How to Get Moulin Rouge Tickets in Paris

The Moulin Rouge lit up at night with its famous red windmill glowing above Boulevard de Clichy

That red windmill has been spinning since 1889. The neon is newer, but the effect is exactly the same — you stop walking and stare.
Close-up of the Moulin Rouge red windmill against the Paris sky in Montmartre
Toulouse-Lautrec painted this place in the 1890s and honestly not much has changed about the way it grabs your attention from the street.
Paris city lights seen from above at night with the skyline stretching into the distance
Paris after dark is a different city entirely. The Moulin Rouge sits right in the thick of it, at the base of Montmartre.
The full facade of the Moulin Rouge cabaret showing its red exterior and marquee
The facade on Boulevard de Clichy. You will know it when you see it — there is nothing subtle about the place.
The Moulin Rouge has been selling out shows since before the Eiffel Tower had an elevator. Over a century of cancan dancers, feathered costumes, champagne service, and an audience that keeps coming back. The current revue, called Feerie, has been running since 2009 and features around 100 performers, over 1,000 costumes, and actual live pythons. Also a full aquarium tank that rises from the stage floor. It is, to put it simply, a lot.

But getting tickets is where things get complicated. The Moulin Rouge runs two shows every night at 9pm and 11pm, the venue holds about 850 people, and both performances regularly sell out weeks ahead. Add in the dinner show option, combo packages with Seine cruises, and the range of prices from around 90 euros to over 500 euros, and the choices stack up fast.

Here is what you actually need to know to book the right experience without overpaying or ending up in a bad seat.

In a Hurry? Our Top 3 Picks

Dinner Show at the Moulin Rouge — The full experience. Three-course French dinner with champagne, then the 9pm Feerie show. Four hours, starting at $300 per person. If you only do one thing in Paris at night, this is it.

Evening Sightseeing Tour + Moulin Rouge Show — See the Paris landmarks lit up from a coach, then head to the 9pm show with half a bottle of champagne. From $200 per person, 4-5 hours. Best value if you want two experiences in one evening.

Moulin Rouge Show + Champagne + Seine Cruise — The show at 9pm with champagne, plus a separate Seine River cruise. About $306 per person, 5.5 hours. For people who want to pack an entire Paris evening into a single booking.

Contents

What the Moulin Rouge Show Actually Includes

The Moulin Rouge glowing warmly against the Paris night sky in Montmartre

The glow from inside spills out onto the street. Even if you do not go in, walking past at night is something.
The current production — Feerie — is not a play or a musical in the conventional sense. There is no dialogue and no narrative arc to follow. It is a sequence of elaborate set pieces built around dance, acrobatics, and visual spectacle, all accompanied by a live orchestra.

The cancan is the centerpiece, and it is genuinely impressive. A line of Doriss Girls (the Moulin Rouge’s own troupe) high-kicking in perfect synchronization while the skirts fly. If you have seen the Baz Luhrmann film, dial back the CGI and add real physical skill. The actual cancan is faster and more athletic than most people expect.

Between the dance numbers, the show weaves in aerial silk performances, juggling acts, magic, and a few moments that are deliberately over-the-top — including the aforementioned aquarium rising through the stage. The costumes are extraordinary: rhinestones, feathers, sequins, and a level of tailoring that would make a couture house take notes.

A half bottle of champagne per person is included with every show ticket. It is not great champagne — but it is cold, it is bubbly, and drinking it inside the Moulin Rouge while watching the cancan feels exactly right.

Two champagne flutes filled with bubbly sitting on an elegantly set table

Half a bottle per person. The champagne is nothing you would write home about, but the setting more than makes up for it.

Show Only vs. Dinner Show

The Moulin Rouge illuminated at night with its red windmill lit up and crowds gathered below

The dinner crowd arrives around 7pm. Show-only guests come at 9pm. Both enter through the same famous doors.
This is the decision that trips most people up, and it comes down to how much you want to spend and how hungry you are.

Show Only (9pm or 11pm)

You arrive, get seated at a table in the cabaret hall, receive your champagne, and watch the show. The 9pm show starts promptly and runs about two hours. The 11pm show (available Friday and Saturday only from October through March, nightly in summer) is the same performance but tends to draw a slightly younger, more casual crowd. Show-only tickets start at around 87 euros through the official site, or around $120-150 through tour platforms that include extras like transport.

Dinner + Show (7pm arrival)

Dinner guests arrive at 7pm and are served a three-course French meal while a live orchestra plays. The food is decent but not destination-dining quality — think competent hotel restaurant rather than Michelin. You are paying for the atmosphere more than the cuisine. The menu typically includes options like foie gras, beef tenderloin, or fish, with wine and champagne flowing throughout. After dinner, the 9pm show begins at your same table.

Dinner packages range from about 210 euros for the basic menu (Toulouse-Lautrec) up to 420 euros or more for the premium Belle Epoque menu with better wine pairings.

The honest take: If budget is a factor, skip the dinner. The show is the main event, and you can eat far better at a real Paris restaurant for less money. But if you want the full old-school glamour of a French cabaret evening — dressing up, sitting at a table with white linen, having champagne poured while an orchestra plays — the dinner show delivers something you genuinely cannot get anywhere else.

The Best Moulin Rouge Tickets

The Moulin Rouge and surrounding buildings seen from the Boulevard de Clichy street level

Boulevard de Clichy. The red light district reputation is outdated — these days the area is mostly travelers and overpriced cocktail bars.
We went through every Moulin Rouge experience available on the major booking platforms and picked three that cover the full range of what most visitors actually want. A straightforward dinner show, a combo with Paris sightseeing, and a package that adds a Seine cruise.

1. Dinner Show at the Moulin Rouge

Dinner Show at the Moulin Rouge in Paris

From $300 per person | 4 hours

The complete package. Arrive at 7pm for a three-course French dinner with champagne, wine, and live orchestra entertainment. At 9pm, the Feerie show begins at your table. Four hours from start to finish.

This is the flagship experience and the one the Moulin Rouge itself pushes hardest. The dinner is served in the actual cabaret hall — the same room where the show happens — so you are already soaking in the atmosphere from the moment you sit down. Red velvet, dim lighting, the orchestra warming up in the background.

The food sits somewhere between banquet and bistro. It will not rewrite your understanding of French cooking. But the foie gras is proper, the beef is cooked well, and the dessert usually involves enough chocolate to keep everyone happy. You are not here for the food — you are here for the experience of eating dinner in the Moulin Rouge while an orchestra plays jazz standards, and that part delivers completely.

One practical note: tables are arranged cabaret-style, meaning you share a long table with other guests. It is not private dining. If that bothers you, premium packages with better table placement are available at higher price points.

Read the full review and book this experience

2. Evening Sightseeing Tour + Moulin Rouge Show

Evening Sightseeing Tour and Moulin Rouge Show in Paris

From $200 per person | 4-5 hours

This one combines a coach tour of illuminated Paris landmarks with the 9pm Moulin Rouge show and half a bottle of champagne. The bus picks you up from a central meeting point, drives past the Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Louvre, Notre-Dame, and the Eiffel Tower — all lit up — then drops you at the Moulin Rouge for the show.

It is the best value option on this list if you want more than just the show. At $200, you are getting a narrated sightseeing tour and the full Feerie performance for less than the dinner show costs. The trade-off is no dinner and a bus tour that moves fast — you will not get out and walk around at each landmark. But for a first evening in Paris, it gives you a quick orientation of the city before settling into the main event.

The champagne is served inside the Moulin Rouge once you are seated for the show. Same half bottle per person as the other options.

Read the full review and book this combo

3. Moulin Rouge Show + Champagne + Seine Cruise

First Show Moulin Rouge with Champagne and Seine Cruise in Paris

From $306 per person | About 5.5 hours

The biggest package: the 9pm Moulin Rouge show with champagne plus a separate one-hour Seine River cruise. The cruise runs either before or after the show depending on the night, and you get a voucher for it when you pick up your tickets.

Paris bridges and landmarks illuminated and reflecting in the Seine River at night

The Seine at night from a cruise boat. Notre-Dame, the Louvre, and a string of medieval bridges all slide past.
The Seine cruise covers the major landmarks from the water — Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame, the bridges, the Musee d’Orsay — and looks especially good at night when everything is lit up. It is a different angle on the city than you get walking around, and it is relaxing after the sensory overload of the Moulin Rouge.

At $306 this is the most expensive non-dinner option, but you are packing two of Paris’s biggest evening activities into one night. If you are only in the city for a few days, the convenience has real value.

Read the full review and book this package

When to Book and What to Expect

The Moulin Rouge red windmill seen during the day against a clear blue Paris sky

By daylight the place looks almost quaint. Walk past on your way to Sacre-Coeur and snap a photo before the crowds arrive at night.
The Moulin Rouge sells out. Not “sometimes sells out” or “can be hard to get” — it routinely sells out weeks in advance, especially for the dinner show and for Friday/Saturday performances. If your dates are fixed, book as early as you can. Three to four weeks minimum for show-only, six weeks or more for dinner shows during peak season (June through September, plus December holidays).

9pm vs 11pm: The 9pm show is the main event and the one most visitors attend. The 11pm show is identical in content but has a different energy — the crowd skews younger, the dress code is slightly more relaxed, and the venue feels more like a nightclub than a formal cabaret. If you want the classic Moulin Rouge atmosphere, go at 9pm. If you want something livelier and less polished, try 11pm.

Day of the week: Tuesday through Thursday are the easiest nights to get tickets. Friday and Saturday sell out first. Monday is dark — the Moulin Rouge is closed.

Cancellation policies: Most third-party bookings allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before. The official Moulin Rouge website has stricter policies. Always check the terms when you book.

Dress Code, Seats, and What Nobody Tells You

Evening light over the rooftops and streets of Montmartre in Paris

Montmartre in the early evening. Get dinner at a bistro up here before heading downhill to the show — your wallet will thank you.
Dress code: Smart casual at minimum. No shorts, no flip-flops, no sportswear. Men in jeans and a nice shirt are fine. Women in a dress or smart trousers work perfectly. The dinner show crowd tends to dress up more — some people go full cocktail attire, and that is part of the fun. You will not be turned away for being underdressed unless you are wearing athletic gear, but you will feel out of place if everyone at your table is in a blazer and you showed up in a hoodie.

Seating: The Moulin Rouge uses cabaret-style seating. Long tables, shared with other guests, facing the stage. You do not pick your seat when you book. Seating is assigned on arrival, and dinner guests tend to get better positions because they arrive first. If table placement matters to you, there are VIP packages that guarantee front-row seats, but they cost substantially more.

Arrive early. Doors open 30 minutes before showtime. The earlier you arrive within that window, the more likely you are to get a table with a good sightline. The back corners can have slightly obstructed views due to pillars and lighting rigs.

Photography: Photos are allowed before the show starts and during the intermission. Once the lights go down and the performance begins, cameras and phones must be put away. The venue enforces this.

Getting there: Metro line 2 to Blanche station. The Moulin Rouge is literally outside the station exit — you cannot miss it. An Uber from central Paris runs about 10-15 euros. After the show, the area is busy enough that grabbing a cab or rideshare is straightforward, though expect a short wait around 11pm when the 9pm show lets out.

The Moulin Rouge exterior at night with neon signs glowing and the red windmill spinning above

Metro Blanche, exit right, look up. You are there.
Drinks beyond the champagne: The included half-bottle is fine for the show, but if you want cocktails or additional wine, the Moulin Rouge bar is open and prices are steep. A cocktail runs 18-25 euros. If you are on a budget, have a drink at one of the cafes on Place Blanche before heading in.

The 11pm show tip: If you book the 11pm show, have dinner in Montmartre beforehand. The neighborhood has everything from casual crepe stands to proper sit-down bistros, and you will eat far better for far less than the Moulin Rouge dinner costs. Le Relais Gascon on Rue des Abbesses does enormous salads. Bouillon Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy serves classic French dishes for under 15 euros.

The Seine River at dusk with historic Parisian buildings and a stone bridge reflected in the water

After the show, walk south 20 minutes and you will hit the river. Paris at midnight with champagne still in your system is about as good as it gets.
After the show lets out, you are standing at the foot of Montmartre with all of Paris spread out below. If the evening is warm, walk up the hill to Sacre-Coeur — it is about fifteen minutes on foot — and sit on the basilica steps looking out over the city lights. The travelers will mostly be gone by then, and the view from up there late at night, with the Eiffel Tower sparkling in the distance and the sound of a street musician drifting up from somewhere below, is one of those Paris moments that makes you understand why people keep coming back here. The Moulin Rouge is the show. But Montmartre is the real stage.

Sacre-Coeur Basilica illuminated at night on the Montmartre hilltop in Paris

Sacre-Coeur after the show. Fifteen minutes uphill from the Moulin Rouge and worth every step.
A quiet Montmartre street in Paris at dusk with warm light from cafe windows
The streets around Montmartre late in the evening. This is the Paris you came for.
More Paris booking guides: If you are planning the rest of your Paris days, we have similar breakdowns for getting Eiffel Tower tickets and booking Louvre Museum tickets.

Disclosure: This article contains links to tour reviews on our site. If you book a tour through one of the partner links on our review pages, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps us keep producing free travel guides.

More France Guides

The Moulin Rouge sits at the foot of Montmartre, which makes it easy to pair with a daytime Montmartre tour through the hilltop quarter — walk the cobblestoned streets by day and catch the show by night. For a completely different kind of performance venue, Palais Garnier is the ornate opera house on the other side of the city and worth visiting even if you do not attend a show. During the day before your evening at the cabaret, the Eiffel Tower is a twenty-minute Metro ride south and looks especially good lit up at night on your way home. If you are staying in Montmartre for a few days, a bike tour is a great way to cover the rest of Paris.