For the Eiffel Tower, can I buy tix for the 2nd floor lift and then get tix for the Top in person?

It used to be like that, but its been 6 years since I was there and things change.

You can’t buy tickets on the 2nd level to the top anymore. Tickets to the 2nd level do sell out. If a person can’t get tickets for the elevator to any level, you can pay to walk up the stairs to the 2nd level. There are no stairs to the top.

if I prepurchase a ticket for just the 2nd floor then I won't be allowed to buy a new ticket on the day of to go to the Summit.

That is correct.

It’s unfortunate that Eiffel Tower tickets are no longer available for your dates.

The cost of the ticket to the summit will be the same, at the tower, as those sold online. See prices here

The advantage of booking your tickets online is to avoid waiting in a possibly long queue at the tower.

For future reference only:

• One cannot buy tickets to the summit on the second level anymore. One needs to buy tickets to the desired level at time of purchase (online or in person)
• Online tickets become available 60 days in advance and they sell out very quickly, especially during the busy summer months.

Enjoy your trip!

Okay, thanks! Do you guys reckon it's possible we don't get to go to the Summit then, since we'll have to buy tickets on the day of at the tower? Would it be possible to still get lift tickets in person? Or is everyone guaranteed to be able to buy Summit tickets and it's just a matter of how long the lines are for the tickets?

And also, how long are the wait times usually in July in your opinion?

Thanks.

If I were you I would buy the second floor ticket ASAP and not risk getting there and not getting to ascend at all.

@Kelly, I would do that but I also don't want to limit myself to just the 2nd floor by buying the tickets early, I definitely want to ascend to the Summit and at this point the only way to do that is to buy the tickets on the day of =/

I just wanted to mention that the view from the second level is excellent. Some people prefer it due to space.

I think this work around would work but haven't tried it. You can buy walk up tickets to the second floor at the Tower. when you buy them you can usually also buy tickets for the elevator from 2 to the top; this is their 'combo ticket'. You could then I would guess take the elevator from the bottom using your pre purchased level 2 ticket and then on level two use your newly purchased elevator ticket to the top having thrown away the climbing ticket or not used it. Or you could walk up. and use the elevator to the top. I have read that sometimes this ticket is not available when the Tower is very busy, but it is a usually available product.

man, please add to this thread when you get home to let us know how things worked out for you. I think janet’s possible plan is risky but it would help a lot of us to know if it does work. Every day in July the ET will be jam packed. Waiting in line to buy tickets could take 2+ hrs.

If you have the funds, could you buy the 2nd floor tix now, and then also try to buy the top level tix day of, and if you can get top level day of, just not use the 2nd floor tix or give them to someone else?

Also, I totally understand wanting to go to the top, but I remember the 2nd floor view as being just as good as the top floor view, so you really don't get a whole lot more from the top level, IMHO.

the point of going to the top is not the view. There are lots of high places in Paris with great views; some of them like Galeries Lafayette and Institute Monde Arab are free. The point is being on top of the Eiffel Tower; there is IMHO no substitute.

Janettravels suggestion to buy a ticket to the summit, along with the stair ticket to the second level, may or may not work.

I’m not sure if this is actually enforced but according to clause 4 of the Rules of Visiting the Eiffel Tower, one must visit the highest floor specified on the ticket:

Direction of visit: if a number of floors are to be visited, the visit will start at the highest floor. Visitors with tickets for the summit must change lift on the 2nd floor. When descending, visitors may visit the other floors.

When we were there in 2016, we took the lift to the second floor where we took our time admiring the views before taking the lift to the summit.
I recall having our tickets scanned before going through security then again before we took each of the lifts.

Does anyone, who has visited recently, know if in fact clause 4 is enforced?

If clause 4 is enforced then I’d think that those with stair tickets, plus lift to the top, would be directed to the lift once they reached the second floor.

If the OP takes the lift to the second floor (with pre-purchased online ticket), then s/he may run into problems trying to get to the summit with the stair + lift ticket.

Who knows...

If that is the case then one way would be to start the stair climb and then turn around and exit and go over to the elevator with the other ticket. You would then have the properly scanned ticket on the stairs paired with the top elevator ticket but take the elevator to the second. Again haven't done it but this seems like a work around.

Regarding enforcing the immediate elevator to the top rule. When I did this a couple of years ago this was not enforced. We wandered around on the second floor and then got in line when we felt like it for the top. We were not aware of this policy and no one mentioned it; maybe it is newer? But it was not crowded because it was raining. I am not quite sure how they would enforce this. But on a crowded day I suppose it is possible, but if you had the top elevator ticket from the maneuver above then you would just go get in that line right away and visit two on the way down. They are obviously trying to manage the crowds at the top by requiring this.

The biggest risk is that on a crowded day they would not be selling top elevator ticket combos at the walk up counter.

Interesting ideas, Janet...

I hope the OP lets us know what s/he decided to do and how it worked out.