Tours and Tickets to Experience Père Lachaise Cemetery

The Père Lachaise Cemetery is one of the key burial places in the city of Paris. To take advantage of ample space on the city’s outskirts, Parisian officials organized many reburials of famous people here. This elevated its status and the cemetery soon became the burial ground of choice for notable figures.

The pianist Frédéric Chopin, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde, and The Doors’ lead singer Jim Morrison are some of the famous people buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery. Famous French people include author Marcel Proust and architect Charles Garnier, who designed the Paris Opera House.

Yes, guided tours of Père Lachaise Cemetery are available year-round. Walking tours and small-group tours often spend a couple of hours here, discovering the famous graves and hearing the stories behind the tombs. Other sightseeing options include haunted tours that focus on more macabre stories, and self-guided audio tours.

Yes, you can take photos inside Père Lachaise Cemetery. Some visitors come here for precisely that reason, often lining up to catch a snap in front of Jim Morrison’s grave. Oscar Wilde’s tomb is considered the most beautiful (and kissed), and its lipstick-covered wall is a quirky photo opportunity.

Grab a cemetery map when you enter, and plan a route before you start to walk. Private tours let you customize your experience, so you can head straight to the graves that interest you most. For the grave of Jim Morrison, follow the mostly American crowds.

Like all Paris attractions, Père Lachaise Cemetery is especially busy in the summer months. To avoid the worst crowds, the shoulder season months of May and September are quieter. Whatever month you visit, go earlier in the morning; the attraction is open from 8am and there are rarely lines to enter.