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Take a tour of Paris's sewerParis, France
Beneath the enchanting scenes of the Seine and Paris’s cobblestone footpaths lies the route for one of the city’s oldest tours. Since the latter part of the nineteenth century, the Paris Sewer Museum has guided tourists and locals alike through the pungent labyrinth of its underground system.
It’s a true feat of early engineering and design – construction began in the 1300s – but this museum isn’t for those with a delicate disposition. With fully dressed mannequins posed as workers and thoroughly entertaining information about the city and its catacombs on offer, this is a tour that neither you nor your nostrils will be able to forget.
Marvel at the giant balls once used to clean the sewers, which look like they could have been plucked from the set of an Indiana Jones movie. Paris's sewer network spans some 2, 100 kilometres, and tours were once conducted by locomotive-drawn carriages and also by boat. Guided tours are available, or go it alone.
get there
Take a stroll from the closest metro station, Alma-Marceau, which you can connect to from CDG airport.
Entry costs US$5.
Drop in on your way to or from Paris’s other famous cultural attractions.
Paris Info
en.parisinfo.com
The museum’s closed on Thursdays and Fridays. Tour reservations must be made in advance but a self-guided visit won’t leave you wanting.
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