The Paris Catacombs route, 130 steps down to 112 up
A visit to the Catacombs follows one fixed line, down a staircase on Place Denfert-Rochereau and up another in a different street. Knowing what comes when makes the time underground easier to pace. This is the walk in order, with the numbers that matter.
Getting to the entrance
The entrance is at 1 avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, on Place Denfert-Rochereau in the 14th arrondissement. Metro lines 4 and 6 and the RER B all stop at Denfert-Rochereau, within two minutes' walk.
Every guided tour on our site meets right there, at the Catacombs entrance. Arrive a little early so you are not hunting for your guide on a busy square at the last minute.
There is no toilet or cloakroom once you are below. Use a café before you go and leave big bags at your hotel, as our packing list for 14 °C explains.
130 steps down
The visit opens with a spiral staircase of 130 steps. It takes you about 20 m (65 ft) below the street, roughly the height of a six-story building.
The steps are narrow and turn tightly, and there is no lift. Take them at your own pace with a hand on the rail, since nobody behind you minds a steady speed.
At the bottom the air changes. It stays cool and slightly damp all year, at about 14 °C (57 °F), so a light jacket earns its place even in August.
The long gallery of bare quarry
Before any bones, you walk a long, plain gallery of the old limestone quarry. The walls are rough stone and the ceiling drops low in places. Underfoot, the ground can be wet.
Many first-time visitors find this stretch longer than they expected. Look closely at the walls. Carved street names and dates show which road runs overhead.
Guided groups slip through their locked gates at points along the way. The listings do not say exactly where each gate is, so we will not guess, and our guide to the closed areas covers what the operators promise.
On Walks' tour, the listing names the quarryman's carvings and an underground chapel among its special areas. Memories France and LivTours both mention restricted areas without naming them.
Through the doorway and into the ossuary
The ossuary starts at a doorway between black and white pillars, under the carved warning “Arrête ! C'est ici l'empire de la mort”. From there on, the walls on both sides are made of human bones.
Long bones are stacked in tight faces with lines of skulls set across them. Here and there you pass carved pillars and plaques with verses, along with the names of the cemeteries the bones came from.
This is the part most people came for, and also the slowest. Groups bunch up at the famous spots, and guides stop here longest. What it all means is told in our history of the quarries and the ossuary.
Walk the whole route with a guide at your side
Memories France covers the full visit in about 2 hours with seven people or fewer. Fast-track entry is included, and the guide opens gates that ordinary visitors walk past.
How long each option takes
About 1.5 km (1 mile) of the route is open to visitors. The tour listings put the total walking at about 2 km, and the time you spend on it depends on how you go down.
| Option | Time underground | Locked areas | From |
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-guided ticket | About 1 hour | No | ~$42 |
| LivTours | About 1.5 hours | Yes | ~$237 |
| Memories France | About 2 hours | Yes | ~$211 |
| Walks | About 2 hours | Yes | ~$155 |
With the ticket you set your own speed, and some people go round faster than the hour. The guided tours move at the guide's pace and pause for stories and questions.
For the cheapest way in, read our comparison of the audio guide and a live guide. All four prices with their extras sit together in our cost breakdown.
Photos and manners along the way
Phone photos are generally allowed, but leave the flash off. The galleries are dimly lit, and a steady hand does better than a burst of light in other people's faces.
Touching the bones is forbidden, and the walls are close enough that it takes a little care in the narrow parts. Keep backpacks small and worn in front where the passage tightens.
Voices carry a long way in stone galleries. Most visitors fall quiet without being asked, and in a small group you can hear the guide without anyone raising a voice.
112 steps back up
The way out is a second staircase of 112 steps. It often feels harder than the way down, because you climb it after an hour or more on your feet in the cool air.
There is nowhere to leave the route halfway. Once you are in, the only ways out are back the way you came or on to the exit stairs.
That matters if tight spaces make you uneasy. Our page on low ceilings and narrow galleries goes through it before you commit.
Coming out in a different street
The exit is not on Place Denfert-Rochereau. You come up in another street a short walk away, and many visitors pause for a moment working out which way the metro is.
Denfert-Rochereau station is about ten minutes on foot from the exit. If you want lunch afterwards, the Montparnasse area lies a short way north.
The guided tours end where the route ends, so plan your next stop from there. To pick a calmer slot, see when the queue is shortest, and for the group you walk with, our comparison of group sizes.