Beneath the streets of Paris, miles of subterranean passageways are filled with stacks of human bones. Here’s how to see them.
(Photo: GetYourGuide)
The Paris Catacombs are both macabre and unrelentingly fascinating. Roughly six million people reside in these macabre ossuaries, after dying during famines, pestilences, riots or from natural causes. The network of tunnels is so extensive, in fact, that people have become lost down there for days. And while a small portion of the catacombs are open to visitors, a tour is a certified way of understanding the stories and significance behind the skulls and femurs. Read on for skip-the-queue tickets, audio guides and access all areas guided tours.
Standard Ticket and Audio Guide
(Photo: Rachael Alter via Flickr / CC BY-ND 2.0)
Visitors can descend into one of Paris’s most hauntingly fascinating sites with a timed-entry standard ticket to the Catacombs, complete with an informative audio guide. Far below the city streets lies a shadowy world of tunnels lined with the bones of over six million Parisians. It’s unerringly atmospheric, and steeped in history. The audio guide adds rich context as you explore this subterranean ossuary, once a limestone quarry and now a reminder of the city’s past. From €37 per person.
Skip-the-line ticket and audio guide
The Catacombs are a popular attraction and long queues have been known to form at the entrance. The simplest, and best-value way to beat these queues is this skip-the-line, allocated entry time ticket. In various spots, the bones have often been arranged into artworks or very ordered piles, with some even containing the victims of a specific massacre or tragedy. As such, the audio guide is an excellent accompaniment, offering up context, as well as excerpts from the storied history of the catacombs themselves, which have witnessed all sorts of spectacles, from murder to music concerts. From €198 per person.
Semi-Private VIP Restricted Access Tour
(Photo: Memories France / Courtesy Viator)
One thing you quickly notice when you’re under the streets of Paris, besides the big piles of human bones of course, is that there are dozens of additional passageways blocked by locked gates. These only hint at the vast scale of the catacombs. They lead deeper into the web of tunnels beneath the city and their very restriction is what makes them so tantalizing to explore. Well now there is a special tour to allow just that. With groups capped at seven people, follow your guide and escape the crowds through gates that are locked closed to the general public. From €163 per person.