Hi Everyone,
I am in Paris now and am planning our trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower. I wonder if the long delays to get to the top are because of the ticket lines or because of the elevator lines, or both.
Can I buy tickets the night before? Would I then be able to quickly get on an elevator?
I'm going with 5 little kids, so I want to get through the line quickly. I am in the 13th arrondisement, so it is a bit of a hike.
Please help with your experience.
Thanks,
Cecily
Of course, I was there at a completely different time of year, but over the last Christmas holiday, there was no ticket line at all after 8 pm. The only wait involved time for the elevator to descend. If this still applies during the peak of the summer tourist season, I could not say.
Hi All,
I appreciate the answers, but I am looking for a specific piece of info. Let me try asking another way:
If my husband goes to the Eiffel Tower early in the morning and gets the tickets, and then I join him later with the kids, will we still have a long wait?
Is the wait only at the ticket line OR do you also have to stand in a long line once you have your tickets because there is also a long line at the elevator?
We are trying to strategize and he offered to go get the tickets when they open so we wouldn't have to wait but I am not actually sure if this will be more trouble than it's worth.
Thanks again.
I believe that everyone has to stand in line to purchase Eiffel Tower tickets. Part of the wait time is created because visitors need to exit their initial elevator upon reaching the second level, then wait to use a separate, smaller elevator to reach the third level. Plus, there is a limit on the number of visitors allowed at any one time on the top level.
Cecily, I'm here, too, and researched online tickets for the Eiffel Tower: they do not exist (though in 2009 they will). You will indeed half to stand in line and the lines are VERY long (we went on Thursday)...like at least 2-3 hours. They were so long the day we were there (with our 2 young children) that we just got ice cream and relaxed on the greens (Champ de Mars). It just did not seem worth it.
We visited the Eiffel Tower about 5:30 P.M. on June 19. We waited about five minutes to get tickets, then got on the next elevator up. The day was a bit overcast, which may have contributed to the short wait time. We still had a good view, despite the slightly overcast sky. Frankly, I enjoyed looking at the tower more than the view from the tower. We only went to the second level----didn't see any point to visiting the third level.
If you all can walk to the 2nd level (600 steps), you can be up and down in under 2 hours. We were me (49) my 18yo daughter and 10yo twins. It was about 11AM 3 weeks ago and it took under 30min to get the walk up tickets. then about 20min to walk up to the 2nd level, and then buy lift tickets to the top and stand in line for the lift (30min) We then spent about 20-30min at the top and took the lift down to the 2nd level and walked down in 5 min. So about 2 hours total time. The line to not walk up was about 1 1/2 hours, just to get on the 1st lift.
Wow -- well I don't know how little your kids are, but I wouldn't climb the stairs to the 2nd (or even the first) level with them --especially if you are walking to the tower beforehand? I would go early in the morning or later in the evening and wait in the lines. It's worth it. I find the elevator ride up a fun part of the experience. I wouldn't bother going to the 3rd level, just too long a line for this... I hope you have a fantastic time.
There are two separate lines. One for tickets and the second for access to the elevator. You won't know what the line lengths are until the time you get to the Eiffel Tower. Theoretically, your husband could go early to wait in line and get the tickets and then get in line for the elevator. If you can communicate via phone with him, he could give you an idea of how long the line for the elevator is and save the kiddies the chore of waiting in line. (On a side note, I'm not sure what the management at the Eiffel Tower or the other line standees will think if a bunch of people "cut" in line in front of them).
Cecily
Nancy posted about her reservation at the Altitude 95 restaurant, and I also did the same.
If you book lunch reservations (or dinner) you can by pass the line to get to the restaurant. You still need to pay for the lift to the 1st floor, but on a Thursday at 12:30 pm, when the line snaked all over the base of the tower... the lunch reservation was worth it.
There's 2 ways you can make the reservation:
Online, but they make you prepay for the prefixed meal or call them and book a time slot. You can order off the menu a la carte (with the option of purchasing the prefixed if you want)
Ask for the Trocadero side and the view from the restaurant is wonderful. Another bonus is the toilet is for the restaurant customers. No line! The puhlic toilet near the post office had a line out the door!
Lunch begins at 12.30 but you can arrive at 12noon.
If you can splurge a bit for lunch, you might as well take a break and have a nice meal.
I guess we need two forums on this and many other posts. The ones for going to the top of the tower for 10 euros and the other for people who can pay 100+ euros. 4 people can do it for $60 or $600, two very different types of travelers. PS: the Metro stop is only 2 city blocks from the tower.
David, I don't think we need 2 forums here. Everyone is trying to give helpful suggestions. I, too, on previous trips to Paris, wrongly assumed that the Eiffel Tower restaurants would be outrageously expensive. But thanks to Nancy and Michelle, I now know that the lunch "Formule Midi" (for a starter and main course OR a main course and dessert), is only 30 EUR. The children's lunch menu is 12 EUR. Granted, this isn't as cheap as eating a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower (one of my all time favorite activities), but actually eating in the Eiffel Tower, plus skipping long lines may be one of those totally worthwhile vacation splurges. Again, thanks to Michelle and Nancy, on our 4th trip to Paris in September we will be lunching at Altitude 95 for the first time. I can't wait!
Terry, I agree; the help here is great. But little talk of cost. RS seems to make a big deal of not doing the big $$$ travel.
OK, so $300 for 4 VS $60.
I still think cost is an issue for some of us.
Its nice to know what things cost, and I dont see that much here. Like taking a family of 5 to Capri, one would think $10-15 each way not $25-30.
I just think its good to know.
That said 30 euros is fair.
DBL Post....Sorry
David,I TOTALLY get your point about money. I'm extremely frugal when it comes to travel. And what I've observed from many people around me is so often the people with the least amount of money are the most likely to demand luxuries they can ill afford. It is often surprising when people on this particular RS helpline, who supposedly follow a simpler, more basic travel style, treat money as if weren't a significant issue in decision making. My personal least favorite reason to splurge on luxuries: "It's the trip of a lifetime!" I hope to live a long life and have many trips (because I didn't blow the budget on just one trip!) I think the biggest issue is getting the biggest bang for your buck. I'd rather stay at a cheap hotel and go to a great show or have a wonderful dinner. I think that in this particular case, IF you have the extra money to spend, keeping 5 little kids happy would be worth the cost (and cranky kids can ruin any trip). Dinner in the Eiffel Tower would be a very memorable experience (or at least you could take pictures of them eating there if they're too little to remember) and would qualify as an amazing experience of a lifetime. I'm really cheap MOST of the time, but there are always moments to splurge and make memories.
