Denfert-Rochereau · 14th arrondissement
The official €31 ticket covers the standard route. Guided tours cost several times more and earn it only with restricted areas and a small group. Here is how to choose, and what to know before you go down.
Updated October 19, 2026 · Prices checked October 19, 2026 · Tour prices refresh daily
Photo: Mathew Browne / Unsplash
Twenty meters under the 14th arrondissement, the bones of millions of Parisians are stacked into walls along a tunnel route that starts at Place Denfert-Rochereau. The Catacombs reopened on April 8, 2026 after renovation, with a new route and exhibition design, new lighting and ventilation, and a personal audio guide.
Here is the honest version of the ticket-or-tour question. The official ticket, €31 for an adult, gets you the whole standard route at your own pace, and booking it online is all most visitors need. A guided tour costs several times that, and it is only worth it for what the ticket cannot buy: rooms behind locked gates, a guide who knows the stories, and a group small enough to hear them.
N° 01Short on time
1erSmall groupBest overall
Memories France
Access to parts of the Catacombs closed to the public, confirmed in the inclusions, with seven guests or fewer and pre-booked timed entry. Tickets are set for a fixed time, so arrive early: latecomers are not refunded.
Free cancellation
From$217.31
per person
2eSmall groupSmallest group
LivTours
Capped at six people, with access to restricted areas listed in the inclusions and an expert guide. The listing does not itemize the entry ticket, so read the booking page if that matters to you.
Free cancellation
From$239.17
per person
3eSmall groupMost reviewed
City Wonders
The most-reviewed restricted-area tour we found, with skip-the-line entry and a group of 15 or fewer. The listing warns that special-access areas can be closed on some days.
Free cancellation
From$284.94
per person
We may earn a commission when you book through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. It never decides our picks. Tour prices are Viator’s US-dollar from-prices, refreshed with ratings every day; they change by date, and Viator may show your local currency. How we make money.
N° 02Tarifs 2026
Booked on catacombes.paris.fr. Online booking is strongly recommended, though not strictly required.
| Ticket | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full rate | €31 | The official rates page says the audio guide is included |
| Reduced rate | €25 | With proof of eligibility, including students and young adults; see the official list |
| Ages 8–17 | €15 | Under-14s must be with an adult |
| Under 8 | Free | |
| Disabled visitor + carer, job seekers and some others | Free | Cannot be booked online; collect on the day at the desk |
Checked October 19, 2026. The same rates page also lists an audio guide at €5 as a separate line, which contradicts “included”, so confirm what your ticket covers when you book. Source: catacombes.paris.fr, individual rates.
N° 03Choosing
Buy the official ticket if you want to see the ossuary and you are happy with an audio guide. The standard route is 1.5 kilometers, one-way, and takes about 45 minutes, at your own pace.
Book a tour if you want the parts most visitors never see. The tours on this page earn their price with access to restricted areas: chambers off the public route that a guide unlocks for the group. Listings name rooms such as the Crypt of Passion and the Sacellum Crypt, but what you see depends on the operator and the day, and one listing warns that special-access areas can be closed on some days.
Two more things separate the tours. Group size: the best ones cap the group at six or seven, which matters in tight tunnels where a guide’s voice does not carry. The ticket: only one restricted-area tour here, The Tour Guy’s, itemizes the timed-entry Catacombs ticket in its inclusions, with two restricted chambers. Its shared group can be up to 19 people, though.
The Tour Guy
Free cancellation
From$250.61
per person
One tour to read carefully: ExperienceFirst’s guided visit is the cheapest established option and has strong reviews, but it is non-refundable, and its inclusions do not list restricted-area access, so treat it as a guided walk of the standard route.
N° 04Avec un guide
Use the “Restricted areas” filter to see only tours that list special access in their inclusions. Prices shown are the lowest listed option.
| Tour | Format | Length | Reviews | From | Book |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catacombs Small Group with Restricted Access (7 max)Memories FranceTravelers wanting restricted rooms with a small group at a slightly lower price Free cancellation | Walking · small group | 2 hours | 4.87322 reviews | $217.31 | Check |
| Catacombs Semi-Private Tour, 6 People MaxLivToursTravelers who want the smallest group size with restricted-area access Free cancellation | Walking · small group | 1.5 hours | 4.94269 reviews | $239.17 | Check |
| Catacombs Tour with VIP Restricted-Area AccessCity WondersFirst-timers who want the most-reviewed restricted-area tour Free cancellation | Walking · small group | 2 hours | 4.611,110 reviews | $284.94 | Check |
| Catacombs Tour with Restricted Chambers & TicketsThe Tour GuyTravelers who want an explicitly ticket-included restricted-area tour Free cancellation | Walking · group | 1.5 hours | 4.7090 reviews | $250.61 | Check |
| Paris Catacombs Guided Tour (non-refundable)ExperienceFirstBudget-conscious travelers who want a guided visit and can commit to a date | Walking · group | 1.5 hours | 4.86272 reviews | $159.06 | Check |
N° 05Cross-checked
One platform’s score is a sample, not a verdict. Here is how each operator rates on Viator, Tripadvisor, Google, and its own website.
| Tour | Viator | Tripadvisor | Operator site | Spread | Max group | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catacombs Small Group with Restricted Access (7 max)Memories France | ★ 4.87322 reviews | ★ 4.81,760 reviews | ★ 4.9635 reviews | ★ 4.81,500 reviews | 0.10 | 7 |
| Catacombs Semi-Private Tour, 6 People MaxLivTours | ★ 4.94269 reviews | ★ 5.01,575 reviews | not found | not found | 0.06 | 6 |
| Catacombs Tour with VIP Restricted-Area AccessCity Wonders | ★ 4.611,110 reviews | ★ 4.831,712 reviews | not found | not found | 0.19 | 15 |
| Catacombs Tour with Restricted Chambers & TicketsThe Tour Guy | ★ 4.7090 reviews | ★ 4.62,895 reviews | not found | not found | 0.10 | 19 |
| Paris Catacombs Guided Tour (non-refundable)ExperienceFirst | ★ 4.86272 reviews | ★ 4.821,097 reviews | not found | no average stated | 0.06 | 19 |
LivTours holds its rating most consistently across the sites we could verify (spread 0.06).
The widest gap is City Wonders: 4.80 on Tripadvisor versus 4.61 on Viator (spread 0.19).
Checked October 20, 2026. Tripadvisor and Google figures are the operator’s own listings, which pool reviews of all its tours, so they measure the company rather than this exact product. Spread is the highest minus the lowest rating shown.
N° 06Sous terre
You go in at 1 avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, on Place Denfert-Rochereau, and descend about 130 steps to a depth of 20 meters. (Official sources disagree by one step, 130 or 131.) From there the route runs one-way for 1.5 kilometers, through quarry galleries and into the ossuary itself, where bones and skulls are stacked into walls. The ossuary covers 11,000 square meters, with 800 meters of stacked bones and 217 bone walls.
You come out somewhere else entirely: 112 steps up, at 21 bis avenue René-Coty. That matters if you have left a companion waiting at the entrance, or plan to meet a tour group afterward.
It is a constant 14°C (57°F) underground, whatever the season, so bring a layer in summer. The official site describes the remains as those of "several million Parisians"; its teaching booklet and the City of Paris put the figure at about six million.
N° 07Histoire
The tunnels are old limestone quarries, and the ossuary was a public-health fix. After a collapse on rue Denfert-Rochereau in 1774, the city created a quarry inspectorate on April 4, 1777 to shore up the ground beneath Paris. Meanwhile the overflowing Saints-Innocents cemetery was closed in 1780.
Today about 550,000 people a year make the descent.
N° 08Bon à savoir
01
Open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:45am to 8:30pm, with last admission at 7:30pm. Closed every Monday, and on January 1, May 1, and December 25. Over the holidays, note that December 28, 2026 is a Monday.
02
Only bags smaller than 40 × 30 cm are allowed, and there is no cloakroom or luggage storage. Leave suitcases and big backpacks at the hotel.
03
The visit is not recommended for anyone with claustrophobia or heart or respiratory conditions, and under-14s must be with an adult. The steps make it unsuitable for wheelchair users.
04
Eating, drinking, smoking, and tripods are not allowed underground. There are toilets at both the entrance and the exit.
05
Online booking is strongly recommended. Free tickets, for disabled visitors and their carers and some other groups, cannot be booked online and are collected on the day.
06
Tour tickets are pre-booked for a fixed entry time, and at least one listing says latecomers and no-shows are not refunded.
N° 09Good to know
€31 for an adult, €25 at the reduced rate, €15 for ages 8–17, and free for under-8s. The official rates page says the audio guide is included. Book on catacombes.paris.fr.
Only if you want restricted areas and a small group. The official ticket covers the full standard route for €31. Tours cost several times more, so pick one that lists restricted-area access in its inclusions and caps the group at six or seven.
It is strongly recommended. Online booking is the norm, and free tickets cannot be booked online; they are collected at the desk on the day.
About 45 minutes on the standard 1.5-kilometer route. Guided tours on this page run 90 minutes to two hours.
Chambers off the public route that tour guides can open for their group. Listings name rooms such as the Crypt of Passion and the Sacellum Crypt. Access depends on the operator and the day, so check the inclusions before booking.
Children can visit, but under-14s must be with an adult, and the visit is not recommended for anyone prone to claustrophobia. It involves about 130 steps down and 112 up.
Only a small one. Bags must be smaller than 40 × 30 cm, suitcases and large bags are refused, and there is no cloakroom or luggage storage, so leave anything bigger at your hotel.
No. You enter at 1 avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy on Place Denfert-Rochereau and come out at 21 bis avenue René-Coty, after a one-way walk of about 1.5 kilometers.
Every Monday, plus January 1, May 1, and December 25. They are open other public holidays, including July 14, August 15, November 1, and November 11. See Paris in December for holiday-season planning.
N° 10Booking.com
Search live prices for the areas that make this trip easiest.
Keep planning
Musée du Louvre · 1st arrondissement
Your own guide in the world’s most-visited museum: which private tours are worth it, for couples, families, and kids.
Read the guide
Champ de Mars · 7th arrondissement
Every official ticket type and what it costs, plus the guided tours worth paying more for.
Read the guide
Décembre · Practical guide
The real weather, what closes on the holidays, and the evenings and day trips worth booking.
Read the guideOur top pick
Catacombs Small Group with Restricted Access (7 max)