sep 17, 2020
Great collections, great exhibit layout - If you want to just explore the story, you walk through the lower half of the exhibit area. If you want to see more artifacts, you walk into the upper half of the exhibit area. You can spend as much or as little time as you want. Perfect! AND it's one of, if not THE best Great War collections in Europe. .
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Ceris339
Jul 20, 2020
Excellent - Stunning WW1 museum. Excellent collection of so many WW1 artefacts, so much information and in various language. Visually stunning and educational. Really worth a visit, Covid safe and a good space to walk around, hardly anyone here.
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Y7568xpmichaelo
Apr 26, 2024
Excellent museum with a superb collection of uniforms.A shame there is still no cafe. - Would have been five stars but for the ridiculous lack of signs to find the Museum on the approach road and then once in the car park. I arrived early and eventually found the entrance hidden behind a concrete wall by the car park with a small sign on the wall. Would no doubt have been easier to find when lots of people around. Mentioned this poor signage at the ticket desk and was told I am not the first to do so ! The museum is excellent. It is the huge collection of uniforms that stood out for me. So useful to add uniform colours to all those black and white films of the war. Also, good to see the French Colonial forces get a mention in a special exhibition.Good background information at the start about the Franco - Prussian War.Lots of interesting objects and good cine films as well. A shame that most of the display cabinet signs are only in French but then it is a French museum !
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Globetrotterbreizh
Jul 16, 2021
Great place to visit - My nephew loves history, so we decided to go for this museum. It is a great place to visit. It is quite big, and we were blessed to get there early morning and met a lovely gentleman in a war outfit. He explained it all to us. He moves around the museum and gladly answers any question anyone may have. The museum is full of interesting artifacts and also shows some interesting little movies on the subject. It is a great place to do with kids or with people who are interested on the subject. The souvenirs are fairly priced, and they have a large selection of books for sale on the subject of war.
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up to 10 guests
1 Adult
June 2024
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