A Paris Catacombs map is useful in two ways: it shows where you go in and where you come out, and it shows what comes between. The visit is a one-way loop with no way to double back, so knowing the order helps. This page gives you a Paris Catacombs map of the streets above, the official guide to the route below, and my own note on each stop. If you have not booked yet, my page on tickets for the Paris Catacombs compares the three guided options in my data.
Paris Catacombs Map: Entrance, Exit and Stations
The map below shows the Catacombs with the nearby metro stations and landmarks, from Google Maps data.
The visitors’ entrance is at 1 Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, at place Denfert-Rochereau, 75014 Paris, and the circuit is one-way, so you leave at 21 bis Avenue René-Coty, per the official useful information page. That page shows its own Paris Catacombs map, and lists Denfert-Rochereau on the metro and RER B, buses 38 and 68, paid parking on Boulevard Saint-Jacques and a Vélib station at 2 avenue René-Coty. In my data the Denfert-Rochereau station is about 1 minute from the entrance, Saint-Jacques and Mouton-Duvernet about 5 and Raspail about 10. Those walking times are my estimates, from straight-line distance multiplied by 1.3 at 4.8 km/h.
The Official Paris Catacombs Map
The Catacombs publish a visitor’s guide as a PDF with a numbered map of the tour route, the quarries and the ossuary. Here is the official map (PDF), and I recommend it over any third-party Paris Catacombs map, since many of those show galleries you cannot enter. I link the file and do not copy it. Its web address carries the date 2022-09, so it may be an older edition, and you should check the numbers against the current official page. It gives the distance as 1.5 km, the visit as 45 minutes and the temperature as 14 degrees Celsius.
The Route I Would Take Through the Paris Catacombs
This is the order of the official guide, trimmed to the seven stops I would stop at. I have left the times off, because the only time the official site gives is about 45 minutes for the whole loop.
My route through the Paris Catacombs
1Staircase and galleries130 steps, 20 metres down
2The workshopTwo kinds of quarry pillars
3Crossroads with the lower catacombsUpper and lower quarry levels
4Entrance to the ossuaryStop, this is death's empire
5Fountain de la SamaritaineA well among the bones
6Crypt of the PassionThe tibia rotunda
7Exit on Avenue René-CotyStairs back up to the street
Staircase and Galleries
The official guide says access to the galleries is by a staircase of 130 steps leading 20 metres underground. The corridors are long and narrow and follow the streets above, with signs naming streets that often no longer exist, which is why the network was called the “copy of Paris”. Wear shoes with grip: the site warns of uneven, slippery floors, narrow passages and dim light. Photography without a flash or tripod is permitted, strictly for private use, per the same guide. The listings add that one tour involves about 130 steps down and 85 steps back up, which differs from the official 112.
The Workshop
The area called the workshop shows a part of the quarry still fully visible. The guide says you can see two kinds of pillar holding up the ceiling: turned pillars, rock left in place when the surrounding stone was cut, which date from medieval times, and arm pillars, built by quarrymen by piling up large blocks. Look for the small walls called hagues, made with leftover stone. Together with the staircase, this stop is the part of the Paris Catacombs map that most visitors rush past, and it explains what comes next. It is the best place on the Paris Catacombs map to see that the whole place was a quarry before it was an ossuary.
City Wonders Ltd.
Paris Catacombs Guided Tour: Skip-the-Line & Restricted Areas
★4.6 (409 reviews)
2 hours
Free cancellation
My pick: A two-hour tour that adds restricted areas: $188, English, 4.6 from 409 reviews. The listing describes skip-the-line entry.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Entrance ticket to the Paris Catacombs
✓ Exclusive access to restricted areas not open to the public
✓ Reservation fee and pre-booked timed entry
✓ Expert English-speaking guide
✓ Small-group tour (maximum 15 guests) or semi-private option (maximum 7 guests)
Not included / not suitable
✕ Hotel pick-up and drop off
✕ Food and drinks
✕ Gratuities (optional)
Meeting point: Meet outside the catacombs by Denfert Rochereau. Your guide will wait for you at the entrance to the catacombs. The guide will be wearing a blue polo shirt or jacket and will hold a sign to draw attention to themselves.
To reach the catacombs by Metro, take line 4 or line 6 to the Denfert-Rochereau stop and exit at Sortie 1. The entrance to the catacombs is directly across the street from this exit. 1 Av. du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, 75014 Paris, France
Languages: English
Duration: 2 hours
Cancellation: Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund
“Saeed was a terrific guide. Knowledgable and entertaining.” – GetYourGuide review
At this point the gallery overlooks a steep ramp that joins the upper and lower catacombs, which are two quarry levels. The guide says the ramp was set up at the end of the 18th century, when the ossuary was created, with an entrance featuring Tuscan pilasters that are really solid pillars supporting a dangerous part of the ceiling. You do not take the ramp on the regular route, and I have not found a source that says visitors can go down it, so I treat it as something to look at, not to enter. On any Paris Catacombs map the lower level looks close, but it is a different part of the quarries.
The Entrance to the Ossuary
“Stop, this is death’s empire!” is how the official guide describes the start of the path through the remains of several million Parisians. The ossuary forms a loop under the quadrangle made by Avenue René Coty, Rue Halle, Rue Dareau and Rue d’Alembert, and the bones were first thrown in haphazardly. Around 1810, Héricart de Thury, Inspector General of the Quarries, developed the area, arranging long bones and skulls decoratively as a front wall with the other bones piled behind it. The official page calls the ossuary unique and fragile and says it must not be touched.
The Fountain de la Samaritaine
The fountain is in fact a well, with a small circular space around it surrounded by walls of bones from the Innocents’ Cemetery, per the official guide. It gives access to a small groundwater table, which the quarry workers used to make mortar for the hagues. It is one of the few places on the Paris Catacombs map with a practical, not a symbolic, function.
The Crypt of the Passion
In the Crypt of the Passion, also called the tibia rotunda, a supporting pillar is hidden by skulls and tibias forming a barrel shape. The official guide records a night concert held here on 2 April 1897, between midnight and 2 am, with over a hundred participants, playing Chopin’s Funeral March and the Danse Macabre by Saint-Saëns. If you want the stories behind these stops, a guide helps, and I compare each one on my Paris Catacombs tours page.
ExperienceFirst
Paris Catacombs Skip-the-Line Guided Tour and Special Access
★4.8 (424 reviews)
1.5 hours
My pick: A guided option whose listing ends at 21 Avenue René Coty: $155, 1.5 hours, English, 4.8 from 424 reviews.
What you get, where you meet, what reviewers say
Included
✓ Skip-the-line entry ticket to the Paris Catacombs
✓ VIP access to areas not available to the general public
✓ English-speaking guide
✓ Optional upgrade for a narrated Seine River cruise, good for a year from the tour date
Not included / not suitable
✕ Gratuities
Meeting point: From Metro station Denfert Rochereau (line 4 or 6), use Exit 1 to reach the street level. You’ll see the Catacombs entrance, with glass doors and a sign, across the street, located to the right of the small green building that was the former entrance.
Your guide will be waiting with an orange "ExperienceFirst" sign. 1 Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, 75014 Paris, France
Languages: English
Duration: 1.5 hours
Cancellation: This activity is non-refundable
“Liz was such a awsome knowledgeable guide. 10/10 recommended” – GetYourGuide review
The official page is the place to check every practical point before you read any other Paris Catacombs map or blog. The Catacombs are not accessible to people with reduced mobility, and the route has 131 steps down and 112 steps up. It is not recommended for people with claustrophobia, or cardiac or respiratory conditions, and children under fourteen must be accompanied. Suitcases and large bags are refused, bags must be under 40 by 30 centimetres, and there is no cloakroom. The audio guide is narrated by Héricart de Thury and is available in French, English, Spanish and German, included in the admission.
Yes. The Catacombs publish an official visitor's guide as a PDF, with a numbered map of the tour route, the quarries and the ossuary. I link it below as the official map. The useful information page on catacombes.paris.fr also shows a map with the entrance, the exit and the transport links.
Where do you enter and exit the Paris Catacombs?+
You enter at 1 Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, at place Denfert-Rochereau, and the route is one-way, so you leave at 21 bis Avenue René-Coty. The official page gives both addresses.
How long is the route through the Paris Catacombs?+
The official site gives 1.5 km and about 45 minutes, with 131 steps down and 112 steps up, at a constant 14 degrees Celsius. The audio guide lasts about an hour. The guided tours I compared run 1.5 to 2 hours.
What is inside the Paris Catacombs?+
You walk through quarry galleries first, then into the ossuary, the walls of bones the visit is known for. The official guide numbers 11 stops, from the staircase down to the Crypt of the Passion, also called the tibia rotunda.
Can you see the whole Paris Catacombs network?+
No. The official route is a short part of the quarries under the city. Some guided tours I compared say they include areas that are closed to the general public, but I could not confirm what those areas are from the listings.
