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Eiffel Tower
You already know what it looks like. The only thing left to decide is how high you go. Gustave Eiffel's company put up the 330-meter iron tower for the 1889 World's Fair, and it held the tallest-structure record for over 40 years. Three levels climb from the esplanade to the summit, and your ticket locks you into one of them before you arrive.
Photos: Benh LIEU SONG (Public domain), Jorge Royan (CC BY-SA 3.0), Gabriel Loppé (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons
Worth going up once, but the second floor already gives you the view most people picture, and it costs less. The summit is the part you book first or miss, since it sells out earliest.
Worth it for
- A first Paris trip where you actually want to ride up the thing, not just see it
- Being fit enough for the stairs and happy to climb rather than queue for the elevator
You can skip if
- All you want is the photo, which is better and free from the Trocadero terrace or the Champ de Mars lawns
- Long waits and security screening sour the whole idea for you, since even a timed ticket means lining up
Tickets & tours for Eiffel Tower
Which ticket should you buy?
A fair tower that stayed
The tower went up as the centerpiece of the 1889 Exposition Universelle, the world's fair that marked the centennial of the French Revolution. Gustave Eiffel's engineering firm designed and built it, working from a concept by his engineers Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, with the architect Stephen Sauvestre adding the decorative arches at the base. It went from drawing to finished structure in a little over two years.
Plenty of Parisians hated it at first, and the original plan was to tear it down after 20 years. What saved it was usefulness: the tower made an excellent antenna mast, and its role in early radio and later television kept it standing. It has been repainted roughly every seven years since, and the structure carries far less weight than people assume for its size.
The three levels
There are three stops on the way up. The first level, around 57 meters, has a glass floor section, exhibits, and places to eat. The second level, near 115 meters, gives the sharpest street-level views over Paris because you are high enough to see the layout but low enough to pick out individual landmarks. The summit, about 276 meters up for visitors, is reached by a separate elevator and includes a view over the city in every direction plus a reconstruction of Eiffel's small office near the top.
You can take stairs to the first and second levels if you want to skip the elevator lines, which means climbing several hundred steps. The summit is elevator-only. Tickets are sold for stairs-only, elevator to the second level, or all the way to the top, so decide how high you want to go before you book.
Booking and timing
Entry runs on timed slots, and the summit tickets sell out first, often days ahead in summer and around holidays. If reaching the top matters to you, book early and pick a specific time. You cannot add the summit after buying a second-floor ticket, so if the top matters to you choose a summit ticket when you book.
Security screening at the base adds time, so arrive a bit before your slot. Bags are checked, and large luggage is not allowed. The area around the tower and the Champ de Mars draws pickpockets and people running street scams, so keep your phone and wallet secured and ignore anyone pushing petitions or rings on the ground.
After dark
Once the sun goes down the tower is lit gold, and on the hour, every hour, thousands of small lights flash across it for about five minutes. The first sparkle starts at nightfall and the last one runs at midnight (1 a.m. in summer). The show is brief, so position yourself a few minutes early.
The classic viewing spot is across the river at the Trocadero, on the terrace of the Palais de Chaillot, which puts the whole tower in front of you. The lawns of the Champ de Mars on the other side work too and tend to be more relaxed for sitting.
Eiffel Tower: FAQs
About 330 meters to the tip including antennas. The highest visitor platform, the summit, sits at roughly 276 meters.
Yes, stairs go to the first and second levels and are usually a shorter wait. The summit can only be reached by elevator from the second level.
It is strongly recommended. Entry uses timed slots, and summit tickets in particular sell out early, especially in summer and around holidays.
Every hour on the hour after dark, for about five minutes, until 1 a.m. (2 a.m. in summer). The tower is lit gold the rest of the evening.
The Trocadero terrace across the Seine frames the full tower head on. The Champ de Mars lawns on the opposite side are a calmer alternative.
It is busy and generally fine, but pickpockets and petition or ring scams are common around the base. Keep valuables zipped away and decline strangers who approach you.
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