Paris > Parks & Outdoor Spaces > Père Lachaise Cemetery > Information

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Page 2
Continued from page 1

ABOVE: You can pick up a free cemetery map in the administration building near the main entrance. (Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to noon and 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.)

Visitor information

Winter hours (November 6 - March 15)

Open Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m, Saturday from 8:30 a.m to 5:30 p.m., Sunday and holidays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Access ends 15 minutes before closing time.)

Summer hours (March 16 - November 5)

Open Monday-Friday from 8:00 a.m to 6:00 p.m., Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Sunday and holidays from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Access ends 15 minutes before closing time.)

Cemetery maps

A free map is available in the administration building. It includes numbered locations of famous residents' graves, from "Aboville (d')", a French general, to "Zavatta, Achille," a clown.

Rules of conduct

No unruly behavior, no pets except service animals, no unsupervised children, no unauthorized vehicles, no picnics, no alcohol, no walking on the lawns or flower beds. (No digging a hole to bury Uncle Armand, either.)

Toilets

Unless the public toilets in the administration building have been reopened, you'll need to use the dim, grim outdoor WCs just to the left of the main entrance on the Boulevard de Ménilmontant or by the Porte Gambetta entrance on the north side of the cemetery.

How to reach the Cimetière du Père Lachaise

Père Lachaise Cemetery is near the eastern edge of Paris, in the 20th arrondissement. (You can easily see it on any map.)

The main entrance is on the Boulevard de Ménilmontant, with the nearby Porte du Repos pedestrian entrance being convenient to the Philippe-Auguste station of the Paris Métro's Line 2. Other Métro stations near the cemetery include Père Lachaise (Line 2 and 3) and Gambetta near the north or back entrance (Line 3).

• Tip: The Gambetta entrance is worth considering if you tire easily, since it's at the top of the sloping cemetery and you can you can walk downhill toward the main entrance (although you won't be able to pick up a map until you're almost ready to leave).

You can also reach the cemetery by public bus lines 60, 69, and 102.

Next page: More photos with captions

About the author:

Durant Imboden is a professional travel writer, book author, and editor who focuses on European cities and transportation.

After 4-1/2 years of covering European travel topics for About.com, Durant and Cheryl Imboden co-founded Europe for Visitors (including Paris for Visitors) in 2001. The site has earned "Best of the Web" honors from Forbes and The Washington Post.

For more information, see About our site, press clippings, and reader testimonials.

|   Paris for Visitors - Home  |

|  Europe for Visitors - Home  |