Who hasn’t heard of the Eiffel Tower in Paris? Even a person who claims to know nothing about Paris will recognize the Eiffel Tower easily. The tower is raised above the Seine embankment, giving its visitors a stunning view of all of Paris. The construction was made for the World’s Fair in 1889, based on the drawings of Gustave Eiffel.

Initially, it was only raised for the World’s Fair and faced much opposition. For example, Alexandre Dumas was against the tower’s construction, but later life proved him wrong. In the first month after the construction, more than 2 million people visited the tower, and since then, it has been one of the most popular landmarks in France. The tower is 322 meters high, with the first floor at 58 meters, the second at 116 meters, and the third at 276 meters!

If you visit Paris, you should not miss the Eiffel Tower. There are always long lines in front of the ticket stands, so be prepared and come early. Inside the tower, you can use an elevator to get up to the third floor, but for those with lots of energy, the stairs can also be used (though not up to the third floor).

How to visit the Eiffel Tower?

The Eiffel Tower is normally open from 9.30 in the morning until 23.45 at night. With more than 6 million annual visitors, an average of 16,500 visitors are coming to the tower daily. Considering that the tower is open for approximately 14 hours per day, that tells you that more than 1000 people visit the tower per hour. What does this mean? You can expect to spend a lot of time waiting in line!

It is possible to buy tickets in advance at the Eiffel Tower website, and you can also buy tickets in advance at GetYouGuide and at the Viator website. This will save you much time as you can go directly to the elevator instead of waiting hours to buy your entrance ticket.

You will still have to stand in line to wait for the elevator (which can take a lot of time), but you can easily save between 1 and 2 hours on a busy day.

If you don’t have a ticket and want to avoid long lines, come mid-winter or arrive 30 minutes before the tower opens to be among the first visitors. Another option is to come late in the evening as fewer visitors visit the tower in the evening than during the day.

Do not forget about the elevators!

Remember to calculate with the elevator waiting time as you plan your Eiffel Tower visit. Even though you have your entrance ticket, you must still stand in line for the elevators. If you want to save time and money, use the stairs to reach the tower’s first and second floors. You can then skip the elevator cue; the same is true for the trip downwards.

Are you planning to reach the 3rd floor (the summit)? You must use the elevator to reach the third floor and often have to wait 30-60 minutes before entering the elevator. Once you have reached the top, you will most likely have to stand in line for the same amount of time once again to get down to the second floor. You can either walk to the ground on foot from the first/second floor or stand in line again to use the elevator.

The elevator between the ground and the first/second floor uses about 8 minutes to travel back and forth. In comparison, the elevator between the second and third floors uses approximately 5 minutes to travel back and forth.

A quick waiting time calculation.

If you arrive to the Eiffel Tower on a normal day with a decent amount of visitors, you can expect the following.

One hour in line to buy your entrance ticket.
Thirty minutes in line to use the elevator (if you walk the stairs yourself, you will burn calories and reach the second floor faster).
30-60 minutes in line to use the elevator if you are to visit the summit.
30-60 minutes in line to get back to the second floor with the elevator.
Thirty minutes in line to travel with the elevator to the ground from the second floor.

All in all, you have spent between 3 and 4 hours in line, and then you need to add the time you plan to enjoy the view from the tower. You can easily save one hour by using the stairs between the ground and the first and the second floor.

Is it worth it? Absolutely!

Eiffel Tower entrance fees.

You can buy tickets to the Eiffel Tower in different packages online. If you buy your tickets at by the Eiffel Tower before your entrance, these are the current prices.

	Stairs to the second floor	Elevator to the second floor	Stairs to second floor + elevator to third	Elevator to second floor + third floor
Adults	11,30€	18,10€	21,50€	28,30€
Students (12-24)	5,60€	9,00€	10,70€	14,10€
Kids (4-11)	2,80€	4,50€	5,40€	7,10€
Infants (0-3)	free	free	free	free

How many people visit the Eiffel Tower each year?

Even though the Eiffel Tower is often referred to as the most popular attraction in France, even more people visit the Notre Dame, Sacre-Cour, and the Louvre Museum. In 2022, more than 6,000,000 tourists paid to visit the Eiffel Tower, while the numbers were between 1,500,000-2,500,000 in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. Before COVID-19, however, the number of annual visitors surpassed 7 million visitors. In comparison, Notre Dame normally attracts around 13,000,000 visitors per year.

Should I visit the Eiffel Tower during the daytime or in the evening?

Many people ask themselves and us whether it is best to visit the Eiffel Tower during the daytime or in the evening (when it is dark). If you want to avoid lines, it is probably better to go in the evenings. But if you are in it for the experience, both options have pros and cons. First of all, not all buildings are illuminated at night, meaning there are many buildings you cannot see if you visit the Eiffel Tower in the evening.

As you visit the Eiffel Tower in the evening, you can get a fantastic view of Paris by night. This is an extraordinary experience; if you have a good camera, you can take fantastic photos. One thing worth remembering is that you will get the chance to see the actual Eiffel Tower by night as you finish the program. As you can see from the pictures below, that is quite an extraordinary experience.

After sunset, there is a 5-minute light show on the Eiffel Tower at the start of every hour. Many tourist buses stop by the tower for their groups to enjoy this great show.

How to get to the Eiffel Tower?

It is easy to see the Eiffel Tower as you walk the streets of Paris. If you want to travel with public transportation, the easiest option is to travel by metro to the stop “Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel / Bir Hakeim.” You can reach the Eiffel Tower within 5 minutes of walking from the metro stop. This stop is on metro line six in Paris.

Another option (that is even nicer) is to travel by metro line 6 or 9 to Trocadero. From there, you will immediately get a wonderful view of the Eiffel Tower. You can walk through the fantastic Trocadero and across the Jena Bridge (Pont d’Léna) before you arrive at the entrance to the Eiffel Tower.