Paris, France
The Eiffel Tower, without the two-hour queue
Book online, take the stairs to the second floor, and understand what you're actually paying more for at the top. Everything else is optional.
The 1889 iron lattice that was supposed to be torn down after twenty years
Buy tickets ↗Gustave Eiffel's tower went up in a little over two years for the 1889 World's Fair, marking the centenary of the French Revolution, and it was never meant to be permanent — its original permit ran twenty years, after which Paris was expected to tear it down. It survived because it turned out to be extraordinarily useful: the city discovered its height made it invaluable for wireless telegraphy and later radio transmission, and that practical utility, more than public affection, is the reason it's still standing. The affection came later, once people stopped fighting about it.
And people fought about it. A group of prominent artists and writers, including Guy de Maupassant, published a furious open letter denouncing the 'useless and monstrous' tower before it was even finished, calling it an affront to the city's beauty. Maupassant reportedly ate lunch in the tower's restaurant regularly afterward, explaining that it was the one place in Paris from which he didn't have to look at it. The irony is now part of the tower's own mythology.
At 330 metres it was the tallest structure in the world for over four decades, and it remains the single most-visited paid monument on earth by ticket count. That popularity is the whole practical challenge of visiting: nothing about seeing the tower is difficult except the crowd, and almost every problem people have with the visit is solvable with a bit of planning done before arrival rather than in the queue.
The single most useful decisionTake the stairs to the second floor
The tower has three visitor levels: first floor (57m), second floor (115m), and the summit (276m). The stairs option — available only up to the second floor, not the summit — is consistently the fastest way in, often with little to no queue compared to the lift line, and it's also meaningfully cheaper.
The stair climb is 674 steps split across the first and second floors, which sounds like more than it is in practice: it's a wide, well-maintained spiral staircase with landings, and most reasonably fit visitors manage it in fifteen to twenty-five minutes without particular strain, stopping to look out through the ironwork as they go — which is itself part of the experience, since you see the structure's engineering up close in a way lift visitors don't. Both first and second floors have glass floor sections and viewing platforms that don't require going any higher.
The summit can only be reached by a separate lift from the second floor, purchased as an add-on or combined ticket, and this is where the real queuing tends to happen even for people who skipped the ground-floor line by taking the stairs. Decide whether the summit is worth it to you (see below) before committing to that second queue.
The upsell, evaluated honestlySecond floor or the summit?
The second floor, at 115 metres, already gives you the view most people picture when they imagine seeing Paris from the Eiffel Tower: the full sweep of the Champ de Mars and the Trocadéro, the Seine curving through the city, Sacré-Cœur on its hill, and on a clear day the outline of La Défense's towers to the west. It's high enough to feel like a real view and low enough that landmarks are still individually recognisable.
The summit is higher, windier, smaller in floor area, and the view is more abstracted — Paris as a map rather than a city, since individual buildings become harder to pick out. It also involves the extra lift queue mentioned above, which in peak season can be the single longest wait of the entire visit. Some visitors find the summit genuinely worth it for the sense of altitude and a champagne bar that operates up there; others find the second floor was already the better photograph and the summit added an hour of queuing for a marginally higher, harder-to-read view.
If you have to choose one to prioritise for time, choose the second floor. If your schedule has slack and you want the full experience, add the summit, but book that leg of the ticket in advance specifically, since summit access sells out its own timed slots separately from general entry.
Booking strategyBook weeks ahead, and pick your slot for the light
Online tickets are released roughly two to three months ahead and the best times — especially sunset slots — sell out well in advance in the busy season, from roughly April through September. Book as early as your travel dates allow; this is not a monument where you can reliably improvise a good visit on short notice in high season.
Evening slots are the most sought after for good reason: the tower's hourly light show, several minutes of sparkling lights on the hour after dark, is genuinely worth timing a visit around, and sunset views from either the second floor or the summit over a golden-lit city are the visit most people remember. That popularity is exactly why those slots vanish first online.
If your dates are inflexible and online slots are gone, walk-up tickets are still sold on site but come with substantially longer queues, and same-day summit access is often unavailable entirely once online allocations are exhausted. A same-day walk-up visit is realistic for the stairs option outside peak hours and peak season; it's a poor bet for a summer weekend evening.
Seeing it, not just seeing from itThe best views are of the tower, not from it
Some of the most memorable Eiffel Tower experiences don't involve a ticket at all. The Trocadéro esplanade, across the river, is the single most photographed vantage point in Paris and it's free, busy at almost any hour, and best at sunrise or the blue hour just after sunset when the tower is lit but the sky still has colour.
The Champ de Mars, the long lawn stretching south from the tower's base, is where locals actually spend an evening with the tower — a picnic blanket, a bottle of wine, watching the hourly light show from ground level rather than paying to be inside it. It's a genuinely different, more relaxed way to experience the tower than a ticketed visit, and pairs well with doing the ticketed visit on a different day or at a different hour.
For a longer, higher, less crowded angle, the rooftop terrace of the Montparnasse Tower a few kilometres south has one advantage no vantage point near the Eiffel Tower can offer: the Eiffel Tower is actually in your photograph, which the Eiffel Tower's own upper levels obviously can't manage.
Practical notesGetting there, security, and what to bring
Security screening, similar to an airport but faster, is required for everyone entering the base of the tower, with bag checks and a walk-through metal detector. Arrive with this in mind even with a timed ticket — the ticket guarantees your entry slot, not an instant walk-in.
The area around the tower and the Champ de Mars sees the city's highest concentration of unofficial vendors and low-level scams targeting distracted tourists — the usual petition-signature and bracelet tricks. Keep bags zipped and don't engage.
Dress for wind and temperature drop at height, particularly on the summit, which is noticeably colder and windier than ground level even on a mild day. There are cafés and a restaurant on the first floor and a Michelin-starred restaurant, Le Jules Verne, on the second, both requiring separate reservations from general tower admission.
Practical info
- Hours
- Open daily. Mid-June to early September: 9am–12:45am (last ascent 11pm for the summit, 12:30am for lower floors). Rest of the year: 9:30am–11:45pm (last ascent 10:30pm for the summit, 11pm for lower floors). Hours can shift around public holidays and for maintenance.
- Tickets
- Stairs to the second floor: around €13. Lift to the second floor: around €22. Lift to the summit: around €29, bookable as an add-on from the second floor. Reduced rates for under-25s (EU residents) and children; free for under-4s. Book online well in advance, especially for sunset slots and summit access in peak season.
- Getting there
- Bir-Hakeim (line 6) and Trocadéro (lines 6 and 9) are the closest Métro stations, each a five-to-ten-minute walk. RER C stops directly at Champ de Mars–Tour Eiffel. Multiple bus routes serve the Champ de Mars and Trocadéro sides.
- Good to know
- Security screening is mandatory for all visitors regardless of ticket type; arrive fifteen to twenty minutes before your slot. The stairs option only reaches the second floor — summit access always requires the lift, even for stair-ticket holders who upgrade on site if slots remain. The hourly light show runs for five minutes after nightfall until 1am (or 11pm in winter) and is worth timing an evening visit around, whether or not you're going up.
Before you goCommon questions
- Should I take the stairs or the lift up the Eiffel Tower?
- The stairs, if you're reasonably fit and only going to the second floor — it's usually faster than the lift queue, cheaper, and lets you see the ironwork up close. The summit can only be reached by lift from the second floor regardless of how you got there, so stair-ticket holders who want the top will still queue for that lift.
- Is it worth paying extra to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower?
- The second floor already gives you a recognisable, satisfying view of Paris and is where most people's favourite photos come from. The summit is higher and includes a champagne bar, but the view becomes more abstract and the extra lift queue can be the longest wait of the visit. Worth it if you have time and want the full experience; skippable if you're short on time.
- How far in advance should I book Eiffel Tower tickets?
- As early as your dates allow — tickets release two to three months ahead and popular slots, especially sunset, sell out well before the date in high season (April to September). Walk-up tickets exist but mean longer queues and no guarantee of summit access.
- Where is the best place to photograph the Eiffel Tower?
- The Trocadéro esplanade across the river is the classic, free vantage point and best at sunrise or just after sunset. The Champ de Mars lawn gives a ground-level, relaxed view for the hourly light show. For a photo with the tower actually in it, the Montparnasse Tower's rooftop terrace is the standard answer.
- What is the Eiffel Tower light show and when does it happen?
- Every hour on the hour after dark, the tower sparkles with several minutes of flashing lights layered over its usual golden illumination. It runs until around 1am in summer and 11pm in winter, and it's visible free from anywhere with a clear line of sight, including the Champ de Mars and Trocadéro.