Père-Lachaise is not a quick celebrity-grave checklist. The City of Paris describes a free 43-hectare cemetery with uneven ground, seasonal opening hours and enough scale that it recommends allowing at least two hours. That makes route planning more important than trying to see every famous name. Come for the landscape, funerary architecture and layers of Parisian memory; choose a handful of graves or divisions, then leave room to wander respectfully.
- The cemetery covers about 43 hectares, so a realistic visit is a route through selected divisions rather than a complete circuit
- Molière, La Fontaine, Chopin, Édith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and Jim Morrison are among the many famous burials, but the monuments and landscape are as important as the names
- The City of Paris explicitly treats the site as both cemetery and heritage landscape, with rules designed to protect its funerary character and biodiversity
- Hours
- Seasonal. For 16 March–5 November 2026 the City of Paris lists Mon–Fri 08:00–18:00, Sat 08:30–18:00, Sun 09:00–18:00. Entry stops 15 minutes before closing; always re-check for weather or exceptional closures.
- Price
- Free
- Tip
- Allow at least two hours, wear shoes suited to steep and uneven paths, and save or collect a cemetery map before you start.
Start with a route, not a list
Père-Lachaise is large enough to punish improvisation if you have a train, museum booking or lunch reservation afterwards. The City of Paris puts the site at roughly 43 hectares and recommends at least two hours. Pick a small cluster of graves or divisions before you enter, then use the map to connect them rather than zig-zagging across the hill.
If one famous grave matters most, locate its division before arrival. Mobile reception is not something to rely on for every turn, and the stone lanes become confusing once you leave the main axes.
Which entrance makes sense
The main address is 16 rue du Repos in the 20th arrondissement, with other gates including Gambetta. Your best entrance depends on the route you want to walk and the direction you are arriving from. A point-to-point route can be smarter than returning to the gate where you started.
Metro stations around Père-Lachaise and Gambetta make the cemetery easy to combine with Belleville or the eastern Marais without treating it as a remote excursion.
Opening hours change with the season
Do not hard-code one year-round closing time into your day. Paris changes cemetery hours seasonally, and exceptional weather or maintenance closures happen. For the current 16 March–5 November 2026 period, weekday opening is 8am, Saturday 8:30am and Sunday 9am, with 6pm closing.
Evacuation starts 15 minutes before closing and new visitors are no longer admitted then. A late-afternoon arrival therefore gives you less usable time than the headline closing hour suggests.
Famous graves without turning the visit into a hunt
Jim Morrison, Édith Piaf, Oscar Wilde, Frédéric Chopin, Marcel Proust, Molière and La Fontaine are recurring visitor priorities. Seeing two or three can give your walk anchors, but chasing every famous burial is usually the least enjoyable way to experience the cemetery.
Notice the family chapels, sculpted tombs, old trees and changing topography between them. The place makes more sense as a city of memory than as an outdoor celebrity index.
Respect matters here
This is an active cemetery, not a theme park. The City prohibits picnics, alcohol, amplified music, sport, games and treasure-hunt style activities. Animals and cycles, including bicycles and scooters even when walked, are also prohibited under the published rules.
Keep voices low around funerals and mourners, do not climb monuments, and treat photography as something that should never interfere with private grief.
Accessibility and terrain
The size is only part of the challenge: the official guidance warns that the ground is uneven. Cobblestones, gradients and long distances can make a full circuit demanding for visitors with limited mobility.
Accessible public toilets are listed at the main, Repos and Gambetta gates. If step-free movement is essential, plan a shorter route around the most suitable entrances rather than assuming every picturesque lane will be easy.
What to bring
Good walking shoes, water and an offline map are more useful than a packed itinerary. There is no need to bring food for a picnic because picnicking is prohibited. The official site also lists no public Wi-Fi.
In warm weather the tree cover helps, but you are still outdoors for a long time. In rain, polished stone and slopes can become slippery.
Pairing Père-Lachaise with eastern Paris
Belleville is the natural next stop if you want a livelier neighbourhood after the quiet cemetery. Its park, market streets and food scene shift the mood completely. Canal Saint-Martin also works if you are continuing west.
A cemetery visit plus Belleville makes a satisfying half-day because the two places are geographically close but emotionally and visually very different.
Frequently asked questions
Is Père-Lachaise Cemetery free?
Yes. General pedestrian access is free.
How long should I allow?
The City of Paris recommends at least two hours because the cemetery is about 43 hectares and the terrain is uneven.
Can I take a bicycle or scooter inside?
No. The published rules prohibit cycles and scooters, even when they are being walked.
Can I picnic there?
No. Picnicking and alcohol are among the activities prohibited by the City of Paris.
Nearby
- B Belleville · neighborhood
- P Place de la République · square
- C Canal Saint-Martin · neighborhood