Our grand finale in Paris- Going to the top of the Eiffel Tower
On a recent trip to Paris we hit all of the tourist highlights including going to the top of the Eiffel Tower.
TLDR:
Yes, tickets to the top of the Eiffel Tower go on sale 60 days in advance and sell out quickly.
Don’t fret if you miss out on tickets because you can usually get second floor tickets (I call that area the skirt) where you can enjoy amazing views, exhibits and dining options.
You have to create an account on the website https://ticket.toureiffel.paris/en. The website seemed to work better when the computer time zone was set to Paris time (that might have been a weird quirk with my computer). The transaction took 45 minutes to go through, but it did eventually work so I wouldn’t recommend restarting once you submit your order. Just let it spin…
On the day of your visit, arrive early to have enough time to get through security. We arrived an hour before our scheduled time which allowed for waiting in a super long line for the restroom.
The elevator ride has two segments and it took about a half hour of waiting to transfer elevators which pushed my kids patience because it’s pretty crowded.
At the top the elevator open in a closed in floor but you can take the steps up to the open air level at the tippy top
You can take the stairs back down from the second floor if you want - we did. It took a long time but was fun.
“What days are we in Paris again?” My husband asked, “Because we need to get our Eiffel Tower tickets, like, two months in advance or something.”
“Oh $&it, really?” I said grabbing the calendar to count the days. Sure enough, we were scheduled to arrive in 57 days and confirmed elevator ticket sales, the ones that to the very top, open 60 days in advance. The booking site (https://ticket.toureiffel.paris/en) was sold out for our first two days of our three day trip. Tickets for day three opened up in a few hours.
We logged on to get tickets at the appointed time and immediately ran into issues which seemed to resolve by changing the computer time zone to Paris. We submitted our order and it spun and spun and spun. So we fired up a second computer. Then we tried our phones, to no avail. After about 45 minutes the first transaction finally went through. Success!
Fast forward 59 days…
It was our third night in Paris and although we had seen the Iron Lady on the skyline several times, we couldn’t wait to go to the top on what would be our last day in Paris.
20 hours before- dinner in Paris and visit AdT
We had a cozy AirBNB in the Montmartre neighborhood and after a day at Jardin du Plantes (https://www.jardindesplantesdeparis.fr) we were ready for a hearty meal at a French brassarie.
We enjoyed a fantastic meal at La Vrai Paris https://levraiparis-bistrot.com/. I savored a pistachio martini and the kids slurped down diabololos and hubby a beer before dining on poisson and poult.
Over dinner we chatted about how to spend our last night in Paris and decided to view the Eiffel Tower from the Arc de Triomphe which is open until 11 PM https://www.paris-arc-de-triomphe.fr/. After dinner we had just enough time for an ice cream and a ride on the metro over to the Arc.
Because we hadn’t purchased advance tickets we had to wait in line, but it moved pretty quickly because it was so late at night; after a half hour wait we entered the stairs up to the top.
TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTY FOUR(!) steps later, with winded lungs and burning legs, we reached to top for this panoramic view of Paris complete with a light show.
Soon it was closing time at the Arc and time to tuck the kiddos in for their last night in Paris.
The morning of - a visit to Louvre
The next morning was our very last day in Paris. We had early tickets for the Louvre. We saw the Venus d’ Milo and the Mona Lisa and among so many masterpieces. As you’re probably aware, seeing the Mona Lisa is a physically uncomfortable process and a trampling risk. The process goes like this; you enter a room with a crush of people and slowly the crowd presses forward. There’s an employee at the front who lets visitors out at the rope. Eventually you end up in the front row to take 20 seconds worth of photos while being pressed from behind. I literally have a pic of a woman’s elbow smashed into my cheek. this is definitely not something that would fly in the states. I fear for the day some idiot yells “fire” and sends that crush of humanity running. Terrifying thought.
Interestingly, there’s another Da’Vinci masterpiece, Saint John the Baptist, in the same hallway with no crowd around it at all. He also seems to me to have a mysterious half smile. If you want to see Da’Vinci’s brushstrokes you can see them on that painting. I found the statuary collection to be especially compelling like the Winged Victory of Samothrace who presides majestically over the stairs.
One hour before
After several hours at the Louvre it was time to make visit our final site in Paris, the top of the Eiffel Tower! About an hour before our scheduled time we arrived at the base of the tower where we went through security. On the ground level there are a few restaurants and snack bars. We snacked on a jambon-beurre, a classic French ham and butter sandwich on a crispy baguette, to share as we waited in line.
At our 1:30 ticket time we were herded into a room at the base where we could see the elevator weights. The first elevator segment takes you up to the second floor, 380 feet in the air, where you transfer to a second elevator that takes you to the top. That transfer involves about a thirty minute wait in line.
The doors at the top open to an enclosed level and there are stairs up to the open air. There are telescopes all around the top platform so you can zoom in on interesting landscapes. We retraced our steps around the city, pointing out all the sights we had enjoyed. You can see the apartment where Gustave Eiffels apartment, where he came to get away.
Side note: there is a bathroom and a fancy restaurant up at the top.
Getting back down
To get back to the Earth you take the elevator to the second floor. We took some time to check out some of the cool stuff to see there. There’s a crazy rope bridge suspended 200 feet in the air. There’s also a restaurant named after Jules Verne which my kids were excited about since we were reading “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” as our family book. From there we descended the steps to ground level looking back up at this.
Unforgettable!