The Eiffel Tower is such an amazing structure; it’s no wonder people from around the world travel to see it in person. The first time I saw it I was at least several blocks away and couldn’t believe just how tall it really was. I love that when walking along the Seine River you can still see the Eiffel Tower and know if you are going the correct direction or not.
The creation of the Tower goes back to the World’s Fair of 1889. Gustave Eiffel, along with Maurice Koechline, Emile Nouguier, and Stephen Sauvestre submitted the winning idea for a 300 meter structure in the Champ-de-Mars. The amount of design time and planning that must have went into a project like this is incredible to think about. I often wonder what the team would say knowing that folks still enjoy visiting their creation 125+ years later. To get a much better idea of all that went into the making of the Eiffel Tower, I recommend visiting their official website. You will be able to see early sketches, photos, and blueprints.
Just to see the Tower is incredible enough, but you also have the option to climb/ride up to each floor. The extremely brave can venture all the way to the top and see breathtaking views of Paris. It’s so hard to recommend whether or not to purchase tickets in advance or to take the lift versus walking or which floor to visit since so much depends on the day-of conditions (weather, crowds, events, etc).
After a few trips to the Tower I can safely say that on my next visit I will be purchasing an advanced ticket to take the lift. There have been times when I only had to wait 15 minutes to walk right into the lift while other times I have waited 2+ hours. If you have many sites planned in that day, the wait time could make a difference in your plans.
The last time we visited we waited over 2 hours in the line for the lift. While the weather was perfect and my daughter was being very patient, it still irritated me to think of what we could have spent that wait time doing instead. There was still 100+ people in front of us so we switched to the line that had us walk up to the second floor and then take the lift to the top. In all honesty, the walk wasn’t that bad. I wasn’t in the greatest shape to take the stairs – but we made it!
You really could spend a lot of time on each floor looking at the views, dining, shopping, and learning some history of the site. The ticket prices vary by which floor you would like to visit so I’d recommend viewing their website to plan what you would like to see.
Extra fun fact – my daughter and Gustave Eiffel share the same birthday, December 15!
Passports & Playdates 