Skip the Line Paris Catacombs Tour

Explore the Dark Side of the City of Light

This Paris Catacombs tour will allow you to explore the darkness beneath the City of Light. With skip the line tickets, let your guide enlighten you with the mystical folklore surrounding the Catacombs.

Active

Uneven terrain and underground conditions make this tour's difficulty level higher than other walking tours.

1.5 h
max 19
from 34 reviews
1 Paris Catacombs Skip the Line
2 Best Paris Small Group Size
3 Incredible Stories About Real People
4 Masters of Engineering
5 Empire of the Dead
6 Bones in the Catacombs
7 The Art of Death

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS

Catacombs

What makes our Paris Catacombs Tour the best in Paris? A combination of passionate storytelling, expert local guides, skip the line tickets and a maximum group size of 19 people. Our tour is filled with the facts and folklore that bring the Catacombs of Paris, a place for the dead, back to life! This 1.5 hour tour includes:
 
  • - Skip the line Paris Catacombs tickets
  • - A professional English-speaking guide
  • - A maximum group size of 19

Skip the Line Paris Catacombs Tickets

Wait times to see the Paris Catacombs sometimes last up to 3 hours. During certain seasons you will find shorter lines, but why take a risk? Don't waste precious time in line during your vacation in Paris. Our tour lets you skip the line completely and jump right into your tour of the darkness that lies beneath "The City of Light". 
 

Catacombs of Paris - The Gateway to Hell

Our tour starts at the entrance of the Catacombs which is just south of the "Barrière d'Enfer" (which means The Gates of Hell!). After entering, you'll immediately descend a staircase deep below the streets of Paris to "The World's Largest Grave". Your guide will explain the creation of the Catacombs and the serious issues that the city used to have with finding places to bury the dead. 
 

Paris Catacombs History

By the 17th century, the cemeteries in Paris were overflowing. And so, the solution became to place the corpses' remains in the tunnels that existed beneath the streets of Paris since the 13th century. Originally, the French Catacombs were mines or ossuaries for extracting the limestone that built Paris. As the city expanded, it eventually covered areas with mines underneath. Sound like bad planning? That's because it was not planned at all. Many of these mines were abandoned and undocumented.The solution to bury the dead underground fixed more than simply the lack of cemetery space. The estimated six million dead bodies actually reinforced the mines. 
 

Catacombs Artwork, Architecture and Bones

The Paris Catacombs are one of the last secrets of Paris and our tour will uncover the mysteries held within their walls. You'll move through a labyrinth of corridors and gates that connect the different underground areas. You'll see artwork and architecture like you have never seen before. And yes, you will see thousands upon thousands of bones, arranged by artists and architects to make the space more "livable". 
 

Don't Worry, You Won't Get Lost!

With a local Paris Catacombs guide by your side, there's no danger of getting lost in the tunnels. Besides keeping your group on track, your tour guide will tell you stories about the history of the Catacombs and legends about Paris and its people. The guided Catacombs tour lasts approximately one and a half hours and finishes very close to the starting point. At the end, you will probably be famished, so ask your guide about the best restaurants near the Paris Catacombs for a hearty Parisian lunch. 

 

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