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There is one evening a year when the Château de Fontainebleau change of pace: the doors stay open after nightfall, and the Grand Apartments of the Sovereigns are discovered in a light that is never seen during normal visiting hours. This is the European Museum Night, and the 2026 edition - the 23ᵉ of the name - will take place on Saturday 23 May, 8pm to midnight.
Access is free of charge, Free admission, no need to book. The last entrance to the château is 22h30, This leaves plenty of time to walk through the Francis I Gallery, the Ballroom, the Chapel of the Trinity and the Imperial Apartments at a much more leisurely pace than in broad daylight. The volumes take on a different depth, the gilding catches the candles and lamps, and the château recaptures something of the lively residence it was for eight centuries.
Museum Night is a national event launched in 2005 by the French Ministry of Culture, which brings together several thousand museums across Europe every year. For the Château de Fontainebleau, it's one of the rare occasions when you can enter the royal flats without a ticket and without strict time constraints - it's a chance to bring along those who don't take the plunge during the rest of the year, and to revisit rooms you thought you knew.
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