Père Lachaise Opening Hours, Entrances and Rules

Père Lachaise is open every day of the year, holidays included, and entry is free. From 16 March to 5 November 2026 it opens at 8:00 on weekdays, 8:30 on Saturdays and 9:00 on Sundays and holidays, and closes at 18:00. From 6 November to 15 March it closes at 17:30. The figures below are the City of Paris’s own, checked in October 2026.

Opening hours

City of Paris, checked October 2026. The winter hours start on 6 November 2026.

Two things change the plan. The evacuation starts fifteen minutes before closing, and no one is let in after that, so arriving at 17:30 in summer gives you very little time. And the city closes the cemetery from time to time in bad weather; check the city’s page on the morning if a storm is forecast.

The conservation office, for families and paperwork rather than visitors, is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 17:00.

Is Père Lachaise free?

Yes, completely. There is no ticket, no booking and no fee for any part of the cemetery. The City of Paris, which runs it, also organises no guided tours and has no “official” or “accredited” guides: every tour sold is run by an independent company. If someone at the gate presents a tour as the cemetery’s own, it is not.

The five gates

The cemetery climbs from the main gate up to Porte Gambetta. Coming in at the top and walking down saves your legs, and Oscar Wilde and Proust are close to that gate; Jim Morrison and Chopin are near the main gate at the bottom.

Toilets, water and services

There are three public toilets, all accessible, at the main gate, Porte du Repos and Porte Gambetta, and nowhere else. There is no Wi-Fi, no drinks machine and no baby-changing table, so bring water. There is a defibrillator. The fountains are turned off in freezing weather.

Accessibility

The city lists the cemetery as accessible to people with reduced mobility, with a clear warning: many paths are old cobbles or bare earth, irregular and sometimes very narrow, and the Amandiers and Réunion gates have steps. Use the main gate, Porte du Repos or Porte Gambetta. Visitors aged 75 or over, holders of a disability or mobility card, and people with a recent medical certificate from an approved doctor may enter by car, showing ID. On 1 November, All Saints’ Day, private cars are not allowed at all and the city runs free shuttles inside the cemetery.

The rules

Père Lachaise is a working cemetery first: the city counts nearly 10,000 funeral ceremonies a year in the cemetery and its crematorium. Funerals are private, whoever is being buried. The city’s rules forbid:

• drinking alcohol and picnicking;
• music, speakers or instruments, without special permission;
• feeding animals;
• bringing a pet, even on a lead;
• bicycles and scooters, even pushed;
• jogging and other sport;
• organised games such as treasure hunts and escape games.

Do not sit or climb on the tombs. Photography is fine, away from funerals and mourners.

How long to allow

At least two hours, the city says, with good shoes and a map. Three hours is more honest for a dozen famous graves on your own. The city’s free plans of the most requested graves list who is in which division, and our famous-graves guide has a map and a route.

When a tour makes sense

If you have two hours and want the famous graves without the hunting, a guide is the simplest answer. Every Père Lachaise tour runs within these opening hours, so none happens at night. The tour comparison covers all seven.