Visiting the Eiffel tower is a top priority for many visitors. The prices to go up are based on both how high you want to go up and whether you want to go by stair or elevator. If you are wanting to save money or like the exercise you can climb the 674 steps from the bottom to the 2nd floor. If you want to go to the top then you must take the elevator.
Many of the tourist sites in Paris had a security line you had to pass through first. I was surprised that we had to go through security just to get close to the tower. This first line just quickly looked in your bags and you walked through a medal detector. Once we had our tickets to go up in the tower there was another medal detector and an xray scanner for bags.
Each leg of the tower has access going up but if you want to take the stairs vs the elevator you will need to make sure you pick the correct line. There are also separate lines for those who bought tickets on-line so make sure you don’t waste time getting in the wrong line.
We didn’t buy ours ahead of time because they were sold out online for the times we wanted. They only let so many guest go up at a time so you may be waiting for a while if you buy on site. We wanted to go all the way to the top but it was too windy and the top was closed for safety.
We chose to take the lift up because it was so cold and windy it was worth a few more euros. Each of the elevators have 2 stories and can hold about 60 people. They didn’t have all the elevators running this day but we didn’t have to wait too long for it.
The lift took us up to the 2nd floor first. You could either take the elevator down to the 1st floor but we decided to take the stairs. Views are amazing from either but the 2nd floor is quite breathtaking.
On the 2nd floor you will find a small food counter with hot dogs and sandwiches but they don’t have anywhere to sit and eat only 3 or 4 tables to stand at. There also restrooms and a few gift shops.
The first floor offers views of the ground below with spots on the floor with clear glass, this is not for those with fear of heights!
Also on the 1st floor you will find 2 restaurants, restrooms and another gift shop.
As you walk around the outer rim of the 1st floor there are interactive screens, pictures and facts about the tower.
Our visit was on a very cold day and being up in the tower we were freezing so we didn’t explore as much as we would have liked. The girls were given a secret of the Eiffel tower adventure game to play on the 1st floor but I don’t think they even looked at it once.
