Visiting a cemetery is not morbid tourism. The great European cemeteries are outdoor museums, city parks, and works of landscape art that most visitors skip entirely. That is their loss.

Père Lachaise, Paris

The most visited cemetery in the world is a 44-hectare park on the eastern edge of Paris, and it rewards an entire afternoon. Get the map at the entrance: without it you will spend most of your time lost among 70,000 graves. Jim Morrison's grave is overcrowded and unremarkable. Oscar Wilde's monument, designed by Jacob Epstein, is genuinely beautiful and worth finding. The graves of Chopin, Edith Piaf, and Marcel Proust each have their clusters of visitors. Colette's is usually quiet and more moving for it.

The cemetery is also simply a good park. The older sections have massive chestnut trees, cobbled paths, and an atmosphere that feels nothing like the rest of Paris. Visit on a weekday if you can. Go before noon. The light in the older sections in the morning is excellent.

Highgate, London

Highgate Cemetery splits into East and West. The East is free to enter and contains Karl Marx's famous oversized monument, which divides people sharply. The West is the more extraordinary of the two: Victorian Gothic architecture, the Egyptian Avenue, the Circle of Lebanon with its cedar growing from the top. West is guided visits only, booked in advance, and worth it. The guides are knowledgeable and the restriction keeps numbers down, which preserves the atmosphere.

Staglieno, Genoa

Staglieno is the least known of the three and arguably the most spectacular. It is a nineteenth-century necropolis on the hills above Genoa, full of elaborate marble and bronze sculpture commissioned by wealthy Genoese families. The quality of the craftsmanship is extraordinary. Some of the figurative work, particularly the life-size weeping angels and realistic portrait sculptures, rivals major museums. Oscar Wilde's mother is buried here. Take a bus from the city centre, allow two hours, and bring good walking shoes.

Why These Places Work as Sightseeing

They are uncrowded relative to the major attractions, free or nearly so, and genuinely quiet. In cities where every sight involves a queue and a crowd, a good cemetery is an act of sanity.