Montmartre Cemetery

Officially known as Cimitière du Nord, the 19th-century Montmartre Cemetery is the third-largest necropolis in Paris, and the final resting place for many of Montmartre's famous artists and writers including Edgar Degas and Jacques Offenbach, Dumas, Hector Berlioz and Emile Zola's family. 
Built in the early 19th century in an abandoned gypsum quarry at the foot of Butte Montmartre, Montmartre Cemetery was intended to take the strain off the inner-city cemeteries reaching dangerous levels of overcrowding. Today, the 25-acre site is a peaceful place crisscrossed by cobbled lanes shaded by cedars, maples, chestnuts, and limes. You can spend about an hour seeing the tombs with their ornate designs.

Practical Info

As you enter the cemetery at its sole entrance on Avenue Rachel, under Rue Caulaincourt, you'll see that to the left there's a guard shack. Here's where you can pick up guide maps. The nearest metro station is Place de Clichy on lines 2 and 13. Montmartre Cemetery is open every day of the week from 8:30am-5:30pm (or until 6or 8.30pm, depending on the season). Entry is free.