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Halloween in Paris 2026: Top Events & Spooky Attractions
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Halloween in Paris works differently from Halloween in New York or London. Trick-or-treating barely exists and few Parisians decorate their homes, but the city has something better suited to the season: an ossuary holding the remains of around six million people, the most famous cemetery in Europe, Gothic chimeras on Notre-Dame, and two major theme parks that go all-in on Halloween every October. In 2026, 31 October falls on a Saturday, followed on Sunday 1 November by Toussaint (All Saints' Day), the French date for remembering the dead.
This guide covers 5 top Halloween events and spooky attractions in and around Paris for 2026. Three are inside the city - the Catacombs of Paris, Père Lachaise Cemetery and the towers of Notre-Dame - and two are full-day trips: the Disney Halloween Festival at Disneyland Paris and Peur sur le Parc at Parc Astérix. Each entry has the exact address, the nearest Metro or RER station, 2026 dates where they are confirmed and a Pro Tip.
The French autumn school holidays (vacances de la Toussaint) run from 17 October to 2 November 2026, so expect the theme parks and the Catacombs to be at their busiest in the last two weeks of October. Book anything with timed entry well ahead.
1Catacombs of Paris - Six Million Parisians Underground
The Catacombs of Paris are the definitive Paris Halloween experience, and no other attraction in the city comes close for atmosphere. From the late 18th century, the city moved the bones of around six million Parisians out of overflowing cemeteries and into abandoned limestone quarries beneath the Left Bank. The result is the ossuary: a 1.5 km route through tunnels where skulls and thigh bones are stacked into walls, crosses and barrel-shaped columns.
Visitors descend 131 steps to around 20 metres below street level and walk the route at their own pace in about an hour, with inscriptions, quarrymen's carvings and the Port-Mahon gallery along the way. The temperature stays at around 14C year-round, the ceilings are low in places and the floor can be wet. The exit is several hundred metres away from the entrance, on Avenue René Coty, up a further spiral staircase.
Entry is by timed ticket booked online, and the Catacombs close on Mondays. Late-October slots during the Toussaint holidays sell out weeks ahead. Large bags are not allowed underground.
Pro Tip: Book the last slot of the day. Groups thin out towards closing time, and you will emerge into the dark on Avenue René Coty, which is exactly the mood you want for Halloween in Paris.
2Disneyland Paris Halloween Festival - Villains, Pumpkins and Phantom Manor
Disneyland Paris Halloween is the gentlest entry on this list and the best one for families. The Disney Halloween Festival runs in Disneyland Park from 26 September to 1 November 2026 - the earliest start the resort has ever scheduled - and it is included in a standard park ticket. It runs in Disneyland Park only, so check which park your ticket covers.
Main Street, U.S.A. fills with pumpkins and autumn decorations, and Mickey's Halloween Celebration cavalcade brings Disney characters out in costume. Disney villains take centre stage for character meetings, with Dr Facilier joining the festival in 2026, and Jack Skellington and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas return for one of the rarer meet-and-greets in the park. In Frontierland, the Lucky Nugget Saloon becomes the Unlucky Nugget, dressed as the rotting wedding feast of Phantom Manor's Melanie Ravenswood.
On 31 October the park plans extended opening hours and extra surprises. Expect Halloween Saturday to be extremely busy.
Pro Tip: Go on a weekday in late September or early October, before the Toussaint school holidays start on 17 October. You get the same decorations and characters with far shorter queues for Phantom Manor.
3Parc Astérix Peur sur le Parc - The Scariest Halloween Near Paris
Parc Astérix is where Parisians go to be properly frightened at Halloween, and Peur sur le Parc is widely considered the most intense theme park Halloween event in France. The 2026 edition runs from 3 October to 8 November, with scare zones, haunted houses and costumed actors added to the park's usual Gaulish and Roman theming.
The highlight is the Nocturnes: 12 evening openings from 7pm to 1am, sold on a dedicated ticket that costs 53 EUR online or 58 EUR at the gate. After dark, the roller coasters run in the night alongside the haunted attractions, and the scares are aimed squarely at teenagers and adults. During daytime opening, the Halloween theming is lighter and better suited to families with younger children.
The park sits just north of Charles de Gaulle Airport, so getting there without a car means combining the RER with a shuttle bus. Check the last return shuttle time before booking a Nocturne.
Pro Tip: Buy Nocturne tickets online - you save 5 EUR each and the Halloween weekend dates sell out. Head straight to the haunted houses at 7pm, when queues are shortest, and leave the coasters for after 10pm.
4Père Lachaise Cemetery - Halloween and Toussaint the French Way
Père Lachaise Cemetery is the most atmospheric place in Paris to spend the end of October, and it is free. Opened in 1804, the cemetery covers 44 hectares of steep cobbled paths, moss-covered tombs and Gothic chapels in the 20th arrondissement, with around 70,000 burial plots. Its famous residents include Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde, Frédéric Chopin and Édith Piaf.
The cemetery makes most sense in the context of Toussaint, which falls on Sunday 1 November in 2026. All Saints' Day is a public holiday in France, and families traditionally lay chrysanthemums on graves, which turns the paths into a sea of yellow, white and copper flowers. It is a quiet, moving contrast to the costume parties of the night before, and a good way to understand how the French mark this time of year.
Pick up a map at the entrance or download one, because the layout is confusing and some of the famous graves are hard to find. Paths are uneven and steep in places.
Pro Tip: Enter from the top at the Gambetta gate (Metro line 3, Gambetta station) and walk downhill towards Boulevard de Ménilmontant. You save the steepest climb and finish beside Père Lachaise station.
5Notre-Dame Towers - Close Up With the Chimeras
Notre-Dame de Paris has the most famous monsters in the city. The grotesque chimeras perched along the cathedral's Galerie des Chimères - horned demons, pelicans and the brooding Stryge with its chin in its hands - were added by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc during the 19th-century restoration and have watched over Paris ever since. The functional gargoyles, carved as water spouts, line the gutters below them.
The cathedral reopened in December 2024 after the 2019 fire, and the towers have since reopened to visitors. The climb is around 400 narrow spiral steps with no lift, and the reward is a close-up view of the chimeras against the rooftops of the Latin Quarter and the Seine. Entry to the cathedral itself is free; the towers require a paid, timed ticket booked in advance.
After dark, the floodlit west front and flying buttresses seen from the riverbank behind the cathedral are among the best free Halloween sights in Paris.
Pro Tip: Book the towers for late afternoon and come back down as the lights come on. Then walk across Pont de l'Archevêché to the Left Bank quay for the classic view of the floodlit apse.
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CEO and co-founder
Tomas is the co-founder and director of trip1, an European company specializing in reservation services. He launched the company in 2025 with a focus on building scalable, efficient operations.
Halloween in Paris 2026: Top Events & Spooky Attractions - FAQ
Partly. Halloween is not a deep-rooted French tradition and you will see little trick-or-treating in Paris, but theme parks, bars, cruises and attractions all run Halloween events. The bigger French date is Toussaint (All Saints' Day) on 1 November, when families visit cemeteries with chrysanthemums.
Yes. The Disney Halloween Festival runs from 26 September to 1 November 2026 in Disneyland Park and is included in a standard park ticket, with no supplement. It takes place in Disneyland Park only, not in Disney Adventure World next door, and 31 October brings extended opening hours.
Peur sur le Parc runs at Parc Astérix from 3 October to 8 November 2026. The scariest part, the Nocturnes, happens on 12 evenings from 7pm to 1am on a dedicated ticket costing 53 EUR online or 58 EUR at the gate. It is not suitable for young children.
Yes - Halloween 2026 falls on a Saturday, and the Catacombs of Paris close only on Mondays. Late-October slots are among the hardest of the year to get, especially during the French autumn school holidays, so book timed tickets online as early as possible.
No - plan at least three days. Disneyland Paris and Parc Astérix each take a full day outside the city. The Catacombs and Notre-Dame fit comfortably into one city day, ending with the floodlit cathedral after dark, and Père Lachaise suits a quiet morning, best of all on 1 November for Toussaint.
Vedettes du Pont Neuf runs a Halloween cruise on the Seine on the evening of 31 October 2026, an easy option if you want to stay central. Paris escape games run horror-themed rooms that suit a rainy October evening, and costume parties pop up across Pigalle and the Marais that night.
