Need help: Can you get same day tickets for the Eiffel tower

Yes. You may wait two hours in line for the elevator tickets but you can buy them. Walk up tickets to the second floor have a much shorter line and you can buy the elevator from 2 to the top can be bought when you buy the walk up ticket. Sometimes they limit sales to the tip top when it is very crowded.

You can see a few tips at https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/eiffel-tower-visiting-tips but during your short visit, I'd also consider skipping it and taking in the view from one of several other rooftop viewpoints. See Rick's Paris guidebook or use the search function here with a term like "Paris view" for those location recommendations.

Laura beat me to it. With only one day in Paris, you'll use a lot of it waiting in line for Eiffel Tower tickets and getting up and down. I understand it's the "bucket list" item and that the "brand name" of the Eiffel Tower is very compelling, but you may want to, instead of going up it, see it from the top of the Arc de Triomphe or from the Trocadero. I go to these two on every visit to Paris; I went up the Eiffel Tower on my first visit in 1989, and haven't felt a need to repeat that.

I love going to the top of the Arc but there is no substitute for going to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Most people don’t do the ET for the view, that’s just a bonus. Going to the top of the ET is a worthwhile thrill, imo. I’d follow janet’s good advice: buy walk up tickets and a ticket from 2nd level to the top at the same time. Walking up the stairs is fun, more enjoyable than the elevator, great views, and is easy. You won’t waste any time doing it this way.

If this is really important to you (the ET is on my must do list every trip, love it), try Get Your Guide. They have a short tour then you skip the lines and go up the Tower. I think it’s a good value and a good alternative to standing in line for hours. Have fun in Paris!

I've done that. That was in the mid-1990s. Of course, there was long line waiting to get into the elevator. The length of the line was deceptive. We got to the elevator within 40 minutes at the latest. No problem waiting.

It's an underwhelming experience. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't bother, especially with such a short time in a city that has so much more to offer.

The views are better from other locations already mentioned by others.

In some ways, it's the reverse of Guy de Maupassant's strategy. Then, he hated the monstrosity and didn't want to see it. Now, it's a romantic emblem of France and the views of it are much better away from it than at it.

My daughter and I went on Saturday, June 29 and easily got walk up tickets. We arrived at 9:15 AM or so, got tickets to walk up to the 2nd stage and then elevator to the top. Wait time in line was maybe 10 minutes. Not really a big deal. Seems they just limit the advance purchase to be able to better control the crowds day of.

I’ve spent years living in Paris and visiting and i love doing the Eiffel Tower. Everyone is different.