Monet's Garden at Giverny

The flower pathway, the pond and the Japanese bridge, Monet's house — and where his paintings live today

In 1883 Claude Monet saw Giverny from a train window; a few years later he turned it into his largest work — a garden planted to a painter's eye. He painted here for more than forty years, from the poppy-lined pathway to the water-lily pond, until the last Nymphéas dissolved into pure colour. This page walks you through the pathway, the pond and Monet's house, and tells you where the paintings are now.

Where: Giverny, Normandy, France — about 75 km from Paris
Open: House & garden open spring to autumn (check the Fondation Claude Monet calendar)
Signature works: Water Lilies · Japanese Bridge · Path in the Garden at Giverny · Poppy Field
Where to see: Musée d'Orsay · Musée de l'Orangerie · Musée Marmottan Monet

1The pathway in Monet's garden at Giverny

The spine of the garden is the Grande Allée, lined with iron arches draped in roses that close overhead into a flowering tunnel by midsummer. Monet painted it again and again — “Path in the Garden at Giverny” and “The Artist's Garden at Giverny” both look down this walk. What he was really painting was the light at the far end: the whole path becomes a colour receding into distance.

2Monet's pond and the Japanese bridge

In 1893 Monet bought land across the railway, diverted a branch of the Epte to dig his pond, and threw a wooden Japanese bridge over it. For the next thirty years Monet's pond became the subject: Monet's Water Lilies series, the bridge series, the agapanthus and the irises. He set his easel here from dawn to dusk, chasing what the same sheet of water does in changing light.

3Monet's house

The “pink house” of Giverny — pink walls, green shutters — keeps his studio and the blue kitchen on the ground floor. Monet moved his family in in 1883 and died here in 1926. House and garden are run by the Fondation Claude Monet and open from spring to autumn; the flowerbeds are replanted from his own notes.

4Where Monet's paintings are today

The Musée d'Orsay in Paris holds a great number of the middle-period works; the Musée de l'Orangerie shows the late Water Lilies cycle in the oval rooms Monet designed them for; the Musée Marmottan Monet holds “Impression, Sunrise”. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Met in New York hold many more, and the rest are scattered through private collections worldwide.

5Linnea in Monet's Garden

In 1985 the Swedish writer Christina Björk and illustrator Lena Anderson sent a little girl named Linnea to Paris and Giverny with her neighbour to see Monet's garden. Translated into many languages, the book introduced the pathway and the Japanese bridge to a generation of readers — and it is why so many people search for “Linnea in Monet's Garden”.

Paint this garden into a card

The studio's palettes are distilled from the pathway, the pond and the water lilies of Giverny — pick one and paint a Monet's garden card of your own.

Paint with Giverny palettes See the gallery of Monet-style cards Monet's house, and where his paintings live

Monet's garden — frequently asked questions

Where is Monet's garden?

At Giverny in Normandy, France, about 75 km west of Paris. Monet lived there from 1883 until his death; house and garden are managed by the Fondation Claude Monet and open from spring to autumn.

Where is the pathway in Monet's garden at Giverny?

It is the Grande Allée, the central walk whose rose-covered arches close into a tunnel in summer. Monet painted it in works such as “Path in the Garden at Giverny” and “The Artist's Garden at Giverny”.

Can you visit Monet's house?

Yes — the pink house with green shutters shares its ticket with the garden, open spring to autumn. His studio, the blue kitchen and flowerbeds replanted from his own notes are all there to see.

Where are Monet's paintings today?

The big collections are in Paris: the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée de l'Orangerie (the late Water Lilies rooms) and the Musée Marmottan Monet (“Impression, Sunrise”). Many more hang at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Met.

What is Linnea in Monet's Garden?

A 1985 children's book by Christina Björk and Lena Anderson in which young Linnea travels to Paris and Giverny to see Monet's garden. It has been translated into many languages and is how a generation first met the garden.

Every page in both languages: the studio, Monet's garden at Giverny, his paintings and the museums that hold them today.