Eiffel Tower - walk to the 2nd level

Hi Patti. Yes, you need a ticket for any access to the tower - there are separate tickets to walk the stairs vs ride the elevator. Usually the line and wait for the tickets to walk up is shorter than for elevator. Both times we've been there, we've walked up and enjoyed it. You can walk at your own pace, stopping as often as you like. Believe there was a post recently that tickets to the summit are no longer sold at 2nd level. However, note that the 2nd level is quite high; many people who have been to summit said it wasn't really necessary, view wasn't any better than 2nd level, or maybe even worse. Enjoy your trip!

when you buy your ticket to walk to the second level, you can at the same time, buy an elevator ticket to the summit. It is a 'combo ticket'. You cannot buy this ticket once you get to the second floor (this used to be possible) but you can buy it at the bottom when you get the walk up ticket.

It would be a shame to do the Eiffel Tower without going all the way to the summit IMHO.

I looked on the website and I don't see that you can buy the tickets to walk to the 2nd level ahead of time. Do i have to buy them there onsite when I get there? Hope the line won't be too long. Would you recommend going up just before sunset, so you can see the view when it is light out and then stay as the sun sets and see the city lights too?

Tickets involving the stairs are not sold online, neither the stairs tickets just to the second floor, nor the stairs + lifts tickets (stairs to the second floor, lift to the top). You have to buy them on site.

In my experience the stairs lines is never very long, since as you can imagine most people prefer not to take the stairs!

Perfect! Thanks so much. This forum is Awesome!!