pkshah

Is it easy to get tickets to go up to the top or 2nd floor after reaching Paris?
Right now , online tickets are already sold out for August.

beergirl

As far as I know you just need to stand in line- which could be rather long as the day goes on. I believe tickets are about 15 euros -,maybe a little more, and will get you up to the top. Of course the earlier you get to the tower the less likelihood of long lines. Don't think you can buy them anywhere but on site.

BTW... depends upon which part of town you're staying in, but I've always found the #42 bus from the Gare de Nord to be a really fun ride over to the Eiffel Tower, and the approach is from a side street so you get a really different view!

surfmom

I realize that I don't have a vote, but if I did....

I would vote for not going to the top - instead go just to the 2nd level. Their is almost nothing incrementally better about the 3rd level vs. the 2nd level and it is a big time hassle.

My second vote would be for walking. We just did it over Spring Break and it made life so much easier. I was about 3 weeks out of a boot from a broken foot, so my cardio was a little lacking. I had to stop more often for breaks, but the steps are wide (and wide enough for passing). The key thing is that you control your own destiny - you aren't at the mercy of an enormous line and the speed of elevators. Of course, the only line - so to speak - was about 10 minutes to buy tickets and get through security.

After walking (and this was after climbing Notre Dame in the morning) and the relative ease of it, I will probably not take the elevators again - unless given a free pass to the front of the line!

bdsbeautyblog

My vote would be for "don't go"...go up to the top of the Montparnasse Tower, the Galeries Lafayette or the Pompidou Centre to get an even better view because it will actually have the Eiffel Tower in it

texasbookworm

All of the posters above have valid points. So consider your wants, your time, your weather, etc., when you make a decision. Our views of Paris were much better, actually, from the Arch de Triumph the evening before because the weather was much better. The day we went to the top of the Tower via elevator it was quite cool (cold, ok?), with some rain and quite gray skies. Still the crowds were enormous and every where was jam packed.

Having said that, we are still glad we "did" it, just to say we had. We only had a little less than 2.5 days in Paris, but had always included this ascent as one of the top 3-4 things we'd try to do. DH's knee had begun to bother him, so stairs were out. We arrived in line about 8:45 and had tickets in hand and were going through the fairly fast security things by about 9:15. The line was MUUUUUUCCCCHHHHH longer when we got back on the ground about 10:30, I think. So if you decide to do it, I'd suggest going the very first thing, be there between 8:30 and 8:45, and expect to be squished. We looked around on the second level or whatever it's called (the first elevator stop) and then had the maybe 10 minute wait for elevator to top, and going so high was worth the little more effort, even though pictures/views are not great because of weather.

Also many recommend waiting until dark and to be sure to notice the Tower when it's all lit up. Well, that doesn't happen often during June! Since it's only dark from about 11 pm til maybe 4 am, we never saw any streetlights of any sort! There will of course be an earlier sunset in August.

pkshah

Thank you all for the reply... Got quite a lot of info, didn't know that view from other places would be even better. We'll try to do that.
I guess we'll go until the 2nd level of the Eiffel if possible.

Would love to see the night view as well.