Roaming Numeral

The Eiffel Tower: a celebrated Parisian landmark, towering the city skyline. Obviously, I was going to climb it.

There are three floors available to the public. Although the common advice claims that the second floor of the Eiffel Tower has the best view, I was celebrating! France ended up being the thirtieth country I’ve visited and I was insistent that I wanted to go to the very top of the tower. It was a special occasion, and I was going to make the most of it.

While the absolute best way to navigate Paris is to pre-purchase tickets to popular sites, our trip was such a whirlwind that by the time we looked, all of the online stock was sold out. Don’t panic- there are still more tickets, but you’ll have to wait on line for a few hours in order to buy them in person. We were hoping to arrive as the sun was setting in order to see the views during the daytime and the night time, but ended up waiting on line for nearly two hours and made it to the top well past sunset.

At least the view is nice as the line snakes around the esplanade under the tower!

There are a few options to choose from when visiting the Eiffel Tower. The cheapest ticket allows visitors to climb the stairs up to the second floor for only €11.80, and lift tickets to the same location are only a few Euros more. The next ticket combines a stair climb to the second floor and a lift to the top for €22.40, and the final and most expensive option with lift access all the way to the top floor will run you a healthy €29.40.

Since we knew we wanted to go to the highest view point, and we’d had a long day of running around the city, we decided to shell out for the most expensive option.

Once we finally purchased our tickets, we were sent through a security checkpoint (the second checkpoint of the night) before waiting in yet another line for the lifts. Thankfully, this one moved a lot faster than the line for the tickets!

Due to the shape of the tower, the first section of the lift is more of a funicular, rising at an angle that gave a great view of the other guests struggling their way up the stairs, before the clear-walled elevator shoots vertically at a rapid pace. It was cool to be able to see so much of the interior structure of the tower, but this may not be a pleasant experience for those nervous around heights.

This first lift dropped us off on the second floor of the tower, where we were then shuffled over to a second lift, which brought us all the way to the top.

This second lift opens into an enclosed platform with clear windows and heaters, and the apartment of Gustave Eiffel, preserved like a museum with lifelike figures that startled me when I peeked in.

A short flight of stairs brought us up to the highest viewing platform on the Eiffel Tower. This penultimate platform was enclosed by a metal fence but otherwise exposed to the brutal December wind. At least the views were spectacular!

We were visiting on a clear night, so we had a great view of the city- we could even see our hotel from the top! The line to the ticketing booth may have been painfully long, but views like these were worth the wait.

Since I was celebrating, I absolutely had to make a stop at the Champagne Bar on this platform. There were two champagnes to choose from, but I got the cheapest option at €19, with a €5 deposit for the Eiffel Tower branded plastic champagne flutes. While card was accepted, the deposit is returned in cash.

Although I’m not sure that I’d recommend getting champagne at that price (especially given the size of the champagne flutes), it was a special treat to mark an achievement of my travels.

We were lucky enough to witness the famous sparkles of the Eiffel Tower from the top, and took several photos before our rapidly numbing fingers sent us scurrying down to the enclosed section below lest we drop our hideously expensive drinks.

Huddled around a heater and gazing out into the city, my companion gave me an impromptu interview about my travels that I recreated in this post.

When we had looked our fill, we took the elevator down the the second floor. This floor tends to be the most popular amongst guests, both because of the lower price point and also because the lower height offers better visibility of the surrounding landmarks.

The second floor also houses the fabulously posh Jules Verne restaurant as well as a buffet, a macaron bar, and a gift shop.

Not to be forgotten, the first floor is also home to the popular Madame Brasserie, another buffet, a pavilion, and an informative area where visitors can learn more about the history of the landmark.

I’m definitely glad I made it to this iconic viewpoint, but one of the downsides of seeing the city from the top of the Eiffel Tower is that you don’t actually get to see the Eiffel Tower! I’ll have to add another viewpoint visit to my next trip to Paris- one where I’ll be able to see the Parisian skyline all at once. Overall, a must visit experience, but not necessarily the only viewpoint in the city.