Eiffel Tower Guide: Tickets and Best Times to Visit

Built for the 1889 World's Fair and originally intended as a temporary structure, the Eiffel Tower remains Paris's defining landmark well over a century later.

Ticket tiers

Tickets are sold by floor — second floor by elevator or stairs, and summit access as a separate, pricier tier. Booking online in advance for a specific time slot is close to essential in peak season.

Stairs versus elevator

Taking the stairs to the second floor is cheaper and often has shorter queues than the elevator line, worth considering if you're reasonably fit.

Best time to visit

Early morning or just before sunset both offer better light and thinner crowds than midday.

Viewing it from outside

Trocadéro, across the river, offers one of the best full views of the tower itself, particularly at night when it sparkles on the hour.

The tower's history

Built for the 1889 World's Fair and intended to stand for only 20 years, it survived demolition plans partly because of its usefulness as a radio transmission tower in the early 20th century.

Security screening

Airport-style security applies before entering the tower grounds — arrive with some buffer time before your booked slot to account for this.

Picnicking nearby

The Champ de Mars, the park stretching out from the tower's base, is a popular spot for a picnic dinner with the tower as a backdrop, especially around the hourly evening sparkle.

The tower at night

Every evening on the hour, the tower sparkles with thousands of lights for about five minutes, a specific moment worth timing an evening walk around.

Alternative viewpoints

The Montparnasse Tower observation deck offers a view that, unlike the Eiffel Tower itself, includes the tower in the skyline — a detail some photographers prefer.

Picnic alternatives to a restaurant

Grabbing supplies from a nearby boulangerie for a Champ de Mars picnic costs a fraction of any restaurant with a tower view, and the view itself is arguably better from ground level looking up.

Whichever ticket tier you choose, check the current weather forecast — a hazy or rainy day considerably reduces the view from the top, and rescheduling for clearer skies is worth it if your itinerary allows.

Combining with a river cruise

Several Seine cruise departure points sit near the tower's base, making it easy to combine a tower visit with a boat trip on the same afternoon.

Visiting with limited mobility

Elevators serve all publicly accessible levels, making the tower genuinely accessible for visitors who cannot use the stairs option.

However you visit, the tower rewards a second look from a distance after your visit, once you've actually stood beneath it.