Paris Underground tickets and tours cover Catacombs entry, guided walks and special-access options. Check the ticket format, access included and meeting details before you book.
A practical first choice for Catacombs entry with an audio guide. Check dates and ticket details before booking.
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Compare entry tickets, guided walks, special access and cruise combinations. These six options appear in descending review order. Check access zones, guided format, combination details, traveller feedback and current starting price before choosing.
1
Most reviewed
★★★★★ 4.645792 · 12,431 reviews
This has the most reviews among these six options. Choose it if you want Catacombs entry and an audio guide without adding a walking tour, cruise or special-access format.
2
Guided option
★★★★★ 4.6057315 · 4,346 reviews
This guided cemetery walk starts at the lowest supplied price among these six. Pick it for ghostly Paris stories above ground, rather than Catacombs entry or a ticket with an audio guide.
3
Combined ticket
★★★★★ 4.492242 · 1,639 reviews
This combines Catacombs entry, an audio guide and a Seine river cruise. It suits visitors planning both experiences, but starts above the entry-only ticket, so check the booking details before comparing.
4
Walking tour
★★★★★ 4.686585 · 1,128 reviews
Choose this guided walk for Paris dark-history stories without a Catacombs admission ticket. It has fewer reviews than the three options above, while its starting price sits close to the entry-only ticket.
5
Cruise option
★★★★★ 4.642079 · 1,120 reviews
This Catacombs option names an audio guide and river cruise option. It starts below the other Catacombs-and-cruise listing, so check the selected option and included access before booking.
6
Special access
★★★★★ 4.6698446 · 1,025 reviews
This is the special-access choice among these six and has the highest supplied starting price. Consider it if access beyond a standard entry format matters most; check the booking details for included areas.
Compare entry formats, guided walks, special access and cruise combinations. Prices differ based on added experiences, while ratings and review counts show how much traveller feedback each option has received.
| Option | From | Rating | Reviews | Format | Includes | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paris: Catacombs Entry Ticket and Audio GuideStraightforward Catacombs admission with an audio guide and the highest review volume. | €38 | 4.645792 | 12,431 | Entry ticket | Catacombs entry + audio guide | Travellers who want Catacombs admission without a cruise or guided walk. |
| Paris: Haunted Père Lachaise Cemetery Guided TourAbove-ground guided cemetery walk focused on haunted history and stories. | €22 | 4.6057315 | 4,346 | Guided walking tour | Guided tour + haunted history | Visitors seeking ghostly Paris stories rather than Catacombs entry. |
| Paris: Catacombs Entry & Seine River Cruise with Audio GuideCombines a Catacombs visit with an audio guide and Seine cruise. | €115 | 4.492242 | 1,639 | Combined ticket | Catacombs entry + audio guide + cruise | Travellers planning both the Catacombs and a Seine river cruise. |
| Paris: Dark History and Ghostly Guided Walking TourGuided city walk covering Paris dark history without Catacombs admission. | €30 | 4.686585 | 1,128 | Guided walking tour | Guided walk + dark history | Visitors who prefer ghostly stories on a guided walk above ground. |
| Paris: Catacombs, Audio Guide and River Cruise OptionCatacombs option that names an audio guide and river cruise. | €80 | 4.642079 | 1,120 | Cruise option ticket | Catacombs visit + audio guide + cruise option | Travellers comparing a lower-priced cruise option; check selected inclusions. |
| Paris: Catacombs Special Access TourSpecial-access Catacombs format with the highest supplied starting price. | €139 | 4.6698446 | 1,025 | Special-access tour | Special access + Catacombs tour | Visitors prioritising special access beyond a standard entry format. |
These six options differ by access type, guided format, cruise extras and starting price. Answer four quick questions to narrow the choice to a product that fits your plans.
Your result will compare Catacombs entry, guided walks, cruise combinations and special access.
The lowest starting price is not always the closest fit for the experience you want.
Paris Underground Tours cover different experiences, from Catacombs entry to above-ground history walks. A few quick checks can prevent a wrong purchase, a missed slot or a difficult visit underground.
Some Paris history tours do not include Catacombs entry
A cemetery or dark-history walking tour is an above-ground experience. Booking one when you expect an underground visit leaves you without Catacombs admission and can disrupt a planned day.
Fix: Check the product title and included access before paying. Choose an option that clearly states Catacombs entry if you want the ossuary route, rather than a guided cemetery or city walking tour.
Paid Catacombs tickets open only seven days ahead
The standard visit uses a reserved time slot, and popular dates can sell out quickly. Waiting until the day you want to visit may leave fewer choices or no suitable time.
Fix: Check the calendar when your travel date enters the seven-day booking window. Confirm the visit date and reserved entry time on the listing before you pay, especially if you are fitting it around other plans.
The underground route is not step-free and has many stairs
The Catacombs have 131 steps down and 112 steps up. The route is not wheelchair accessible, and uneven underground passages can make the visit unsuitable for some travellers.
Fix: Review the access details before booking for everyone in your group. If stairs, enclosed spaces or uneven ground are a concern, choose a different activity only after checking that option’s own accessibility information.
Large bags can be refused with nowhere to store them
Suitcases, large bags and motorcycle helmets are not allowed inside. There is no cloakroom or luggage storage, so arriving with travel bags can mean losing your booked visit.
Fix: Leave luggage at your hotel or use separate storage before travelling to Denfert-Rochereau. Bring only a bag no larger than 40 x 30 x 20 cm, carried at the front or held at your side.
Use this guide for opening hours, the one-way route, entrance details, audio guides, facilities and rules inside the Paris Catacombs.
The Catacombs open Tuesday to Sunday, 09:45 to 20:30, with last admission at 19:30.
The site is closed every Monday. It is also closed on January 1, May 1 and December 25.
The Catacombs can open on July 14, August 15, November 1 and November 11 unless the date falls on a Monday.
A late slot still needs enough time for the full underground circuit. Plan around the 19:30 admission cut-off, not only the closing time.
Allow about 1 hour for the 1.5 km one-way underground circuit.
The route follows former quarry passages and the municipal ossuary. You continue in one direction rather than returning through the entrance.
The included audio guide for paid admission also lasts about 1 hour, which fits the usual pace of the circuit.
Build in extra time before and after your slot for reaching Denfert-Rochereau and walking from the exit.
Enter at 1 Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, on Place Denfert-Rochereau.
The nearest station is Denfert-Rochereau, served by Métro and RER B. Buses 38 and 68 also stop nearby.
The route ends at 21 bis Avenue René-Coty. The exit is about 700 metres from the entrance.
Do not arrange to meet someone at the entrance after your visit unless they know you will emerge on Avenue René-Coty instead.
Paid admission includes an immersive audio guide in French, English, Spanish and German.
The guide uses a headset that starts commentary automatically as you move through the route. It covers the circuit in about 1 hour.
Free-admission visitors do not receive the audio guide automatically. They can buy one at the desk for €5.
Guided tours are currently unavailable through the Catacombs’ own tour offer, so the normal visit is self-paced with the audio guide.
The underground temperature averages about 14°C and conditions can be humid, even in summer.
A light warm layer is useful year-round. The entrance area can also involve a wait outside before you go underground.
The circuit includes stone passages and uneven ground. Comfortable shoes help on the route and on the stairs.
There is no published formal dress code, but warm clothing and practical footwear make the visit easier.
Restrooms are available at the entrance and exit, but eating and drinking are forbidden on the underground circuit.
Use the entrance restroom before starting if needed. The route is one-way, so the exit facilities are only available after completing the visit.
Food and drinks cannot be consumed inside the Catacombs. Plan a café or meal before or after your booked slot.
A gifts and bookshop is listed as part of the visit experience after the underground route.
Personal photography is allowed, but flash and tripods are prohibited.
The rule applies throughout a memorial site containing human remains. Keep your camera or phone handheld and avoid flash photography.
Commercial filming and photo shoots need approval requested at least two weeks ahead.
A personal photo permission does not cover commercial use, organised shoots or professional filming.
Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult, and strollers are not allowed.
Children aged 8 to 17 have a child ticket with audio guide included. Children aged 0 to 7 enter free without an audio guide.
Use a baby carrier instead of a stroller. The staircases and narrow underground passages do not suit pushchairs.
The visit includes an ossuary with human remains. Consider whether its enclosed setting and subject matter suit your child before booking.
No. The Catacombs are not step-free and are not accessible to wheelchair users.
The circuit has 131 steps down and 112 steps up. Underground surfaces can be uneven.
The visit is not recommended for people with motor disabilities, cardiac insufficiency or respiratory insufficiency.
Sight-disabled visitors must be accompanied. Guide dogs are allowed with an accompanying person, but white canes are prohibited on the route.
Timed entry manages arrival slots, but entry can still pause because only 200 visitors may be inside at once.
The Catacombs limit the number of visitors in the underground route. During busy periods, entry may be temporarily interrupted.
Your reserved slot remains important, but it does not promise immediate passage through every entry step.
Keep enough flexibility around the visit before booking a fixed meal, train or another timed attraction immediately afterwards.
Visitors often focus on the skull-lined walls, but the Catacombs are first a record of how Paris was built. The ossuary occupies former limestone quarries beneath the city, linking the stone used above ground with the burial crisis managed below it.
The Catacombs turn Paris’s building stone, burial history and civic memory into one underground landscape.
The passages existed because limestone was extracted beneath Paris for construction. Their rough walls, supporting masonry and changing proportions reveal an industrial landscape rather than a purpose-built tomb.
This matters because the Catacombs are only one transformed part of a much wider quarry network. The public circuit does not represent unrestricted underground Paris; it shows a carefully defined former quarry route given a new civic role.
The site became the Paris Municipal Ossuary on 7 April 1786, after overcrowded cemeteries created a public-health problem. Remains from several former Paris cemeteries were transferred into these underground spaces.
The ordered walls of bones can seem decorative at first. They are better understood as a memorial arrangement: human remains were moved from lost or closed burial grounds and placed within a new collective resting place.
The ossuary opened to visitors by appointment in 1809. From 1810 to 1814, Inspector Héricart de Thury reorganised it with monuments, inscriptions and formal compositions.
That intervention explains the shift between plain quarry corridors and composed bone displays. The route was shaped to make visitors reflect on mortality, history and the city’s responsibility for its dead, not simply to view an underground curiosity.
Notice where raw quarry surfaces give way to arranged remains, carved inscriptions and memorial structures. That contrast is the central story: Paris reused a working underground landscape, then gave it a solemn public meaning. Once you see those layers together, the Catacombs become a history of the city above as well as the remains below.
Planning to explore beneath the streets of Paris? Find clear answers about Catacombs tickets, underground attractions, guided experiences, accessibility, transport and essential visitor information for 2026.
The Paris Catacombs and Paris Sewers Museum are two of the city’s most distinctive underground attractions open to visitors.
The Catacombs feature historic limestone quarry galleries and a municipal ossuary. The Sewers Museum explores the city’s underground wastewater system through exhibitions and accessible sections of working infrastructure. Both require separate tickets.
Official 2026 admission costs €31 for adults, €25 for eligible reduced-rate visitors and €15 for children aged 8–17. Children under 8 receive free admission.
Standard paid admission includes an audio guide. Third-party guided tours and combination experiences may cost more. Always compare the inclusions before booking.
The official Catacombs ticketing system opens reservations seven days before the visit. Timed online booking is strongly recommended because entry capacity is limited.
Popular dates and convenient time slots can sell out. Check the official booking calendar when your preferred date becomes available, and avoid assuming tickets will be available at the entrance.
Both formats are available, depending on the attraction and ticket. Standard Paris Catacombs admission includes an audio-guided experience that visitors follow at their own pace.
Some third-party providers offer guided experiences or packages with additional activities. Check whether your selected ticket includes a live guide, an audio guide, admission or only an exterior walking tour.
The official Catacombs visitor route is approximately 1.5 kilometres long and usually takes around one hour to complete.
Allow extra time for arriving, security procedures and finding the entrance. If you are combining the Catacombs with other Paris attractions, leave enough time between reservations for transport and possible entry delays.
The entrance is at 1 Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, near Place Denfert-Rochereau in Paris’s 14th arrondissement.
Denfert-Rochereau station is served by Métro lines 4 and 6 and RER B. The Catacombs exit is at 21 bis Avenue René-Coty, a different location from the entrance.
Most visitors should book a timed admission ticket online. The official ticketing system is designed around advance reservations, and same-day entry should not be assumed.
Visitors who qualify for official free admission can obtain their tickets at the entrance with valid supporting documents. Check the attraction’s admission rules before travelling.
The Catacombs contain narrow corridors, enclosed underground spaces, dim lighting and uneven surfaces. The route is approximately 20 metres below street level.
The attraction is not recommended for visitors with claustrophobia or certain heart and respiratory conditions. If enclosed spaces cause significant discomfort, consider an above-ground historical walking tour instead.
Accessibility varies considerably. The Paris Catacombs are not wheelchair accessible because visitors must descend 131 steps and climb 112 steps using staircases.
The Paris Sewers Museum provides wheelchair access and an elevator. Visitors who require step-free access should check the individual attraction’s accessibility information before booking.
Wear comfortable shoes with good grip and bring a light jacket or warm layer. The Paris Catacombs remain at approximately 14°C throughout the year, even during summer.
Underground surfaces can be uneven, damp or slippery. Avoid unsuitable footwear, and check each attraction’s rules concerning bags, clothing and personal belongings.
Personal photography is generally permitted, but flash photography, tripods and equipment that may damage or obstruct the historic site are not allowed.
Visitors must not touch or move human remains, cross barriers or enter restricted passages. Respect other visitors and follow the instructions displayed throughout the route.
Large bags, suitcases and strollers are not permitted. The Catacombs have no cloakroom or luggage-storage service.
Only small bags within the permitted size of 40 × 30 cm are allowed. Carry them in front of you or by hand. Arrange luggage storage elsewhere before arriving.
Yes. Children can visit the Catacombs, and admission is free for those under 8. Children aged 8–17 have a reduced child admission rate.
Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult. The underground route involves 243 steps, dim lighting and displays of human remains, so parents should consider whether the experience is suitable for their children.
No. They are separate attractions in different parts of Paris, and there is no public underground passage connecting their visitor routes.
The Catacombs are near Denfert-Rochereau in the 14th arrondissement. The Sewers Museum is near Pont de l’Alma in the 7th arrondissement. You need separate tickets and must travel between the two locations above ground.
Most abandoned Métro stations, closed quarry passages and restricted underground tunnels are not open to ordinary visitors. A Catacombs ticket provides access only to the designated public circuit.
For a safe and legal underground experience, choose officially accessible attractions or authorized guided visits. Underground-history walking tours can also explain hidden infrastructure without entering restricted areas.
Each attraction has its own visitor guide, covering opening hours, ticket options and practical route advice. Going below ground is the one booking in Paris the weather cannot touch — tunnels hold much the same temperature all year. So it is worth giving a grey morning, and keeping the terraces, gardens and open-air cruises on this list for a clear day.
Each guide is maintained by our Independent guides, with factual details checked against official sources where available. We do not sell tickets directly. Bookings are handled by third-party booking partners, and we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
