Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris: how to get there, prices and advice

One does not usually associate a cemetery with a romantic stroll, yet this is exactly what happens when visiting Paris' Père-Lachaise. Confined to a corner of north-eastern Paris, the cemetery is affectionately referred to by Parisians as'The City of the Dead'. Between its picturesque hills, thousands of trees, evocative pathways and elaborate tombs and sepulchres, it is not difficult to understand why the Père-Lachaise cemetery is considered the most beautiful and sought-after resting place in Paris and the world. Countless illustrious personalities have found their eternal resting place here, their tombstone of immortality, securing hundreds of thousands of visitors each year and making Père-Lachaise an absolute'must' in Paris.

Here's everything you need to know to organise your visit to the Père Lachaise Cemetery: how to get there, prices and advice!

Where it is and how to get there

Main entrance

• On foot: 8 Boulevard de Menilmontant - Get directions

• By bus: reference stop Roquette-Père Lachaise, lines 61, 69, 71, N16 and N34 pass through

• By metro: reference stop Philippe Auguste, line 2 runs

Porte du Repos" entrance

• On foot: at16 rue du repos - Get directions

• By bus: reference stop Roquette-Père Lachaise, lines 61, 69, 71, N16 and N34 pass through

• By metro: reference stop Philippe Auguste, line 2 runs

Porte des Amandiers" entrance

• On foot: Boulevard de Menilmontant - Get directions

• By bus: reference stop Père Lachaise, lines 61, 69, 71, N16 and N34 pass through

• By metro: reference stop Père-Lachaise, lines 2 and 3 run

NB: this entrance is not accessible to the disabled as it has 30 steps

Porte Gambetta" entrance

• Onfoot: at 71 rue des Rondeaux - Get directions

• Bybus: reference stop Martin Nadaud, lines 26, 60, 61, 69, 102, N16 and N34 pass through

• Bymetro: reference stop Gambetta, lines 3 and 3b run

Porte de la Réunion" entrance

• Onfoot: at 218 Rue de la Réunion - Get directions

• Bybus: La Réunion reference stop, line 76 runs

• Bymetro: reference stop Alexandre Dumas, line 2 runs

Opening hours and prices

• Hours: November to mid-March Mon-Fri 8am-5.30pm, Sat 8.30am-5.30pm, Sun and public holidays 9am-5.30pm. Mid-March to October, Mon-Fri 8:00-18:00, Sat 8:30-18:00, Sun and holidays 9:00-18:00

• Best time to avoid queues: mornings around opening time, but the place is never really crowded

• Ticket price: free

Tours, guided tours and online tickets

What to see and how to visit Père Lachaise Cemetery

The Père Lachaise Cemetery, also known as the'Artists' Cemetery' is home to figures from the worlds of art, literature, music and painting, and theatre, with names such as Chopin, Edith Piaf, Marcel Proust, Oscar Wilde, and Jim Morrison.

A whole week would be needed to visit the whole cemetery and pay homage to all the people buried there but, however fascinating, moving and evocative the place may be, let's face it: a week at the cemetery, be it the Pere-Lachaise, is not something one wishes on anyone! To make the most of the time available for your visit, we therefore recommend that you take part in a guided tour of the Père-Lachaise Cemetery, where you will be accompanied by a guide who will take you on a discovery of the must-sees in about 2 hours.

In the meantime, we anticipate which are the 5 tombs not to be missed at the Pere-Lachaise:

Abelard (1079 - 1142) and Heloise (1101 - 1164)

Photo by Alexandre Lenoir. Born practically a millennium ago, they are protagonists of an absolutely remarkable and timeless history, and are among other things the oldest residents of the cemetery.

Abelard founded a school that would later become the University of Paris and welcome brilliant minds from all over Europe, including Heloise, the niece of the Canon of Notre Dame. Abelard was commissioned to give private lessons to the maiden, and their intellectual understanding sparked a deep and indissoluble love. They left Paris to marry in secret, and a year later Heloise gave birth to Astrolabe. News traveled fast, reaching the woman's powerful uncle who, in a rage, sent a group of thugs who punished Abelard with castration. From then on they were separated and forced to exchange love letters for decades.

When they died, they were buried together. The current tomb at Père Lachaise is made of stones from the monastery and convent where the two lovers lived until their death. The figure of the dog at Abelard's feet represents their absolute loyalty to each other.

Edith Piaf (1915-1963)

Photo by Pierre-Yves Beaudouin. The story of Edith Piaf is the story of a little girl who grew up between the streets of Paris, her grandmother's brothel and her father's travelling circus.

The child was singing on the streets for pennies under the pseudonym'La Môme Piaf' (the little sparrow), when a nightclub owner, hearing her, was enraptured by her voice and the emotional charge she conveyed. Her life was very troubled and she also had to cope with a very young pregnancy, a murdered husband and a complicated relationship with Yves Montand.

Her voice kept people company and lifted the spirits of a Nazi-occupied France and, decades later, her song La Vie en Rose is still among the best known and most played themes in international music. His daughter Marcelle Dupont is buried with her.

Marcel Proust (1871-1922)

Photo by Paul Louis. Marcel Proust gave the whole of mankind his autobiographical masterpiece'In Search of Lost Time': 7 volumes and over 3,000 pages in which to lose oneself, get confused, fall in love and improve oneself.

Streams of consciousness and memories that in an astonishing way start with the tasting of a biscuit: from the madeleines Proust's childhood memories start the pages of a masterpiece that has marked the literature of yesterday, today and forever.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

Writer, artist and homosexual martyr, Oscar Wilde scandalised the England of his time. The playwright's works are still considered to be true ironic masterpieces, capable of astonishing but above all making the entire well-thinking society of every era reflect.

The choice of this memorial for Oscar Wilde's grave aroused much controversy, as his supporters wanted it to represent his much-loved works. Apparently, the sculptor Jacob Epstein was inspired by Wilde's work'The Sphinx'.

Jim Morrison (1943-1971)

Photo by Steve Soper. Myth, commercial phenomenon, crowd-pleaser, American rock star but above all poet, his is the most visited grave in the cemetery. The bust of him, placed at the foot of the tombstone, is constantly stolen by adoring fans, who visit him at all hours of the day and night. Jim Douglas Morrison's grave is decorated with the inscriptions and prayers of fans, from those who believe he is still alive to those who extol his immortality with letters, flowers and tributes of all kinds.

In Paris he spent the last year of his life writing notes and poetry between Café de Flore and Led Deux Magots. He died in Paris on 3 July 1971, at the age of 27, probably having torn himself away from a life he could no longer control and led by his own excesses to the inevitable resolution of his existence. The director of the Père Lachaise initially refused his admission to the cemetery: when told he was a writer, he asked to read his compositions.

Useful tips for visiting the attraction

1. Get up early: ideally you should reach the entrance around opening time, especially to visit the most famous tombs calmly and quietly

2. Book a guided tour: we recommend that you visit the cemetery on a guided tour. It will allow you to get to know (without missing) the stories and burials of the most illustrious people, with real gems that you would otherwise miss

3. Minimum time: we recommend a minimum of 2 hours for the visit

4. Bring a map: the cemetery is huge and dispersed, some graves are not even well marked or easy to spot. You can download the map here

5. Behaviour: this is a cemetery where many people are buried, so please behave appropriately and respectfully, avoiding shouting or disrespectful behaviour

History, trivia and practical information: what to know in brief

The famous French cemetery that every year welcomes ordinary people and celebrities for eternal rest takes its name from the confessor of Louis XIV: Father François d'Aix de La Chaise.

The cemetery is a unique architectural work of art, a veritable open-air museum of funerary art in which Haussmannian vaults, Gothic tombs, ancient mausoleums, works from the Second Empire, neoclassical buildings and sculptures of all styles alternate harmoniously. The world's most famous necropolis extends over a total of 48 hectares and totals no less than seventy thousand concessions.

Despite its beauty and fame, the Pére Lachaise cemetery almost never has queues at the entrance, so you can visit it at any time of day. Moreover, the different entrances allow people to flow in more quickly. You choose which one to enter from depending on where you arrive or the attraction you visited previously.