Six, seven or fourteen people on a Paris Catacombs small-group tour
Every guided tour in our list calls itself small, but the caps run from six people to fourteen. In narrow galleries that number decides how well you hear the guide and how close you get to the walls. Below, the four options side by side.
The caps side by side
The operators publish a maximum group size, and the gap between them is wider than the word small suggests. The table sets them against length and price, with ratings alongside.
| Option | Group size | Length | From | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LivTours | Up to 6 | About 1.5 hours | ~$237 | 4.9 from 270+ (Viator) |
| Memories France | 7 or fewer | About 2 hours | ~$211 | 4.9 from 530+ (GetYourGuide) |
| Walks | Up to 14 (6 at some afternoon times) | About 2 hours | ~$155 | 4.7 from 1,000+ (GetYourGuide) |
| Self-guided ticket | No group | About 1 hour | ~$42 | 4.6 from 12,400+ (GetYourGuide) |
The ticket is there for scale. You walk with an audio guide among everyone else who booked the same slot, with about 200 visitors allowed inside at once.
Why size matters more underground
Above ground, a group of fourteen is easy to manage. Below, the galleries narrow in places so that two people pass with care, and a guide at the front cannot always be heard at the back.
A group of six can stand in a half-circle around a plaque and all read it. With fourteen, the back row waits for the front row to move on, and photos tend to include somebody's shoulder.
Questions follow the same rule. In a small group the guide hears yours and answers it on the spot, which is half the reason to pay for a guide at all.
LivTours, six people at most
LivTours' small-group tour from ~$237 keeps the lowest cap, at six. The listing allows an exception on rare occasions, so that a party booking together is not split across two groups.
Both sites give it 4.9, from 270+ reviews on Viator and 200+ on GetYourGuide. Skip-the-line entry and a professional local guide are included, along with access to restricted areas.
The drawback is easy to see. It is the most expensive of the guided three and the shortest, at about 1.5 hours, so you pay more for less time underground.
Six people and one guide in the galleries
LivTours keeps its Catacombs groups to six. Skip-the-line entry and the restricted areas fit into about 1.5 hours underground.
Memories France, up to seven
Our pick, Memories France's restricted access tour from ~$211, sells itself on VIP small groups of 7 people or fewer. Viator's overview says six, so expect somewhere between the two.
It runs about 2 hours, half an hour longer than LivTours, for a little less money. Ratings stand at 4.9 on both sites, from 530+ reviews on GetYourGuide and 320+ on Viator.
Fast-track entry and the tickets are included, and the listing speaks of underground gates unlocked especially for you. Our page on what lies behind those gates keeps expectations in line.
Walks, up to fourteen
Walks' special access tour from ~$155 costs the least of the guided options, and its groups are the biggest, up to 14. It holds 4.7 on Viator from 970+ reviews and the same on GetYourGuide from 1,000+.
There is a way round the size. On Viator, the departures at 1:30, 4:30 and 5:30 pm are capped at six, which brings those slots down to LivTours' level. Check the price for the slot you pick, as it can differ from the headline fare.
At other times fourteen is the cap. The listing names the quarryman's carvings and the underground chapel among its special areas, and our history of the quarries and the ossuary explains what you are looking at.
Sharing the galleries with everyone else
A guided group does not get the Catacombs to itself. On the open route you walk among ticket holders with audio guides, and at busy times the famous spots fill up.
A group of six can step to one side of a gallery and let the flow pass. A group of fourteen takes up most of the width, so it tends to stretch out along the passage instead.
Behind the locked gates the picture changes, since the ticket holders cannot follow you there. That is where the size of the group counts most, and where a cap of six or seven pays off.
Time of day matters as well. Our guide to the quietest slots shows when the open galleries are calmest, which helps whatever size you book.
Semi-private is not private
All three guided tours are semi-private. Other visitors fill the places up to the cap, and you meet them for the first time at the entrance.
A private tour, with the guide for your party alone, is a different product that our list leaves out. A party of six that fills every place on a LivTours slot has the guide to itself in practice.
Which size suits whom
- Couples with lots of questions, who will get the most from LivTours or Memories France
- Travelers on a tighter budget who still want a guide, best served by Walks at a six-person afternoon slot
- Nervous visitors, since a small group moves calmly through the tight spots
- Families with older children who want the guide's attention for themselves
If tight spaces worry you, read our page on low ceilings and the 130 steps first. Parents should look at our notes on children in the ossuary too.
Whatever size you choose, the walk itself stays the same, and the route from entrance to exit shows what to expect. Every fare and extra is laid out in our price comparison.