Explore the catacombs during your holiday in Paris

Head deep into the entrails of the French capital and travel back in time on a visit to the catacombs. They are within walking distance of our hotel in Paris’s 14th arrondissement!

The Catacombs of Paris make an unusual outing for your stay in Paris, as you walk through an underground ossuary located in an old mine. A labyrinth 20 metres underground that gives you an insight into the untold history of the City of Light. In the late eighteenth century, several cemeteries had to be relocated for sanitary reasons; one of them was the Innocents Cemetery (in what is now the Les Halles Quarter) and the bones were placed in these old mines, situated beneath the Denfert-Rochereau Square.

To get to the site from your charm hotel in Paris, head towards the Vavin metro station and go down Boulevard Raspail until you reach the famous square where a replica of the Lion of Belfort* stands. To reach the entrance to the catacombs, you need to go to the uneven-numbered side of the Colonel-Henri-Rol-Tanguy Avenue.

Before you can explore the catacombs, you must go down 130 steps. The temperature drops to around 14°C and over the two-kilometre-long route you will be walking alongside over six million bones. Since the route is dotted with religious texts, sentences and poems, the atmosphere quickly takes on a mystic quality.

No other site in the French capital can offer you such a timeless experience during your holiday in Paris. Walk amid the bones of both ordinary and famous people – including Rabelais, La Fontaine and Robespierre – who were buried in Paris’s cemeteries and churches.

Allow 15 minutes to walk from La Villa Modigliani to the catacombs and 45 minutes for the visit. Access to the site may be closed temporarily at very busy times. If this happens, you will be given a ticket with a guaranteed time specified on it. Your hotel in Paris’s 14^th arrondissement recommends you plan your visit for a weekday, after 3 pm.

The catacombs are not accessible to people with reduced mobility and the visit is highly inadvisable for those who suffer from claustrophobia and for young children. Before going to the catacombs, consider leaving your belongings at your Parisian charm hotel because there are no lockers or cloakroom facilities at the site. Lastly, if you prefer to plan ahead, you can book your tickets online in advance here.

Discover other ideas for your holiday in Paris on our news pages. Or pay a visit to the hotel’s guest services desk, where our friendly and knowledgeable staff will be delighted to help you organise all your excursions.

* The lion symbolises the resistance offered by Colonel Denfert-Rochereau during the Siege of Belfort in 1870, during the Franco-Prussian war.