Cannot book Eiffel Tower Lift Ticket on line

Hi Emily you haven't said when your visit is,, that would have helped. Tickets are not booking till after June 20th now,, must be full ( they only sell so many reserved time slot tickets). Regardless ,, you cannot walk up and buy tickets to use later, you will wait in a line to get the tickets , then go up. What I would do , and what I have done, is simply take the stairs. The line for the stairs is always shorter , and its cheaper! And its not so bad,, really, I am well into middle age and survived it just fine. The stairs are wide so people can pass you if you need to go slow, and the perspective of going up through the leg is kind of neat. The line for the stairs is on the south foot( Pilar Sud) . You can take the stairs to the first or second level( same price) and then get a ticket on the second level to go to the top( it is a different elevator and is apparently functioning). If you don't go the top , don't worry, the veiw from the second floor is more then enough.

We were in Paris a few weeks ago and had tickets for a 7:00 pm reservation at the Eiffel Tower. A few days before our scheduled time I received an e mail from them notifying me about the lift problem and warning about potential long waits. Since our hotel was only a few blocks away we checked the situation several times and found a real nightmare. We asked one of the folks in line how long they had been there and they said three hours. If you don't get up the Tower it is still a great sight at night. Try to be there on the hour when the lights twinkle.

Thanks Victoria. That's encouraging. We are not afraid of going up by stairs. Only question is whether the stairs will be open late? I think I read somewhere (forgot where) that access to the stairs are closed by 6pm? We will be in Paris in middle of May (most likely the only elevator issue won't be resolved by then).

We were there two weeks ago- ticket office opens at 0930- be in line at 0830 or earlier- you will go thru the zig zag and get right up.

Emily in Gilroy:
We, also, tried to make reservations in April for 1st week in June, discovered no tickets until middle of June. There are many replies, previously to this questions and after reading all of them, it sounds like taking the stairs is an adventure and very rewarding. Scroll to earlier dates to read replies to this questions about having tickets and only one lift working. Have a great trip.

Does this mean that you do not need a ticket to take the stairs to the second level? Do you need to purchase a ticket to go from there to the top? Where do you purchase a ticket to go from the middle to the top? Thanks!

Kim you still pay to take the stairs, but less, and the waits are less since line continually moves, no waiting for next elevators.
At second level you can then choose to line up for a ticket to go to top, that is a different elevator system then the one that goes up to 1st and 2nd levels. Sometimes there is no advantage to going up top, rain , windy, or even in summer lots of smog/haze may the views not a lot better then from second. They also close the top sometimes if its really windy or crappy. Happened to us once.

Thank you Victoria.

Just searched Eiffel tower schedules on line; looks like stairs only open till 6pm (before June 15; we are visiting Paris in middle of May). This is disheartening, since I planned to go up by stairs, and stay there till twilight/dark in order to view Paris in daylight as well as night lights. Sunset time in Paris by middle of May will be around 9:30 pm. I can't imagine myself staying on the tower for moer than 3 hours (if I climb up stairs by 6pm and stay till sunset). Anybody knows what to do? " January 1st to June 14 •Tower: 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. •Elevator: 9:30 a.m. to 11:45 p.m. (Final ascension 11:00 p.m./10:30 p.m. top floor) •Stairs: 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (Final admission at 6:00 p.m.) June 15th to September 1st •Tower: 9:00 a.m. to midnight •Elevator: 9:00 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. (Final ascension at midnight/11:00 p.m. top floor)
•Stairs: 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. (Final admission at midnight) "

I was going to post a new question about the Eiffel Tower but instead im just replying to this one...so I'm going next month and clearly too late to purchase online. and have no desire to waste time waiting in line since I only have 3 days in Paris, one of which is actually being spent in Versailles. So, yes i plan to see the Eiffel Tower, but will I be really disappointed in myself for not going up it? Is it really worth it?
I plan to see the view from Montematre...so I'll get the city view from somewhere.

I may be missing it somewhere obvious...but I don't know what the website is to buy the tickets. Can someone give me the website? Thanks

megan since the machinery is broken to go up you can't. Scroll back in this post for details.