mrt

I would like to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower but it is it worth it? I read some posts that say it takes hours to get to the top. What does it cost? Also, someone told me that there is one or more restaurants and if you eat there you get a pass to the top. Does this sound right? Or is there a restaurant at or near the top and you get the view while eating? As for the restaurant(s) are they ridiculously expensive and do you get any value other than saying I ate at the Tower?

panecott

I'm rather a purist when it comes to famous landmarks, so I say, go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The views of Paris are spectacular.

It's been many years since I went so I can't answer your other questions.

CharlotteAmalie

Do it all if you can afford it.

bvlenci

I don't have much of an urge to go to the top of things. I've always been happy to see the Eiffel Tower from a distance.

kerouac

It is most definitely worth going up. Don't eat there.

Kathie

I have no interest in going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. And eating there is ridiculously expensive (and I've never heard anyone say that the food was worth the price!). I'd much rather look at the Eiffel Tower from various vantage points around the city.

LSky

Like Kathie, I have no interest in going to the top of the Eiffel. There hasn't been a time when my husband and I looked at each other and say, "who cares about that huge line (even in the winter) Let's go."

If you like being on top of things, go.

aliced

I'd look at it from the staircases at Champs du Mars; if you go up, skip eating there. Fun to look at from Sacre Coeur (and to see Sacre Coeur from top if you go). Got to estimate wait time and your day's agenda, allocate accordingly.

KTtravel

I have been up to the top on different trips and enjoyed it for different reasons and at different stages of my life.

I was there first as a teenager and was so excited to be in Paris and seeing a landmark I had seen in pictures so many times.

I next went in my 20s with my husband who loves photography and enjoyed being able to take unusual pictures from so many different angles.

We enjoyed taking our children up the tower on our first family trip to Europe. They loved exploring the nooks and crannies and walking down all the steps of the tower and were very excited to be there.

My last trip up the tower was in the evening with my 82 year old aunt and my college age daughter. My aunt delighted in the lights twinkling on the hour and we all knew this was likely to be be her last trip to Paris so we wanted to create as many special memories for her as possible.

If you think you might regret not going, I would vote for going up as I have obviously enjoyed my experiences there. However, if you have no interest in going, there are many other worthwhile experiences for you to enjoy in Paris.

Dukey1

Are you <B>ready</B> for this when you get home: "You went <B>all the way to Paris</B> and you didn't go UP to the top of the Eiffel Tower?"

mamcalice

I would go up. I've been once in 9 trips ti Paris and don't feel the need to go again but you should go at least once.

welltraveledbrit

My two cents - m vote is to look at it from a distance, particularly at night when it's sparkling and then to go up the Tour Montparnasse and look at it rather than out from it!

<<Are you ready for this when you get home: "You went all the way to Paris and you didn't go UP to the top of the Eiffel Tower?">>

It's a yes for me!

If you want to go it's probably going to be worth it for you. I agree with Dukey, will you feel like you missed out when you get home? Do you routinely skip the big sights?

ssander

First time in Paris? Then, if you have the time (usually lots) and the bucks, do it...but only if the weather is clear.

Otherwise, it looks great from Trocadéro. (Metro 6 or 9)

See it at night on the hour when it sparkles, too.

Here's Google Street View from Trocadéro URL:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/H%...!6m1!1e1?hl=en




SS

nytraveler

We went to the top my first trip to Paris - but there were hardly any lines at all - since it was almost 40 years ago. Have been to the top once or twice since with people who really wanted to go (with advance tickets, but not in the past 6 or 7 years and I can only assume lines are longer).

I enjoy it every time but would not go to the top just for myself at this point.

Have been to Jules Verne restaurant twice - once for a special occasion, once just of the hell of it. We found the food excellent (not Michelin3 * but really good). But the prices reflect the combination of food and wine and the view - and reservations can be difficult to get. (Just glanced and they have a budget 3 course lunch menu for 105 euros per person- plus water, wine and coffee of course. Dinners or a la carte are significantly more.)

I understand there is now a sort of serve yourself food place on another level but certainly would not ascend just for that - which probably is not cheap either.

RJD

Wife and I have eaten at both restaurants in the Eiffel tower, most recently the Jules Verne. Both have direct elevator access with no waiting. The experience is quite unforgettable and even if expensive it will be a major high point of your Paris experience.
Early reservations are a must.

kja

I prefer it from a distance.

The evening I went to the top, even with an advance reservation, I was groped, prodded, poked in the eye so hard that I lost a contact and suffered minor damage to my cornea, and -- to make the evening perfect -- someone then threw up on my foot. Obviously, my experience was unusual, or fewer would go or would recommend going.

I didn't even think the views all that great.

welltraveledbrit

<<I was groped, prodded, poked in the eye so hard that I lost a contact and suffered minor damage to my cornea, and -- to make the evening perfect -- someone then threw up on my foot.>>

Lol, too awful but funny too!

Maybe the view wasn't great because you lost your contact?!!!

kja

@ welltraveledbrit -- I've always said that a sense of humor is the most important thing to take when traveling, but it certainly didn't serve me well that evening! (I guess I could try: "The evening seemed to start out well: I was groped...." Not sure that works.) The contact loss was just before starting down, so no, I don't think that explains it. Still I might have enjoyed the views more without the rest of it -- there were some pretty sunset-lit clouds....

Percy

In this order

1. Look at it

2. Go up to the top

3. Eat there

I did all three.

#2 is the most important.

brubenow

Definitely go up. The views are fabulous. If you're going all the way to Paris, you HAVE to go up.