Practical information for visiting the Eiffel Tower with your Official Guide

Whether you have a little time or a lot, I highly recommend that you consider visiting the Eiffel Tower with an official tourist guide – you’ll squeeze so much more from your time, you’ll get tonnes o, and will be very glad you did so !

How to reach the eiffel tower ?
Paris tour guide told you which road to take.

Fireworks on Eiffel Tower

Travelling by subway (métro)

While you can reach the tower from Métro stations Bir-Hakeim or Trocadéro, the recommendation from your guide in Paris is to get off at Trocadéro as you’ll be able to enjoy an incredible view of the Eiffel Tower framed between two palaces – one housing the Museum of the Navy and the other, the Film Museum.

By car

You can park along the roads bordering the Champs de Mars garden.

By taxi

Ask your taxi driver to drop you off at one of the two main entrances located in the West pillar and in the East pillar.

When you get there, you’ll have to pass through a security check. If you have booked a table for one of the two restaurants you will be able to come in by a separate entrance.

For tickets purchased in advance, you need to come in not later than 30 minutes after the time shown on the ticket. Advanced ticket holders also get rapid admission and security checks.

If you haven’t bought your tickets in advance, you should expect to wait half an hour or more in the security check line.

Paris tour guides advise you to book your tickets in advance. If you choose to visit the Eiffel Tower with an official guide, they can take you in without having to line up.

When to visit the eiffel tower? Recommendations by paris tour guide

I find that it’s at sunset that the Eiffel Tower reveals all its beauty: the beams that make up the structure look like they belong to a cathedral, and you have a stunning contrast between the darkness of the night sky and the shining metal of the tower [lit up in changing colours]. This is the moment for me to remind you that Jean Compagnon, the person in charge of the assembly of the Eiffel Tower, was qualified as a carpenter specialised in hand made woodcraft.

What is the best season to visit the eiffel tower?
The view of paris tour guide

In Autumn, when the garden of Champs de Mars’ trees is sparkling autumnal colours. Or during winter when mist wraps the Eiffel Tower with a mysterious glowing aura.

At what time to visit the eiffel tower?
Paris tour guide give his opinion

In the evening, Eiffel Tower illumination begins at sunset. As a result, the best time to visit varies depending on the season. Your Guide in Paris would remind you that in Paris, darkness falls very late in the months of June, July and August and very early around Christmas time so take this into account when you make your booking.

It is easiest to find tickets available for purchase online for schedules starting from 6 PM. This is the time when most tourist groups have left and so the Eiffel Tower is much quieter. Buying your tickets online allows you not have to queue to take the elevator up to the second floor. (You may however need to wait for the elevator to the third floor as the two lifts can only carry fifteen people at a time each.)

As Paris Tour Guide, we can tell you that you don’t need to climb all the way up to the third floor to fully enjoy the views over Paris. In fact, the third-floor deck is protected by a glass wall so you’ll get much better photos from the second floor. Don’t forget to bring some extra clothing as it can get very windy and cold at that height !

Where to eat on the eiffel tower?
Paris tour guide told you what opportunities are

The Eiffel Tower N°58

Elevators of the Eiffel Tower

The first floor restaurant will re-open in Spring 2020. Famous Chef Thierry Max is creating a brasserie serving typical Parisian food.

The Jules Vernes

Located at the second floor of the Eiffel Tower at a height of 125 metres above the ground, the Jules Verne is run by Michelin-starred Chef and best Worker in France, Frederic Anton, who cooks haute cuisine French food. Do make your reservations there as far in advance as possible as it’s very popular. If you’re not able to get a place, I always suggest asking the concierge at your hotel in Paris to do it for you – they often have ways of getting people into hard-to-book venues. Access to the Jules Verne is via a private lift located at the south pillar.

The Snack Bar

Located at the second floor, you will find all kind of snacks, sandwiches, chips, ice cream, soft drink and beer and is open while the Tower is open.

The Champagne Bar at the top

Located at the third floor. It is open from every day from 10:15 AM to 10:45 PM and from June to September until 11:30 PM

What types of visitor tickets are available
to visit the eiffel tower? Contact paris-tour-guide.com

Eiffel Tower stairs

Various possibilities are offered to the visitor:
A single ticket with use of the elevators for adults
Youth fare (aged 12 to 24)
A single ticket with use of elevators for children (aged 4 to11) with a special rate
Free of charge for children under 4
A “no-queue” ticket by elevator
Special fare for the 2 lifts to reach the 3^rd floor.
A ticket to climb the Tower by stairs – enter at the South pillar. It’s 674 steps to the second floor taking around 30 minutes going up.

Your guide in Paris advises you: take the elevator to go up but take the stairs down to fully take in the extraordinary technical innovation that the Eiffel Tower is. Each floor has its own history and anecdotes and will illuminate for you the different phases of the Tower’s construction.

However long your stay in Paris is, you must visit the Eiffel Tower. Since its inauguration in 1889, it has been the symbol of Paris and the most visible example of French engineering excellence.

Your official guide in Paris will explain to you how the Eiffel Tower was built, and how it came to be admired worldwide.

For my part, I always watch “her” – the Tower – with a kind of tenderness because she sheltered in the 1890s the true love of Jeanine, one of my ancestors, the daughter of Marquis de Pindray D’Embelle, with Edouard, the oldest son of Gustave Eiffel. She was an aristocrat and he was the son of a renowned engineer; this is true! Even though his father was famous and respected, in France at that time, the mixing of social classes was still very rare, so the lovers had to meet secretly. And the place where they met was in Gustave Eiffel’s apartment at the top of the Eiffel Tower! Your guide in Paris will of course show it to you.

Paris Eiffel Tower East Pillar