Eiffel Tower Question

[Porsche44]

I know this is off topic from DLP but I didn't know where else to ask this question. We plan on visiting the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday 5th December around 5:00pm. I went online to book tickets and was shocked to see they were all sold out. Any Parisiens out there who could give me some advice? If we just turn up at 5:00 what will the ticket queue be like, will we have to wait hours or is it likely to be less than half an hour. Our other option is to take a Seine cruise at about 5:00 and then come back and do the Tower later in the evening. Would this work better? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Yep tickets sell out fast and most people reserve asap when they see them on the site.

But in winter it's risky as the visibilty is often not great with the mist and fog that we get so often.

There will be far less people late afternoon as as it will be dark by then and you won't be able to see that much.

Same for the river cruise as nor everything is lit up but it looks pretty.

Is there anyway you could go first thing one day deciding which day depending on the weather ?

You could always climb up to the 2nd floor via the stairs if the queue is too long

 

[Porsche44]

Yep tickets sell out fast and most people reserve asap when they see them on the site.

But in winter it's risky as the visibilty is often not great with the mist and fog that we get so often.

There will be far less people late afternoon as as it will be dark by then and you won't be able to see that much.

Same for the river cruise as nor everything is lit up but it looks pretty.

Is there anyway you could go first thing one day deciding which day depending on the weather ?

You could always climb up to the 2nd floor via the stairs if the queue is too long

Hi Carrie, I could re schedule it for a morning or other time but I thought it might be nice seeing the night lights of Paris as we will be visiting the Arc de Triomphe during the day & I thought it would be nice to have two different time of day views. As for the Seine cruise are there not Christmas lights that can be viewed by cruising at night or are the views better during the day, again I can reschedule and I would really value your thoughts on both plans. Thanks

 

[paulinefc]

I'm interested to know this too, as we are going in Jan

 

[CindeBella]

I know this is off topic from DLP but I didn't know where else to ask this question. We plan on visiting the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday 5th December around 5:00pm. I went online to book tickets and was shocked to see they were all sold out. Any Parisiens out there who could give me some advice? If we just turn up at 5:00 what will the ticket queue be like, will we have to wait hours or is it likely to be less than half an hour. Our other option is to take a Seine cruise at about 5:00 and then come back and do the Tower later in the evening. Would this work better? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I don't know if this is of interest to you, but we went to the top during daytime hours {5pm when the champagne bar opened } and dined at Le Jules Verne at sunset when we would see the entire city lit up. The bonus is that you have a fabulous dining experience as well.

 

[Carrie_Cat]

I don't know if this is of interest to you, but we went to the top during daytime hours {5pm when the champagne bar opened } and dined at Le Jules Verne at sunset when we would see the entire city lit up. The bonus is that you have a fabulous dining experience as well.

You must have gone in the summer (lucky thing) as in Dec the sunset is at 16.55 and JV won't be open until 19.00 so a bit cold and misty to be hanging around up at the top

 

[Carrie_Cat]

Hi Carrie, I could re schedule it for a morning or other time but I thought it might be nice seeing the night lights of Paris as we will be visiting the Arc de Triomphe during the day & I thought it would be nice to have two different time of day views. As for the Seine cruise are there not Christmas lights that can be viewed by cruising at night or are the views better during the day, again I can reschedule and I would really value your thoughts on both plans. Thanks

I see what you mean and at least going up the AdT means that you have a great chance of seeing Paris from above in the daytime.

Just be aware that you might not be able to see a lot from the ET at night and that if it's really foggy don't bother going to the top. In winter visibilty can be very low as with the cold, freezing wind and damp the cloud cover is heavy and very low down in the sky.

I would be playing it day by day if you could but I don't know how long you are staying in Paris itself.

Re the river cruise you won't see any special Christmas lights from the boat. Very few areas of Paris are really lit up like you find in the UK.

The Champs Elysées is for example and then the dept stores Printemps and Galleries Lafayette do great yearly displays.

You also have a Christmas market on the bottom part of the CE, it's full of very tacky "made in China" stuff but the food and drink part can be great fun

They light up nightly certain buildings along the Seine plus the bridges which makes it all totally different to look at than in the day time.

I'd do both, the first time in the day to get a good idea of how verything is laid out and then you can go explore the city and then at night not listening to the commentary to see it all lit up

I'm interested to know this too, as we are going in Jan

If you have only 1 day in Paris as a trip from DLP and you really, really want to go up the ET you are best reserving now and fingers crossed you get a clear day.

If you are not 100% sure which day you want to go or don't mind the stairs or queuing for a while or even not going up but just admiring it from the ground as it's impressive play it by ear and see what the weather is like when you are at DLP.

If you don't reserve try and get there either at least 30/40 minutes before opening and queue or go late afternoon/evening when there are less people - if you are taking the lift.

If you are taking the stairs the queues will be light to non existante

 

[petals]

I was at the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday we went at about 2ish and the queue was mental so we decided to go to notre dame first and go back. Went back at about 4.30/5 ish and the queue had died alot. It seemed to always get quieter around that time everyday so maybe just go and queue then.

 

[Porsche44]

Thanks Carrie for all your thoughts, it helps a lot to have an insider's knowledge. We are in DLP for 6 nights and then we have a week in Paris so we can be quite flexible. I think we will just play it by ear and see what the weather brings. Counting down now only two weeks to go.

 

[Porsche44]

I was at the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday we went at about 2ish and the queue was mental so we decided to go to notre dame first and go back. Went back at about 4.30/5 ish and the queue had died alot. It seemed to always get quieter around that time everyday so maybe just go and queue then.

Thanks Petals, it's good to have an idea of what's happening at the moment as we leave in 2 weeks. We have a full week in Paris after 6 nights in DLP so I think we will play it by ear and hope we get one good visibility day and either go really early or wait till later in the day. Thanks for your help.

 

[CindeBella]

You must have gone in the summer (lucky thing) as in Dec the sunset is at 16.55 and JV won't be open until 19.00 so a bit cold and misty to be hanging around up at the top

Early October... the weather is very pleasant. My favourite time to go!
I understand.. I don't like to be cold either.

 

[petals]

Thanks Petals, it's good to have an idea of what's happening at the moment as we leave in 2 weeks. We have a full week in Paris after 6 nights in DLP so I think we will play it by ear and hope we get one good visibility day and either go really early or wait till later in the day. Thanks for your help.

No bothers.. Actually I think the 4.30/5 ish mark was good as well because when I was up in the tower the sun started to set and as I was coming down in the lift the tower started Twinkling. It was cool to watch the sunset over Paris from the top of the tower.