Paris Catacombs: Exploring the heart of France underground

When I travel, I usually try to choose excursions that are unique and somewhat out of the norm. Don’t get me wrong, I like doing the normal touristy activities just like everyone. I will say I like the more odd and unusual experiences a city has to offer.

If you’re visiting Paris and you’re looking for something quite different, then you simply must check out the catacombs underground. I know goes against the grain of the ambiance of Paris and is probably not at all romantic. It’s not every day that one gets to experience walking under the streets of Paris surrounded by millions of bones. Insert ominous creepy laugh here, right?

What are the Paris Catacombs?

I know you are probably thinking that it’s creepy to walk around underground with bones and skulls on every side. The catacombs were created due to a health concern of the city’s cemeteries in the late 1700s. There had been some major collapses of the ground underneath Paris around that time. The king at the time decided enough was enough. He started a department that would work over the next few decades to move the bones from cemeteries around the area into what would be later become the Catacombs.

Aside from the history of this grand undertaking (no pun intended), it’s just really cool to be able to walk around the corridors that make up the labyrinth of the catacombs. Such a task it must have been to move the bones of over 6 million people to this centralized location! It is still important to be respectful of the catacombs. This is because the bones of real people that lived long ago are there.

Tips for getting in and what to expect

As far as some tips before you go, I HIGHLY suggest you purchase your Paris catacombs tour tickets online. We purchased directly through the Catacombs website. Google Translate just translated the page and we scrolled through and entered all the pertinent information. The tickets we purchased came with the audio guide. I suggest you get the audio guide. The tickets were about 29€ per person. It may seem expensive but compared to a lot of the other Paris attractions, this one is pretty reasonable. Plus I really wanted to go here so the expense wasn’t an option.

It is also important to note that we booked our tickets for the catacombs about one and a half months in advance. I also read about the pace at which it takes for people to get into the catacombs due to long lines. I read reviews on Yelp and Tripadvisor that mentioned 4+ hours waiting in line!

In my previous visit to Paris, I had limited time so I didn’t want to take a chance at not getting in. It is best that you book in advance if you won’t have a lot of time in Paris. If you don’t book in advance you might get stuck in the longest line of your life!

If you do book in advance, don’t get messed up waiting in line when you get to the site either. There is a separate skip-the-line for people who prepaid. This line is usually to the right of the much longer line of people who didn’t pre-pay. We got there about an hour after they opened so the line was minuscule. Since we pre-paid, we were inside the Catacombs in under 30 minutes.  

There are metal detectors inside just like almost all museums nowadays so don’t bring anything that will slow down the process of getting in.

After you get past security, you should get your audio guide and then get your ticket scanned and head down into the catacombs. The catacombs are not wheelchair accessible just FYI and EVERYONE has to go down several flights of stairs to get into the catacombs. Be aware that EVERYONE also has to come up several flights of stairs in order to exit! So if you have a weak heart or health issues then consider this when visiting the catacombs. There are 130 stairs down, 83 or more stairs going up. The going up was what got me winded. My friend has asthma and she did just fine by just taking her time.

Also, if you’re claustrophobic, it may not be too much of a problem as once you spread out into the catacombs it’s wide-open spaces. The stairwells going down and up are pretty narrow though. Also, there aren’t a lot of places to pull off to let people pass. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions.

Once you get down the stairs, it’s a cool 57 degrees F all year round. Take your time with the audio tour and check out all the bone formations. It’s really astounding the number of bones there are overall. It’s jaw-dropping astounding…again no pun intended. There are parts that have informational placards that you can read. It’s odd to just walk by all the bones and not hear the stories. So stop and read to give you a bit of a lesson into why all the bones are there.

Being below the city kind of reminds me of some of the cities below many of the cities in Italy. I’m not going to bore you with the history of everything but it’s actually quite exciting to hear about everything on the audio tour as you slowly move along. You can’t get lost as there are signage and workers down there to guide you along.

Other Things to Remember

If you decide to visit the catacombs, remember to bring a camera that can take photos in low lighting or know how to adjust your camera settings so that all your photos don’t turn out dark. There is lighting in the catacombs but it is not super bright to avoid damage to the bones.

One other tip that I will point out is to make sure you check the website before you go BECAUSE a lot of things tend to go on strike in Paris with very short notice. We were very lucky to be able to see the catacombs because I think the workers had been on strike for several months prior to our visit and luckily we were visiting about a week or so after the strike ended.

It’s great that there is a metro station nearby. If you need help getting around on the Paris Metro underground stations, read my post.

Everyone comes to Paris to see the key sites like the Eiffel Tour and Notre Dame but please put the catacombs on your list. The Paris Catacombs are a unique and special experience that some never get a chance to see because they DIDN’T BUY THEIR TICKETS ONLINE. Was that subtle enough?

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If you want to find tickets for the catacombs or other attractions in Paris, you can click below and search for Catacombs, the Eiffel Tower, or maybe even find other interesting attractions that maybe weren’t on your list.

Let me know in the comments if you have any questions before your visit to the Catacombs.