Eiffel Tower Tickets and Tours

There are many ways to enjoy the Eiffel Tower, but you have to go up to see the whole city from the top. Here are the best options:

If you want to save time and effort on your visit to the Eiffel Tower and get to the 2nd floor where the best views of Paris await you as quickly as possible, these lift tickets are your best option.

In addition to the convenience of not having to climb the endless stairs to reach the top exhausted, by booking these tickets for the day and time that suits you best, you will also be able to reach the top of the Eiffel Tower if you choose the option. As one of the most popular tickets, booking in advance is key to enjoying the experience with total peace of mind.

Why I like this option: You are guaranteed a visit to one of the world's most iconic monuments in the most comfortable and hassle-free way possible.

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As it is the legendary Eiffel Tower, this guided tour option with lift ride and priority access to the top is undoubtedly a good choice. Bear in mind that your history expert guide will accompany you for 2 hours to enrich and give context to your visit, so you will leave having gained an in-depth knowledge of this unique monument.

You will be able to choose between different times to start the tour and, of course, the ascent will also be by lift. This way you can go straight to the 2nd floor to admire the best views of the city. And if you want an added bonus to enjoy the full experience, I recommend selecting the option with priority access to the top. A panoramic view almost 300 metres above sea level awaits you - mind-blowing!

Why I like this option: The company of a guide will avoid that bittersweet taste that a visit on your own can leave you with in a monument as special as this one.

Before you book your tickets for the Eiffel Tower, please note that there are different types of tickets depending on how you prefer to climb the Eiffel Tower:

• Entrance with stairs: With this ticket you will have to climb over 650 steps to reach the first floor. However, you will be able to enjoy the views during the ascent comfortably and at your own pace. It is also the cheapest option. Even if you book the guided tour with stairs option, you'll save on your tickets.
• Eiffel Tower lift tickets: This allows you to take the lift up to the first floor or even the top, depending on the type of ticket. Prices are higher than for stair tickets. Ideal for people with mobility problems or those who are unable to do physical exercise.

The Eiffel Tower has a total of three levels:

• First floor: located at 57 metres high, it has an observation deck and partial glass floor that allows you to see underfoot. On this floor there are interactive exhibits on the history and construction of the Tower, the Madame Brasserie Restaurant and an outdoor terrace.
• First floor: located 116 metres above the ground, it offers a breathtaking panoramic view of Paris where you can admire the Louvre, Notre-Dame and even the Sacré-Cœur. It has a narrower observation deck that will amaze you. The observation deck is also home to souvenir shops and buffets for quick snacks and drinks.
• Top: located at 276 metres above sea level, this is the most exclusive experience of the Eiffel Tower and offers a 360° panoramic view. It is only accessible by lift from the first floor. This floor houses the Bar à Champagne and the reconstruction of Gustave Eiffel's office.

You can book tickets to the Eiffel Tower, starting at £57 However, prices will depend on several factors: whether you choose to go up on foot or by lift, how far in advance you buy your ticket, the timetable and whether you choose a guided tour.

Access to the first floor is included in all tickets, but from there the views are not fully appreciated; to see them you will have to go up to the first floor (on foot or by lift depending on the ticket you buy) or to the top (only accessible by lift).

Children under the age of four are free, and discounts are available for children and young people up to the age of 25. Paris Pass holders, however, will have to buy their tickets in the normal way. If you want to know more, you have all the information here: Eiffel Tower Ticket Prices

You can buy them by queuing at the ticket office or on the official Hellotickets website in advance. You will have all the tickets available to book the ticket for the Eiffel Tower that you like the most and you can select at the time of purchase the day and time.

My advice: book as soon as possible. The Eiffel Tower is the most visited monument in Paris and thousands of tickets are bought daily. And if you leave it to chance and decide to buy them at the monument itself, you run the risk of not having tickets available, in addition to the queues.

Regardless of whether you book tickets for the Eiffel Tower where you take the stairs or the lift, the added value of the Eiffel Tower ticket is the specialised guide who will tell you the history of the monument (because it has a history). Also, when you get to the top, he will show you the different areas and monuments of Paris and tell you about the history of the city and everything you need to know to enjoy it to the fullest.

This guided tour includes a lift to the first floor and the option to hire the climb to the top separately. If you're fit, I recommend using the stairs, even if it's just to go down, as part of the experience; they'll give you plenty of time to do it at your own pace.

Throughout the tour you'll be accompanied by a specialised guide who, when you get to the top, will guide you through the view of the city and describe interesting details about all the monuments that make it up. Here is our post on The best guided tours of the Eiffel Tower where I tell you all about the different tours.

The entrances to the Eiffel Tower are the four legs of the Eiffel Tower and at each of them there are queues to buy tickets. That is why the best option is to book your tickets in advance; this way you will only have to wait in the entrance queue (essential so that the tower is not saturated with visitors and you can enjoy the views) and not also at the ticket offices, which are the longest.

My advice is that it is worth paying the difference in price to go all the way to the top. An intermediate option, which for me is the best, is to take the stairs to the first floor and the lift to the top. However, tickets to the top are usually sold out. I tell you more about this in our post on How to climb the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower is open every day of the year; from 9am to midnight in summer and from 9.30am to 11pm in winter. Unlike many museums in Paris, the monument is not closed on any day of the week, but access may be suspended from time to time due to repairs, weather conditions or crowds.

In my opinion, the views are worth seeing both day and night, and for that, going up before sunset is the best time if you don't want to do it twice. However, it is also one of the most crowded times of the day. If you want to enjoy the views with a small crowd, the best time is at dusk and early morning if there is no fog (which is common in Paris and can spoil the view).

The Eiffel Tower's illumination schedule begins at nightfall. At the stroke of midnight the tower flashes for five minutes until one o'clock in the morning; these flashes were implemented to celebrate the arrival of the year 2000 and are still active today.

Also, on certain dates or days the lighting of the Eiffel Tower changes, so it's a good idea to check the calendar during your trip in case you get the chance to see a different type of illumination.

How to get to the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is the most central and well-known monument in Paris and can be seen from practically all over the city. You'll have no trouble walking to it from anywhere in the centre by looking at a map, and it's also very well connected by public transport.

If you use metro line 6, the stop is Bir-Hakeim, although if you have time, I recommend walking from the Trocadero stop on the same line. For more information , click here.

Duration of the visit

You can spend as much time as you want on your visit to the Eiffel Tower depending on how many photos you want to take and how much time you spend climbing stairs or waiting for the lifts.

Most people spend about an hour and a half on the tour, but guided tours usually last about two hours as they go into much more detail and leave you free to enjoy the tower at your leisure.

Madame Brasserie Restaurant

For an unparalleled Parisian dining experience, head to Madame Brasserie, an elegant and contemporary restaurant located on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower.

From a height of 57 metres, you can enjoy panoramic views of Paris. Its dishes are created by a renowned professional chef and prepared with local and seasonal products.

• Booking a lunch at the Madame Brasserie at the Eiffel Tower costs from £62 and you can choose between two times, 12 noon and 1.30pm.
• Tobook a dinner reservation at Madame Brasserie at the Eiffel Tower, costs from £162 and also offers two services, at 18:30 and 21:00.

Madame Brasserie is in high demand, so I recommend booking in advance due to the high demand.

Where to eat in the surrounding area

At the Eiffel Tower there are two bars where you can buy some takeaway food, a Parisian macarons shop and two restaurants with a view where you can book and enjoy seasonal French cuisine. If you want to enjoy the experience and indulge in a luxurious treat, I recommend the nearby restaurants; the food in the bars is expensive and is only for snacks.

If you want to eat in the area you will have to go a little further afield to find restaurants, but I recommend ordering a fabulous crepe from the street stall between the Champs de Mars and Trocadero as they make them on the spot and sitting in the area to enjoy the view gives you a more authentic experience than the average restaurant.

Can you climb the Eiffel Tower with children? Of course you can! The Eiffel Tower has sufficient security measures in place so that you can visit it with children with complete peace of mind. All areas are protected by a safety fence and, as long as they are careful on the stairs, children are safe.

Ana's Traveller Tip

Before planning your visit, check the weather and make sure there is no fog; early mornings are often foggy in Paris and you won't be able to enjoy the views as much.

Just as important as climbing the Eiffel Tower is the view from the bottom. The tower is located between the Champs de Mars and the gardens of the Trocadero Palace and the area is ideal, especially in warm weather, for a leisurely stroll with a crepe in hand.

In summer, moreover, you are allowed to lie on the lawns of the Champs de Mars, and in the evening many groups gather there for picnics and to watch the illumination of the tower. Lying there, unhurried and simply looking up and seeing the tower is a unique experience in Paris. If I may give you a piece of advice, be careful with bags, backpacks, purses, etc.

This area tends to be quite crowded and especially after dark, it is common to see pickpockets trying to make a killing at the expense of absent-minded tourists who leave their belongings unattended while taking pictures of the Iron Lady. Be sure to read our post on tips for visiting the Eiffel Tower.

As well as being one of the most visited monuments in Paris, the Eiffel Tower is also one of the most photographed, but where to take the best photos of the Eiffel Tower from? To suit all tastes, I suggest several places.

If you're in the area, maybe it's a good time to take one of the Seine River cruises (in fact, there are packages that sell the entrance to the Tower and the Seine River cruise, so you can save money by buying them together). I explain it all in my article on: 8 Best Seine River Cruises.

From Trocadero

You will easily identify the spot because it is the one where all the tourists gather to take the "typical photo" with the Eiffel Tower in the background. It used to be allowed to climb the curb of the stairs, but in recent years it has been fenced off to protect the area and prevent falls; even so, it is easy to miss the fence if you use the right perspective.

From the nearby lawn

The first thing you will realise when you see the Eiffel Tower for the first time is that, no matter how many photos you have seen, you can't get an idea of its size. Photographing the whole thing up close without a wide-angle lens is virtually impossible, but I personally like the image of the top peeking through the trees.

From the Peace Wall

At the end of the Champs de Mars, the "Wall for Peace" offers a nice perspective to photograph the Eiffel Tower. The monument consists of two glass walls on which the word "Peace" can be read in 32 languages and 18 different alphabets.

From the Alexander III Bridge

The railing of this bridge and the ornamentation of the bridge also allow for beautiful photos of the Eiffel Tower with the river in the background. Be sure to take a stroll across this bridge from the French Third Republic, which crosses the Seine and leads to Les Invalides.

From the rest of Paris

You don't have to take the perfect, framed, close-up shot of the Eiffel Tower; you can easily photograph it from different parts of Paris due to its sheer size. Try climbing the Arc de Triomphe and taking your photo from there, or explore the back of the Sacre Coeur to get a perspective of the Eiffel Tower illuminating Paris. If you've got the observational skills, you'll have a whole album at your disposal when you return from your trip.

The views from the top of the Eiffel Tower are breathtaking and the highest in Paris. Does that mean they're the best? Not necessarily; although climbing the Eiffel Tower is a must, there are many other places from which you can enjoy aerial views and in many of them with more detail than from the top of the Eiffel Tower for the simple reason that a lower height allows you to better appreciate the details. I recommend:

Notre Dame

The gargoyles of the Paris cathedral give a special air to the views of the city. The gargoyles really seem to be watching over the city and the cathedral's location in the centre of Paris allows you to appreciate several of the city's monuments. This spot right now is closed after the fire in 2019, but I'm sure that sooner or later, it will be available again.

Montparnasse Tower

Personally, I think that this is one of the few elements of Paris that breaks the aesthetics of the city. Why climb it then? Because, precisely, from the top of the tower, located in the south of the city, you can't see the tower itself but you can see the rest of the great monuments of Paris, including the Eiffel Tower.

Sacre-Coeur

Perhaps it's because of the atmosphere of the Montmartre district, but the truth is that the experience of seeing the whole of Paris from the top of the Sacre-Coeur stairs is an impressive experience that unites you even more with a city that grabs you even before you set foot in it for the first time. The Montmartre district, in general, is a must-see attraction that you can't miss on your visit to the city. I have written a guide about 10 Best Tours in Paris in which I tell you how to visit this neighbourhood and the places you should not miss.

Tourist bus

Whether you choose one or several of the attractions in Paris, you should know that the distances between them are not short, so don't underestimate them. A good way to get around the city between the main sights while taking a break from the inevitable walking is the sightseeing bus. Here's a handy guide to everything you need to know before you get your ticket: Paris Hop-On Hop-Off Buses.