Paris Catacombs

History

The tunnels beneath the Catacombs began as limestone quarries dating back to the 15th century, dug to supply stone for building Paris itself. By the late 18th century, the city's cemeteries had become a serious public health problem: the mass grave at Les Innocents in central Paris had been in use for nearly a thousand years and was overflowing, with reports of cellar walls collapsing under the weight of decomposing remains next door. In 1786, the city began transferring bones from Les Innocents and other Parisian cemeteries into the disused Tombe-Issoire quarries south of the city center.

The transfers were carried out at night in religious processions over roughly two years, moving remains from dozens of cemeteries. It wasn't until the early 19th century, under the direction of quarry inspector Louis-Étienne Héricart de Thury, that the loose bones were arranged into the walls of skulls and femurs visitors see today, turning a practical solution to a public health crisis into what was intended as a monument in its own right.

The tunnels have had a life beyond the ossuary itself. Victor Hugo set scenes from Les Misérables in them, and during the Second World War both the French Resistance and German forces used separate sections of the wider quarry network. Today only about 1.5 km of the roughly 320 km of tunnels beneath the city is open to the public as the Catacombs; the rest remains officially off-limits, though a subculture of urban explorers known as cataphiles still enters the sealed sections illegally.

Opening Hours & Wait Times

The Catacombs are open Tuesday to Sunday and closed every Monday, along with 1 January, 1 May, and 25 December.

Last admission is at 7:30 PM. Because only 200 visitors are allowed inside the tunnels at once, capacity, not popularity alone, is what drives the long waits here. Without a booked time slot, waits of several hours at the entrance are common, and on busy days walk-up visitors are turned away once the day's capacity is full. Afternoon slots tend to have more last-minute availability than mornings, and the tunnel's temperature stays around the same regardless of season, so there's no particular time of day that's more comfortable than another underground.

Tickets & Prices

Every ticket includes an audio guide and a timed entry slot. Reservation is strongly recommended for paid tickets and required for free admission too.

The reduced rate applies with valid proof such as an EU student card, jobseeker documentation, or a mobility inclusion card. Tickets are sold through the official Paris Musées booking system rather than at an on-site ticket counter, so there's no option to simply walk up and buy one when slots are available; the whole allocation is managed online.

Guided Tours

A guided tour is the only way to reach a handful of restricted sections and geological features not included on the standard self-guided route, and runs several days a week rather than the single weekly slot it used to be limited to. It costs roughly 5 to 7 € on top of the standard entry ticket and has to be booked online in advance, in the same way as regular admission.

Third-party guided tours bundle a fixed time slot with a guide who adds context along the standard route; useful if you'd rather not rely on the included audio guide, or if the official guided-tour slots for restricted areas are already booked out for your date.

Getting There

The entrance and the exit are about 800 meters apart, so plan your return journey from a different spot than where you went in.

Address: 1 Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, 75014 Paris, France

Highlights of the Catacombs

Good to Know

The route runs one way: 131 steps down at the start and 112 steps back up at the exit, roughly 800 meters from where you went in. There's no elevator and the site isn't wheelchair accessible. The tunnels stay a steady 14°C year-round, noticeably colder than the street above, so bring a light jacket even in summer.

Large bags and backpacks are restricted for conservation reasons, and there's no cloakroom on site. Because the standard tickets sell out days or weeks ahead in peak season, book as early as your travel dates allow rather than expecting to walk up.

The remains on display are real human bones, and the site is not designed as a haunted-house experience, more a somber historical one. Most families with children aged 8 and up manage it fine, but the cold, dark, enclosed setting isn't for everyone, and there's no way to turn back partway through the one-way route.

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Frequently Asked Questions