Catacombs
 

I'm planning a trip to Paris and deciding on which sites we'd really like to see when my husband mentioned that he'd really like to see the catacombs. This is something I'm not familiar with, but I'm happy to go along as they sound interesting! Has anybody toured them? Do you go alone or as a group? <BR> <BR> I have two different tour guide books with conflicting info on the hours you can visit, one says between 2 and 4 pm weekdays, the other says 9 am to 4 pm period. Does anyone know which is correct? Thanks for any help. We'll be travelling in Nov.

Can't help you on the times. Regarding the experience, please search for "catacombs" and you should get some interesting info. Enjoy!

I looked up the archives about the catacombs and was amused at how many posts mentioned it was their husband's idea to visit them! Is this a man thing or what?

Just visited the Catacombs a few weeks ago. I think their hours are 10-12 and 2-4. We visited in the afternoon and were there with maybe 15 other people total. I found it interesting (especially the large american tour that started through the bone-lined corridor by saying "now you'll want to hurry along through this part"??) but after a while it was a bit of the same, stacked bones (artfully and interestingly but still corridors of the same stuff.) A nice wander deep in the ground of Paris. Decent use of 5 euro.

How long does it take to walk through the catacombs?

We visited the Catacombs on Friday, October 4, 2002. We came up from the Metro at the Denfert Rochereau station to a busy bustling intersection. You have to look for the Catacombs entrance, it's not really well marked, but it is a small dark green building. You enter and pay the ?5.entry fee, then you follow stone circular stairs deep into the ground. You then follow a dimly lit tunnel for a long ways before you enter the "Kingdom of Death." It is interesting, and it takes about a half hour to forty-five minutes to walk through, depending on how long you stop and examine the stacks and stacks of bones. When you come out, your bags are inspected for "souvenirs", and we came out turned right and walked a block up to General Leclerc. At General Leclerc, we mistakenly turned left and walked to the Alesia Metro stop, on the busy but pleasant Place Victor Basch. One caution however, if you are the least bit claustrophobic, perhaps you should reconsider visiting the Catacombs, otherwise it is an interesting hour.