I am trying to figure the best and most informative way to visit the Catacombs in Paris. I would like skip-the-line tickets. We will be a group of 4 adults and 3 teenagers. The website translates to English for me. It appears guided tours are only in French and we can get an audio guide which I assume will offer English. Is there an English tour? We want to go on a Friday in October. We have 3:30 tickets to Atlier Luminaries. We can go either that morning or after Atlier Luminaries. Can anyone please share their experience on visiting and advise?

Useful Information | Catacombes de Paris

I went years ago before it became such a hot tourist attraction. I find it kind of odd so many tourists want to go to this, to be honest, and wonder why. I think usually they think it will be like Disneyland, kind of a Haunted House thing, not because they are seriously interested in either WWII or urban renewal or the history of public health. When I went, it was with a student group and we had a special personal guide. I imagine you can find some tours like that if you want.

Audioguides are in various languages, as usual.

The guided tour available from the site is only in French and it isn't on Fridays, anyway, it's only on Thursdays. If you want a guided tour, I imagine there are private guides/companies who have some available in English. I think Viator lists some.

You don't need a guided tour. All of the information about the more unusual details are readily available on the internet either before or after your visit.

Walking through the catacombs takes about one hour, so you should have no trouble scheduling your visit to leave time for going to the Atelier des Lumières.

I always saw long lines all day when we stayed in the 14th for a week.

Saint Eustache, records from the 1600's show my relatives on my Mom's side baptism records but no graves. Remains removed to the Catacombs or otherwise destroyed during the Revolution. I like visiting graveyards but not catacombs. I have a huge rat phobia.

Yes, the lines are very long, but the OP was planning to get skip-the-line tickets. (If ever you don't do that, just get in line an hour before it opens -- the queue is still manageable then.) There are no rats in the catacombs, but plenty in the parks of Paris.

Nothing to eat down there I suppose? Good to know. I saw the big boxes to catch the rats last year. I thought getting rid of the feral cats at Pere Lachaise was bad. They really help to keep the rats down here. We have tons at the beach. Yuck.

There are lines now? I was planning to go with friends on a Thursday mid-September. My friend wanted to get tickets online and I said no need. Am I now wrong?

BTW the 3 times I've been (last time about 8 years ago), we saw no rats. Did wear old tennis shoes and did carry flashlights. It also gets quite cold in there (great on a warm day!) and the ceiling drips. When my son was younger, he used to call it "bone juice".