Tour Eiffel tickets in advance or no?

Remember sunset will be very early in Dec and potentially chilly if not cold. Plan accordingly.

It is most likely too late for advanced booking but if you can do so, it is a very good idea to help you avoid long lines.

Yes for sure if you can still get them. You may have left it too late

Yes, definitely get them if you can! Go a bit early for the security line to get into the Eiffel Tower area, then another security line to go up. I like other locations in Paris to watch the city lights go on, and watch the Eiffel sparkle for 5 minutes on the top of the hour until 1am; Arc de Triomphe, Sacre Coeur, Galleries Lafayette La Terrasse.

Jsarah01,
My wife and I just got back from there this last weekend. I had asked the same question on this blog. Someone gave me some really good advice and I was so glad we took it. We decided NOT to purchase the Eiffel Tower tickets in advance because you never know what the weather will be like the day and time you book them and you cannot change or get a refund. It turns out the day we wanted was the only day it rained. We were so happy we had not purchased them because all the other days last week were sunny and clear. For us the wait in the security line was only about 5/10 minutes. The line to purchase the tickets was about 20 minutes and then the line to actually catch the elevator was about 20 minutes. To me it was not bad and so worth it to be able to choose the perfect time to go. Keep in mind I do not know how crowded it will be closer to Christmas. I hope this helps.

Foolish to pre-purchase tickets for the winter, mandatory for the summer.

I think you can wing it until just before you depart and you can maybe get a better sense of what the weather forecast actually is going to be for that particular week. We just were in Paris in late October. I went onto the Tower's website about 5 days before we were scheduled to arrive after having looked at the weather report first. I had absolutely no problem getting a time to take the elevator all the way up to the top.

Seriously layer up - it was really cold up there after the sun set. I'd skip the overpriced crappy champagne sold at the Tower. Book yourself a table at Les Ombres for a late dinner and have your champagne there with a view of the Tower as it lights up at the top of each hour.

For the record, if tickets did happen to fully sell out for the top level, don't feel like you've missed out on anything. It's not very big up there and the view is just as good from the lower level.