Walking up the Eiffel Tower

In 2011, my wife and I took the stairs up to the second level and went from there to the top. As stated in RS' Paris 2011, once inside, you can buy tickets from booths and machines on the first and second levels for the elevator to the top.

Both times we went, we walked up to the second level and bought tickets to the top. In my opinion, it is the best way to do it if you don't have reservations. We were there when it opened, and even after walking up, there was no line for the elevator to the top. The lines to purchase tickets on the ground were quite long. The only con I can think of is the actual walk up. While we did not mind it, it is a lot of stairs and not everyone could handle it. My sister "trained" for it (She is 60). by walking up and down stairs by her house. She got to know some seniors who watched her day after day and looked forward to going home and telling them she made it no problem!!

I have done it.. a few times.. and as stated , yes you can buy tickets to top from second level.. and you can also take elevator all the way down when done. I found going down the stairs harder then going up,, it stretches other muscles , plus it was harder for me looking down , then looking up( small fear of heights) ..

Heights are not easy for me either but I assume The stairway is totally encased in fencing of some kind and there is no way do more than fall down to the next steps. Is this correct?
How long does it take for an average person to climb up?

Brenda I don't like heights much either, but I was ok going up, I found going down harder( because you are looking down of course). Second time I took stairs I took elevator down( which is glass but huge so I stood in middle of crowd and didn't look up really ) .

The staircase felt very safe.. very enclosed.. you do have a view out of course.. but I mainly just concentrated on looking up .. and up , and up,, my son loved the view going up through the legs though.. I did look and it is cool. The staircase is wide enough that you can pass people or they can pass you.. so you don't have to feel rushed. ( some places have such narrow staircases you feel like you have to keep marching up even if out of breath,, like Sacre Coeur and Notre Dame)
I can't remember how long it took us.. maybe 20 minutes.. it was hard because the first time my son RAN up way ahead and would double back to cheer me on.. " come on mom ".. and the second time I was with hubby and he moves slower then me... so could take a fit person less time then me.. and a less person more time then me.

Thanks. That sounds like it will work great for me.
I remember having to let people pass me up climbing inside the arch de triumphe.

If I decide to only walk up to the first level, can I take an elevator down without needing to purchase another ticked to use that elevator?

Brenda yes.. you can always take the elevator down for free. If you make it to first level you can easily make it to the second.. and I think its worth it to try. Just rest a bit on first level.

Brenda/Pat:

I wish pat had replied to my question back in November. We managed to purchase the online tickets, then got there early (if you miss your time, you are out of luck). Then, we waited for over an hour because we were not let in earlier than our time slot. When we got in at our time slot, there was some issue with the elevator and we waited about 15 minutes more.

In any event, we only went to the Second floor, not the top. Views were not that good when we went plus rest of the family was feeling cold (though I am sure they would have braved it had we pre-purchased tickets to the top).

TLDR: If I were to do it again, I would not pre-purchase elevator tickets for two reasons:

a) I don't have issues climbing stairs (in fact, I would welcome the exercise)
b) you never know what weather you would encounter at your reserved time

I don't know how long the stair queues typically are, so cannot comment on whether or not they should be pre-purchased.

Porcupyn