Visiting the Eiffel Tower

The Eif­fel Tow­er needs no intro­duc­tion, but that won’t stop us. 

The dom­i­na­tion of Ins­ta by Eif­fel pho­tos, the key­chains, and all the post­cards can­not serve jus­tice to the mag­i­cal ver­ti­go of stand­ing under­neath the arch­es of criss­cross­ing met­al and look­ing up, or the almost dan­ger­ous feel­ing of walk­ing up a nev­er-end­ing flight of uncom­fort­ably thin stairs in a giant, see-through, met­al cage. 

Con­struc­tion on the Eif­fel Tow­er began in 1887 as prepa­ra­tions were under­way for the 1889 World’s Fair. Despite heaps of crit­i­cism from the most influ­en­tial quar­ters of the Parisian who’s-who, and many com­pet­ing pro­pos­als for the project, what we know as the Eif­fel Tow­er was com­plet­ed and has gone on to become the glob­al sym­bol of Paris. 

Tick­ets will allow you to take the stairs or an ele­va­tor up the tow­er for an unpar­al­leled look over Paris. There are sev­er­al options for din­ing and the bet­ter ones, of course, require a reser­va­tion, but there are take­aways on the first lev­el if you can’t wait for some­thing bet­ter than sand­wich­es. If you’d rather eat with your feet on the ground, there are lots of cafés near­by for lunch or din­ner that have a view of the Iron Lady. Oh, and one more thing. Before you leave, make sure to see it twin­kle at night; every full hour after sun­set for 5 minutes.

There’s also a cham­pagne ‘bar’ (more like a take­away win­dow, no seat­ing), a restau­rant in a bub­ble (the most acces­si­ble in terms of price and reser­va­tions, except stand­ing up with a sand­wich from the take­away sta­tion), as well as oth­er, fanci­er restau­rants. You can also find his­tor­i­cal exhibits about the con­struc­tion of the Iron Lady and of course, the req­ui­site gift shops. In the win­ter, you can even skate around on an ice rink. There’s some­thing for every­one, except those afraid of heights. Sorry! 

Vis­it­ing the Eif­fel Tow­er is some­thing every aspir­ing Parisian should do at least once, and for those want­i­ng a repeat or an alter­na­tive type of vis­it, check it out at sun­set to see the city begin to twin­kle and the tow­er broad­cast it’s gold­en glow. 

For those of you who count it as just anoth­er tourist trap not worth your time (I used to be among you, I spent my first 44 (!) days liv­ing in Paris with­out see­ing the Eif­fel Tow­er, except for the search­light that comes on after dark), you can always use the bath­room at the sum­mit and say you made a pi-pi 906 feet high in the sky. It’s not quite the mile-high club, but it’s still a .0000001.% of human­i­ty experience. 

Also, just vis­it­ing the Iron Lady would real­ly piss off Hitler, if he were still Hit­ler­ing  around, as he tried to have it blown up in 1944 along with almost every­thing else in Paris besides the crois­sants (obv, he didn’t succeed).

So do your part to stick it to the Nazis and vis­it the Eif­fel Tow­er. Even wear a Black Lives Mat­ter t‑shirt if you wan­na rile up the con­tem­po­rary ones. 

Address: Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Ana­tole France, 75007 

Metro: Bir-Hakeim (line 6) or Ecole-Mil­i­taire (line 8)

Neigh­bor­hood: Eif­fel tow­er, 7th arrondisse­ment 

Near­by: Champs de Mars, Seine Riv­er, Berges de Seine

Open­ing times: Open from 9:30 a.m. to mid­night dur­ing the sum­mer, and 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 p.m. the rest of the year. 

How to book tick­ets to the Eif­fel Tower

If you’re able to get the tick­ets from the offi­cial Eif­fel Tow­er site, these are the prices: for adults it is €16.70 to €26.10 depend­ing on access lev­els, €5.20 to €13.10 for youths (12–24) and €2.60 to €6.60 for chil­dren. Free for chil­dren 4 and under but they still need a tick­et. Fam­i­ly pric­ing also available

Oth­er­wise, you can buy your entry tick­ets here, here or here

Which tours should you book to see the Eif­fel Tower

💎 Exclu­sive and Top-Rat­ed Tours 💎

Pri­or­i­ty Expe­ri­ence with Cruise and Champagne

Exclu­sive Pri­vate Eif­fel Tow­er Tour

Half-Day Tour of Paris with Eif­fel Tow­er Summit

✨Pop­u­lar Tours✨

Large Group­s/­Mass-tourism Vibe But Lots of Avail­abil­i­ty/Price-Con­scious

Last Resort If You Must Go a Cer­tain Time

Big Groups but Bet­ter Guides, Sells Out Early