It's the middle of the night and I woke with a start as I forgot to purchase my Eiffel Tower tickets yesterday - was hoping for the summit at sunset but will have to settle for the summit at 5:30 pm :) oh well.
Since I can't sleep now I was looking around at Museum Passes, tickets, etc.
I've read the lines for the Catacombs can be horrid, like 2-3 hours. I also read that you can purchase advance tickets. Has anyone done this? Do you still need to queue or do the tickets provide you with a specific entrance time that lets you skip the longer queue?
Thanks for any advice!
Posted by
Chicago
8059 posts
The above post is giving middleman agency rates. The official skip the line reservations by the Catacombs are for late afternoon entries and while expensive are much less than that. The normal entry is 12 Euro and the adult entry for reserved entry is 27 Euro with Audio guide and free for kids but 5 for audio guide. This is a bit of a hose job but nothing like the rates quoted earlier here by tour companies.
You can see our visit here:
https://janettravels.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/catacombs-a-creepy-paris-stroll/
We went in November and there was zero line and almost no one underground; in season the line is hours long so if you do want to do it, it probably makes sense to pay the very high reserved ticket fee. If you have a reserved ticket from the Catacombs, you will go to the head of the line and be admitted at your time; you don't have to join the long queue.
Posted by
Florida
482 posts
I'm not sure about the advanced tickets but can confirm that the lines are horrid. We went in July, stood on line for 3 hours. We got there just before opening, but clearly should have arrived way earlier. I don't remember seeing anyone going in on a separate queue, but might not have noticed much by the time we got up to the entrance. It was like an endurance test.
If there is such a thing as an advanced ticket that provides you with a defined entry time, I'd say to get it.
Posted by
California
1625 posts
We lined up an hour before opening and we were in about 30 min after opening, this was in October. We had gone the day before around 1pm and the lines where horrible so we decided on getting there early the next morning and it worked out great. I would book an advanced ticket if I could, but it did not work out with our schedule.
Posted by
Chicago
8059 posts
The official site does not sell the tickets for 12 Euro but for 27 and they are timed tickets. People I know have gone to the head of the line and been admitted at their reserved time. But these things change all the time and the web sites are terrifically bad, so maybe that is no longer true.
It is a bit abusive to sell their 12 Euro tickets for 27 on line but if they do not honor the timed admission it would be particularly abusive.