Eiffel Tower Opening Times

The Eiffel Tower is open from 9:30 - 23:45.

I presume that the earlier tickets may have already been booked by tour groups or third party sellers.

Enjoy your time in PAris!

No, take a look at any available date and the earliest time is 10:30, not 9:30. Why is this?

I just looked at 1 February for one person and the upper left offered time was 9:30. In both English and French.

What I didn't try was a large party. You have a large group, don't you? Have you tried looking for one person at 9:30, and then increasing it by one and trying again until it fails? That may give you an idea of how many they are willing to take in a group at 9:30, and then you could check again for 10:30?

Good luck...

Try like the 27th of February, 1 person (does it matter if you are trying for the second floor only versus the summit?). I try that and all I see is 10:30. Or March 20th, 1 person. I shows the 10:30 greyed out because all the tickets are gone, but where is a 9:30 option? It's not there for anything in March or April. Am I the only one that sees this?

I see what you are saying there is no option for 9:30; maybe they changed it, maybe those tickets are already reserved part of tour packages, who knows? All I know is it seems that you should get your tickets from the options available while you can.

Did you delete your other post?

Yes, I did. Inadvertently the two posts began talking about the same thing. So for the sake of this community, I deleted one to make it easier for everyone.

I'm still at a loss why tickets for March and April start at 10:30 and not 9:30.

I was thinking exactly the same thing. We want to go first thing in the AM in September and want to get tickets ahead of time. I don't want to risk it and have to wait forever and a day to go through security and buy a ticket early when I can only wait forever to go through security and wait for the lifts for the summit. It's frustrating.

I'm still at a loss why tickets for March and April start at 10:30 and not 9:30.

If it's really killing you, why not go to the website and contact them, I assume by email or phone, and ask them. I doubt very much if anyone here knows the answer for sure.

I expect that Nancy has the correct answer. You posts have been up for a little while now and nobody has posted a complete answer to your question so it is likely that nobody here knows. Why not ask at the horse's mouth and get a definitive answer - I'm sure that if you ask the website or call them they will give you the answer if they know it - and then report back with what the answer is?

Yes, you both are right and I have already attempted to contact them. I will report back if I get a response.

Thank you.

I received a reply from the Eiffel Tower website. It provided no help. Here is what they sent:

Thank you for choosing to visit the Eiffel Tower. We understand that
you are having difficulties purchasing your tickets online. Please
follow the advice below: STAGE 1 Open the online ticket site:
http://ticket.toureiffel.fr/ Select the ticket type: either "lift
entrance ticket with access to the Summit" or " lift entrance ticket
with access to the 2nd floor". Select the date, Choose the number of
visitors per category, Confirm. A new page will be displayed, inviting
you to choose a time slot. Choose the time of your visit, which is
the time you need to arrive at the entrance of the monument, Select "I
am not a robot" and follow the instructions, Click "Complete purchase"
if you have finished ordering or "Add to basket" if you want to add
other tickets to your purchase.

I'm at a loss. I'm guessing that 10:30 is the earliest time anyone can buy tickets now. So my next question is this. Would it be faster then to just show up at the tower before 9:30, get in line and purchase a ticket then? Would you be up to the summit before 10:30 if you were first in line?

That's what I did. I got in line about 30 min before opening time and I was up to the top in about an hour and 1/2 so, yes, by about 10:30. And that was in Summer so I'm sure in the early Spring it will be about the same if not better. It was about 5 years ago and I know things have gone crazy since then crowd wise but I think you'll do as well as getting a 10:30 time ticket in advance.

We went at opening this summer and the crowd was enormous. We learned that they let a certain number of people go up, and then they stop letting more go up until some start coming back down. The tower can only hold so many people. Once the people in the tower reached the magic number, the line came to a complete stop for what seemed like an hour. If you are going in the off season, it may not be as bad. This was my first time in Paris during tourist season and the crowds were so much larger than in the fall. All of that to say that if you plan to go when it opens, be there well in advance of opening time to make that you are in the first group that goes up before the lifts stop for some to leave.

Finally got an answer from the staff at the Eiffel Tower. It took 3 emails and I finally had to ask my question in French for them to understand what I was getting at. Here is their response:

In response to your question, we confirm you that the 9:30 am time
slot is not on sale online.

If your wish is to visit the Eiffel Tower at the opening at 9:30 am,
you have the option of buying your tickets at the Eiffel tower on the
day of the visit for an immediate use.

The most obvious reason is that they don't sell tickets for all times on line. For years they didn't sell tickets on line for the prime evening block (not sure if they do now). Everyone wants to go up early evening at sunset and so those times were just not available on line. There was about a 2-3 hour period where tickets were not sold on line. Maybe they know that lots of people line up for the 9:30 entrance and so they don't sell those on line to the public. Much has changed recently so most on line advice is now dated.

Why does it matter? They apparently don't sell that time on line. So you need to buy a different time. Would a reason change anything?