Eiffel Tower problems!

[Dumbo Deb]

After reading previous advice about pre-booking the tickets I just went to the official website and found limited pre-booking due to one lift being out of action. so my week in june was unavailable, but just wanted to warn you all if planning to go. I do not know any more than this

 

[Ware Bears]

Thanks for posting.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

They are having to renovate the lifts so it's going to be going on for a while yet

You can still go up but it's going to take longer if you go at peak times.

Best is to go first thing if you can.

Other alternative is to use the stairs as there is very little queues for these and it's not as bad as you might think

Great views can be had from the Tour Montparnasse which never geats busy and is open until late. For superb photos get there just before sunset and you can take a picture of the Eiffel Tower and the skyline as the night falls

http://www.tourmontparnasse56.com/index_EN.php#/home

 

[ROBEAR84]

Oh no!

We can't book for our dates now either

Stairs aren't an option for us as we have the pushchair.

Darn!

When does it start getting really busy Carrie? We don't mind getting there early but would have to have a quick breakfast at the hotel first due to the little ones so not sure what time we could get there for? A half hour wait would be ok but anything more than that would be awkward with them even if one of us queues and the rest of us wait.

 

[Pluto_fan]

They should offer Fastpass!

Thanks for letting us know. I'll be taking a visitor in July...I hadn't even thought of trying to book now!

 

[wendyt_ca]

We are going in Sept I am starting to consider the stairs option especially if it saves a wait.

 

[Sherlee]

We were there the last week of March and only ONE lift was operating. The standby lines were hours long. We booked a front of the line tour with Viator and it was the best money spent in Paris. We had less than 20 in our group and our tour guide was fantastic. She had great stories and facts. She took us first to the second level, then to the top. From there you could stay at the top or go back to the first level with her for a bit more touring.

 

[Dumbo Deb]

thankyou, this sounds possible, does this mean you meet them there with a pre-paid viator ticket with no need to cue?

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I was with a tour on Saturday related to the Disneyana Fan Club. Instead of the Eiffel Tower we went to the Montparnasse Tower instead. There was almost no wait.

The real problem I had was the elevators only went to Floor 56, and there were five flights of stairs to climb, about a total of 16 meters.

Everything was encased in thick plexiglass, so there was almost no wind. And there were a lot of long, empty, slots at about eye level so you could take pictures without getting reflections from the plexiglass.

 

[JDUCKY]

We booked our tickets online back in Dec or thereabouts for our trip a couple of weeks ago. We also reserved and pre-paid for dinner at 58 Tour Eiffel. I tell ya...that's like having a Gold-plated VIP FastPass!

The queues for the ride up were huge but we were ushered through a separate line that had NO ONE in it and took the next available elevator up. Then transferred to the other one to go to the very top and spent some time up there before going back to the 2nd level for more picture taking. Then we walked down the stairs to the 1st level for our dinner (which was great food and an amazing view - window seat overlooking the Trocadero)

 

[Johnny_boy]

We did a pre-booked last year and we were able to walk in but had to wait for the lift to come down. The attendant said some people had been waiting just under 2 hours. She offered the following advice: turn up 1 hour before opening and queue while one of your party goes and gets croissants and coffee, you can eat breakfast while waiting.

We spent a week in Paris after Disney last year and the Eiffel tower was good for the kids up to a point but they really enjoyed the pedal go karts in the Champs de Mars afterwards.

 

[Sherlee]

Dumbo Deb,

Yes, we had our Viator vouchers with the specified meeting point. We went to a special line and waited about 20 minute - still much better than the 3 hour line at the time.

 

[greenkai3000]

There are no more time slots available to book for the days we'll be in Paris. I'm hoping there are other options to go to the top without a reserved ticket?

Is getting up early in the morning worth it to see if we can walk up? Say the tower opens at 9am, is it worth it getting there around 8am to purchase tickets the day of and avoid having to be in line waiting for hours?

 

[Carrie_Cat]

There are no more time slots available to book for the days we'll be in Paris. I'm hoping there are other options to go to the top without a reserved ticket?

Is getting up early in the morning worth it to see if we can walk up? Say the tower opens at 9am, is it worth it getting there around 8am to purchase tickets the day of and avoid having to be in line waiting for hours?

I don't know if the tickey office opens that far ahead of the opening of the TE

If they start acces from 9.30 I'd suggest trying for that,so be queuing for a ticket at 9.00, or going after 19.00.

You could always ring or email them to find out how what time they open the ticket office

 

[JDUCKY]

FWIW, from a post on TripAdvisor:

Advance tickets sale online are open beyond June now. I bought tickets for July this morning. The calendar shows that you can buy to the first week in September.

 

[wendyt_ca]

We booked our tickets online back in Dec or thereabouts for our trip a couple of weeks ago. We also reserved and pre-paid for dinner at 58 Tour Eiffel. I tell ya...that's like having a Gold-plated VIP FastPass!

The queues for the ride up were huge but we were ushered through a separate line that had NO ONE in it and took the next available elevator up. Then transferred to the other one to go to the very top and spent some time up there before going back to the 2nd level for more picture taking. Then we walked down the stairs to the 1st level for our dinner (which was great food and an amazing view - window seat overlooking the Trocadero)

Did you book through the Eiffel tower website?

 

[JDUCKY]

Did you book through the Eiffel tower website?

We did for the tickets. Apparently one can't book for the immediate timeframe but as I wrote yesterday, it appears booking for dates a bit further out now are possible.

For the restaurant, we booked here:
http://www.restaurants-toureiffel.c...IFFEL/Lunch-Dinner-in-paris-eiffel-tower.html

 

[Orion33]

I recommend gallery Lafayette (RER line A from Disney will take you to the Opera stop) it's abeautifully ornate fashion shopping place (but like we selfridges only with the most ornate ceiling!) go up to the top floor, hawk for a table by the window, spend the usual price of 2-3€ on a nice cup of coffee and sit over looking the Paris Opera house and Parisienne skyline to the Eiffel tower. Took this picture here at sunset;

<a href="http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/0rion33/?action=view&current=5d53ac25.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/0rion33/5d53ac25.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

Sun down

<a href="http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/0rion33/?action=view&current=2739bf65.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/0rion33/2739bf65.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

View

<a href="http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/0rion33/?action=view&current=e02d6819.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/0rion33/e02d6819.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

Inside at Christmas;

<a href="http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/0rion33/?action=view&current=5c9d294e.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/0rion33/5c9d294e.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

Lafayette

<a href="http://s12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/0rion33/?action=view&current=ea98fb36.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a245/0rion33/ea98fb36.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

 

[tinkertaylor05]

Digging this up again as I missed the update whoops! I need to book our tickets for end of August am thinking either first thing in the morning 9am or last available 21:30 any opinions or experience which is best?

 

[Johnny_boy]

I've only been up during the day, the views are stunning (some pictures I took here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/johnmhunt/sets/72157627419243424/)

At night it will be more atmospheric but you won't be able to pick out the sights so easily but it does sound a lot more romantic.

I would queue for an hour or so before opening, that way you're minimising the wait and if it's a nice day, there's plenty of opportunities for nice shots from below.