Paris Catacombs tickets sold out? What still works

Start with the official ticket shop

The Catacombs, the ossuary in old quarries under the 14th arrondissement, are not on France's list yet; this guide is for anyone planning Paris around them. They are one of the fourteen museums run by Paris Musées, the City of Paris body for its municipal museums. The official site is catacombes.paris.fr, and tickets are sold at billetterie-parismusees.paris.fr, where the product is called "[Official ticket] Catacombs 2026".

This is a planning guide, not a report of a recent visit. The prices, the sales window and the sold-out days come from the ticket shop, checked live on 25 October 2026. That day catacombes.paris.fr and parismusees.paris.fr were down for maintenance, so the visitor cap, the opening hours, the free-entry rules and the list of authorised sellers come from archived copies of those pages dated 6 August to 17 October 2026.

Why it sells out

Paid tickets are sold online only, and only for the next seven days, "due to tickets fraud". The shop adds: "Due to crowd no tickets can be sold on site." Entry is in 15-minute slots from 9:45 to 19:15, and the site limits the number of people underground to 200, pausing entry when it gets very busy.

On 25 October 2026, in the French autumn school holidays, the shop showed Tuesday 27 to Thursday 29 October completely sold out. Friday 30 October had one slot left, at 19:15. On Saturday 31 October everything up to 12:30 was gone, with afternoon slots still open. Sunday 1 November, the last day on sale, was mostly open, though its 9:45 slot had already sold. Nothing later was on sale yet.

Official options first

1. Book at the right moment, one week ahead. In must30's check, slots went on sale one at a time, roughly seven days before their own time: a 17:30 slot for 1 November appeared on the evening of 25 October, and the morning slots were the first to go. So for a 10:00 slot next Saturday, look at about 10:00 this Saturday. That is what one afternoon of checking showed, not an official rule.
2. Check whether you get in free. Disabled visitors and their carer, jobseekers, people on some French minimum-income benefits and several professional groups need no booking. They collect a free ticket at the desk on the day with proof, and the site guarantees them entry even when the shop shows the day as fully booked. Someone with a timed ticket can go in with them at the same time. Children under 8 are free too. Free visitors can rent the audio guide at the desk for €5.
3. Try for a same-day slot online. If any slot is left today, the shop sells it; at the door, nobody does. There is no waiting list.
4. Buy from an authorised seller. The Catacombs say it themselves: "When the Catacombs' official ticketing service is sold out, many people look to resellers", and they publish a list of authorised ones so you buy a valid ticket.

The museum's own guided tour, in French for up to 15 people, was listed as unavailable, and no official night or special-access ticket exists.

Resold tickets with entry included

The authorised list, as published on 17 October 2026, includes Headout, GetYourGuide, Mon Petit Paris, Tiqets, Klook, The Tour Guy, Walks, City Experience and about a dozen more. The official shop for individuals is closed to resellers, who book through Paris Musées' group ticket office instead. Tickets are issued in the buyer's name and cannot be passed on, so a ticket from a stranger, or from a seller not on the list, is a risk.

This is the rare case where a resold ticket follows the rules, which is why must30 links to entry tickets here. Check that the voucher shows a date and time slot, and expect to pay more than €31. Be wary of tours sold as "restricted areas" or "special access": the official site describes no such thing.

If you book through these links, must30 earns a commission at no extra cost to you.

Timing that helps

The Catacombs open from Tuesday to Sunday, 9:45 to 20:30, with last admission at 19:30. They close every Monday and on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December, but open on 1 and 11 November unless those fall on a Monday. Late slots are the easiest to find, in must30's view.

The visit is a one-way walk of about 1.5 km that takes around an hour, with 131 steps down and 112 up. It is 14°C underground and can be very humid. You go in at 1 avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy, on place Denfert-Rochereau, and come out at 21 bis avenue René-Coty, about 700 metres away, which is why there is no cloakroom. Children under 14 must be with an adult, and the site is not accessible to wheelchair users.

What not to do

• Do not turn up planning to pay at the door. No paid tickets are sold on site.
• Do not arrive outside your slot. Entry at another time is not guaranteed.
• Do not bring a suitcase, a large backpack or a motorcycle helmet. Bags can be at most 40 x 30 x 20 cm, carried in front, and there are no lockers. Leave the pushchair too and use a baby carrier.
• Do not buy from a seller that is not on the official list, or a ticket from another person.
• Do not touch the bones. Food, drink, flash and tripods are not allowed either.

Keep planning

• France's list, for the rest of a French trip.
• The case for doing the famous thing early, on timing the big sights.
• The other Paris ticket guides: the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower summit, the Palace of Versailles and the Sainte-Chapelle.