The Solo Scale:

---

Some cities are known for their dead — specifically, their final resting places. In Pompeii, the plaster-casts of the victims of the Vesuvius eruption in 79AD are a tourist destination now. In New Orleans, the raised cemeteries bring tour groups to witness them.

Sometimes, it’s not just architecture or historical event that draws people in, but the people buried there. In Paris, there are multiple resting places, but some have very specific notoriety. In this post, two are because of who is buried there, and one is because of how people were buried.

---

Père Lachaise

The more well-known of the two Paris cemeteries we’ll be talking about is Père Lachaise. It’s accessible via two Metro lines (either the 2 or the 3) with the same-named stop.

You can purchase a map from someone standing outside the cemetery. These days, a good internet connection can guide you to the resting places of some of the cemetery’s more well-known residents.

Here at Lachaise, it’s an expansive and large cemetery with a lot of trees. That means that if you can put aside the fact that you’re amongst graves, it’s actually a beautiful little walk. Like with many other cemeteries, you’ll also find stray cats. They’re not there to tend to the dead, but they’re still good company.

Most likely, you’re visiting because of a specific grave. Père Lachaise has dozens of notable people from multiple decades in history. The list includes Sarah Bernhardt, Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf and more. If you’d hoped to put a lipstick mark on Oscar Wilde’s grave, that’s no longer possible. Unfortunately, it was causing degradation of the grave.

However, there’s something to be said for wandering and seeing the fresh flowers, the ageing on some of the tombstones, and the mementos that people decided they wanted to represent their eternal resting place. It obviously requires a lot of respect in a visit like this, but it reminds you of the one thing that everyone in the world has in common — someday, we’ll all need a resting place.

---

Montmartre Cemetery

Similar to Père Lachaise, Montmartre has a lot of notable residents, but it’s a smaller site to walk around. It’s also more centrally set within Paris, so you’ll be walking in residential roads one moment and then the roads of the dead the next. This is a much more compact cemetery, which also means that while there are notable graves, you can access them much easier.

As you wander, you’ll also be able to admire the gravestones and pay your respects.

Some of the more notable gravestones you can find here include Edgar Degas, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Hector Berlioz, Dalida, and Adolphe Sax (who invented the saxophone and lived through some of the most interesting near-death experiences you can ever read about).

You can spend plenty of time admiring some of the more unique graves and mausoleums in this well-known Paris cemetery before grabbing the Metro to continue your day.

---

The Paris Catacombs

This last stop isn’t for the faint of heart. Both because you’ll be elbow to elbow with walls of skulls. Also because it’s one of the more popular things to do in Paris, so you end up facing a very long wait.

The Catacombs entrance is on 1, Avenue du Colonel Henri Rol-Tanguy (close to the Denfert-Rochereau metro stop). You’ll want to get there early. If you can go for the opening time, do that. They only let a limited number of people in at one time. If people linger inside, the line doesn’t move at all. It’s closed on Mondays, but every other day, it opens at 9:45AM. When I went, I arrived just after 10 and wound up waiting about an hour in line.

You will be walking for a while for the catacombs (1.5km!), so wear comfortable shoes (not just because you’ll be underground and the visibility is low in places). It also gets a bit chilly, but not too much. Since you’ll be walking a lot, you don’t have to bundle up, but because you’re underground, keep that in mind if you’re going during the summer or another warm time.

Lately, the Catacombs have been experiencing worker strikes. If you really want to go, check to make sure there are no impacts. Buying a ticket in advance may be a good idea, but it’s going to be a little unreliable at the moment (written as of June 2025).

However, it truly is a genuinely unique experience. There are other catacombs throughout the world, but the Paris ones have a grandeur and size to them that doesn’t feel comparable when you’re visiting others. If you’ve ticked off all the notable above-ground cemeteries, maybe it’s time to visit the ones beneath the earth.

To get more information about the catacombs or the Paris cemeteries, buy tickets, and see hours, visit their website here.

---

If you still want even more notable gravesites, consider checking out the Pantheon where famous figures like Marie Curie and Voltaire have their final resting places.

---