Cue to visit the Eiffel Tower - a personal experience!

Terrorism has made life much more complicated for tourists. For example, twenty years ago, anyone could walk around the Eiffel Tower, and you could enter a cue with no trouble. Today the tower is protected by walls, and you need to pass through a security check to get close to the tower. But there are more - you must stand in long queues to visit the tower.

I went to the Eiffel Tower a Saturday in May 2023. It was around 19.00 in the evening and I hoped that it would be little waiting time. After passing through the first security check I entered one of the cues hoping to buy elevator tickets that would take me all the way to the top of the tower. After thirty minutes, I had only progressed about 1/3 of the line, so I gave up and decided to give it a new try even later on Sunday, hoping that there would be less tourists on a Sunday, and even fewer later in the evening.

I also took it into consideration that you need to stand in line to use the elevators, meaning that the ticket cue isn't the only one you will experience as you visit the Eiffel Tower.

A new attempt on a Sunday evening.

As I visited the Eiffel Tower 26 hours later, at 21.00 on a Sunday evening, the cue was noticeably shorter, and it only took me 15 minutes to get to the cashier where I could buy my tickets.

After buying the tickets, I had to wait approximately 20 minutes to get into the elevator. I checked with my clock and noticed that it took about 8 minutes for the elevator to leave the ground, get up to the second floor, and then return back to the ground again.

I didn't want to waste my time on the first of second floor so I quickly got in line for the elevator that would take me to the top. There I had to stand in line for 25 minutes before entering the elevator that took me to the top.

I then spent 30 minutes on the top taking pictures and enjoying the view, before standing in line for 20 more minutes to use the elevator again and then approximately 10 more minutes to get down to the ground. All in all, the entire experience took about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

Was it worth it? Absolutely! But would it be worth it if I had to stand in line for 90 minutes only to get the tickets and then spend more than two more hours to get into the elevators? I am not so sure anymore.

In other words, I would definitely use the wisdom from this article in which they suggest you to either arrive 30 minutes before the Eiffel Tower opens (so that you can be one of the first to visit and thus be first in line), or to come late in the evening on a weekday or a day with little tourists and bad weather.