Catacombs of Paris Skip-the-Line Guided Tour - in Paris - LikeALocal Guide
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Catacombs of Paris Skip-the-Line Guided Tour

29 reviews

From

60 EUR

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Skip the long line to discover the Catacombs of Paris with an expert guide who will reveal the secrets and history of this amazing site... Will you dare following her?

Duration: 2 hours
    Available in
  • French,
  • English
Tour by Eléonore
Local Ambassador

I'm a 36 Parisian girl born and raised in a village nearby Versailles.
I used to create and sell "love locks" on the famous lover's bridge "Pont des Arts" with my darling, Sed (we've been a faithful couple for 14 years).
This job revealed me a keen interest in working with foreign visitors.
When the government replaced the bridge's fences by windows I started to search for another job. I've been lucky enough to find a company's ad searching for a guide specialized in Catacombs. This is how I discovered this job.
Being impassioned by catacombs and underground heritage for 9 years, I am currently employed by several companies to lead guided tours of the Catacombs Museum. I also do day-tours of the Normandy D-Day beaches, the town of Chartres and its cathedral, walking tours of the cemetery of Père-Lachaise, themed-tours about the historical crimes and legends of Paris...

This is the dream job to me: I love meeting people from all around the world to share my passion with them.

I also love history, music, gigs, exhibitions, pubs, urban exploration...

Read more

Highlights

  • Get to know the history of the Catacombs of Paris
  • Hear stunning anecdotes unknown to most of the guides
  • Avoid the long waiting line
  • Tips and help for the rest of your stay

Description

If you want to travel through the past, experience the freaky Paris and find out where and how its roots grew, then you have to be part of this tour!

Follow your guide into the bowels of the French capital, through a maze of galleries running 20 metres below the ground level.
Hear about the history of the 300 kilometres of quarries situated under the streets of Paris: geology, flora and fauna, how quarries became catacombs, why six million human remains are buried there, the different uses made of this place both in the past and nowadays, hear stunning, hilarious or moving anecdotes that occurred in the darkness of this gigantic labyrinth…

Being part of the secret community of cataphiles (which is a group of people exploring the quarries and catacombs), your guide knows what any other guides know, but other guides don't know what she knows!

To enter the museum, the regular waiting line is at least 2 hours (the record one was 7 hours last Christmas!). "Skip the line" tickets are included in this tour. They allow to enter the museum immediately and avoid waiting in line.

Ask for eventual starting time alternatives.

What’s included & not included

  • Skip-the-line entry ticket
  • Expert guide fluent in English
  • Small-group tour
  • Sweet dreams on the following night...

Check availability of the tour:

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Meeting point

The meeting point is situated in front of the entrance of the museum

Reviews from travellers (29)

4.8/5
Can only give 5 stars...
Amazing!

The queue was 5 hours long... even their ‘skip the line’ queue was lengthy but this, we got there, met Leo and we were in. Absolutely brilliant!

Leo was a fantastic guide. She was able to accommodate my booking for my wife’s surprise Xmas present at short notice. She was very passionate and knowledgeable and took pride in sharing this with us, answering any questions we had. The rest of the group were great too, it felt as though we were among friends.

We’d recommend seeing the Catacombs to anyone but only if you do it through Leo. The tour time is also longer than the standard tickets. We got about 2 hours exploration time!

A memory that will stay with us forever. Thank you Léo! 💀🌟
Really cool tour
It was just my husband and i for the tour, so we had our own private tour. Leo was friendly and full of cool facts about the catacombs. Really great tour!
Catacombs tour
Was not able to go, schedule issues with assigned guide.
Leo was a great guide!
Fascinating tour. Léo knew so many facts, was very nice. You can tell she lives for this stuff! Thank you!
Leo (aka Eleonore) is amazing!
Leo who gave us the tour (appears on this website as Eleonore but goes by Leo) was so great. She was very very knowledgable on the catacombs and not just the history but more current events to do with the catacombs as well. She brings a big binder to show you pictures and maps to give context to the stories she tells you. She points out how to identify different things about the bones and does a really good job of making sure everybody gets a change to see. She also sends out a primer email a bit before the tour so you have a copy of the ticket if you need it, you know where to meet, what shoes to wears, practical information about the museum. Leo probably knows every bone in the catacombs and she is passionate about all of them.
Amazing Experience
We had the best time with Léo! She is a fantastic guide with an obvious love for the catacombs and the history. The tour was above and beyond what we expected in terms of information provided and the amount of time. Léo took us into areas that are not accessible to the general public and we did not have to wait in the very long line. If you want a personal tour from a top notch guide this is the tour for you! Léo stayed in constant contact with us and provided updates with our fail. She also went above and beyond with advice on other sights to see and help with directions on the Metro system.
Great experience exploring Paris catacombs with a local guide
My son and I really enjoyed the tour with our guide Leo (Eleonore). Time went by so quickly, it felt we were down there for few minutes rather the 1.5 hrs. Leo was casual and easy to talk to. She is clearly passionate about the topic and waved in number of stories from the past and current about the 'cataphiles', people who explore co called "negative Paris".
We are glad we choose this group tour. We went inside exactly at the scheduled time vs waiting in the line and Leo's personalized commentary made it very engaging. We also had an access to parts open to groups only.
In conclusion- a bit pricey but we are glad we did it. Great memories.
Fantastic guide, fantastic tour
The catacombs tour led by Leo (Eleanor) is amazing. You get some history, some laughs and even a ghost story. The setting is like nothing I've ever seen before and Leos tour makes it more fun and less creepy.
I would definitely recommend this tour and this guide!
Catacombs
Excellent Tour, excellent guide Leo, so much information, anecdotes...
I recommend!
As it turned out, I had a private tour because 3 other people did not show up. So that was pretty great, and so was my tour guide, Leo (Eleonore), who was very knowledgeable and genuinely interested in the history and preservation of the catacombs.
Terrific Catacombs Tour
This was a very good tour! It was really cool going underground and seeing millions of bones and walking through the underground tunnels. Our guide was very knowledgeable and made the tour very worrthwhile.
A Must Do In Paris with Leo!
Leo's tour of the Catacombs is fantastic and if you have any interest in seeing them, this is the way to go! She was easy to communicate with when we had questions before booking the tour, with information after booking and on the day of the tour. We met her outside the metro station and she took us right inside - no line! (And the line had to be at least a couple of hours long on a very hot day). Leo spent 2 hours taking us through the catacombs, giving us the history, pointing out the really cool stuff and telling us great stories - she really knows her stuff! Don't hesitate to book this tour - you will love it!
Fascinating Tour of Paris Catacombs with Leo
Our tour through “likealocalguide”, 16 yr old daughter and dad, to the Paris catacombs this past weekend with Leo (Eléonore) was absolutely fascinating made possible because of Leo. She is amazing and passionate about the catacombs and it shows through her extensive knowledge of the history of the site. One huge note: book this tour (with Leo of course) as the line to get in without “skip the line” was insane. Had to be at least close to a 2 hr wait. She was able to take us, small group of about 12-15, to areas not accessible to the general public. The catacombs is more than just about the bones and Leo explained all of this in clear details with rich antidotes. Amazing 2 hr tour for both of us. Do yourself a huge favor and select likealocalguide as your tour company and choose Leo as your guide.
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Amazing experience
When we arrived at the catacombs, the wait was over 2 hours to get in but with Léo, we got right in! Léo was a wonderful & incredibly knowledgeable guide. You can really tell that this is a passion of hers. I’ve already recommended her to family & friends who are planning trips to Paris. The catacombs were incredible, but having Léo as our guide made it 100 times better. We are so glad we found this booking because Léo truly gave us the best experience.
Excellent and friendly
Good experience
Leo is very engaging & knows much about the catacombs since she's a cataphile herself (you can google the meaning of cataphile ^_^).
Very interesting tour
Amazing place, excellent tour
Great tour guide
Amazing site and great guide
Very interesting tour
Insider tour of the Catacombs!
Léo was a good guide to the cool and creepy Catacombs!
Catacombs tour with Eleonore
I booked this tour for clients - a teenage boy, his mother and a friend. They had a fantastic time and loved the whole experience. Eleonore was very friendly and professional to work with, and my clients made a point of telling me how much they enjoyed the informative tour. Thank you! Karina @ Travel Light Paris
Best experience
Tour was fantastic. No queuing, we were the first in, visited parts of the catacombs not open to others. Leo told us the history and some very interesting stories all along the route. I had my 11 year old and 8 year old with me who also enjoyed it a lot. Highly recommended!
Great tour
Our guide met us at the main entrance to the catacombs. She was very knowledgeable and informative. It was very nice to skip the line,as it stretch around the block when we were able to enter. I would highly recommend this tour and this tour guide. Leo was very nice and willing to assist us with questions regarding the tour or anything in Paris. It was a great experience.
Leo was great!
The tour guide was great. She was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. Leo is very personable and accommodating. I highly recommend the tour with Leo as a guide.
Excellent Tour
We had an excellent tour with Leo. She has a thorough understanding of the history of the catacombs and entertained us with great stories during our tour. Overall an amazing experience!
Fabulous experience!
We met with Léo first thing in the morning and she waited in line for us to ensure we were one of the first to get into the catacombs. She is incredibly knowledgeable about the catacombs and shared many interesting stories and facts with us. It is obvious that she is very passionate about the catacombs and cherishes the history of this beautiful city. I highly recommend her as a tour guide, without her, we would have missed out on so much. Thanks Léo!!
Most amazing tour...a real highlight
Always wanted to visit the Paris catacombs and our guide Leo brought this visit to life. She was passionate and knowledgeable and a pleasure to meet.
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