Visiting the Eiffel Tower: tickets, opening hours and the best time to go

Visiting the Eiffel Tower comes down to three decisions: how high to go (2nd floor or summit), how (lift or stairs) and at what time. The best-selling official ticket, the lift to the summit, costs €36.70 for an adult; the Tower is open every day and a full visit takes about 2 h 30. Tickets are sold on the official website and at the monument’s ticket offices: “skip-the-line” offers on third-party sites bring no advantage, according to the operator itself. After the Tower, the Musée du quai Branly, a few minutes’ walk along the Seine, extends the visit with the arts of Africa, Oceania, Asia and the Americas.

This page brings together the official prices and hours recorded on 15 October 2026, the crowd level published by the Société d’exploitation de la tour Eiffel (SETE), and a figure we calculated ourselves: the time of sunset and the time of the likely first sparkle on the 15th of each month. To plan the rest of your stay, see our guide to visiting Paris. At the foot of the Trocadéro, our Aquarium de Paris: hours and prices page makes a good complement to a visit to the tower.

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Eiffel Tower tickets: official or resellers?

The official ticket office is ticket.toureiffel.paris. The operator says that climbing tickets are sold there “at the best official prices”, and that there is no skip-the-line ticket: the “priority access” tickets on third-party sites are the official e-ticket and confer no extra right. The only way to avoid the ticket-office line is the timed e-ticket, which gives access to a dedicated security line.

Ticket (2026 prices)	Adult	Ages 12–24	Ages 4–11	Disability
2nd floor, lift	€23.50	€11.80	€6.00	€6.00
2nd floor, stairs	€14.80	€7.40	€3.80	€3.80
Summit, lift	€36.70	€18.40	€9.20	€9.20
Summit, stairs then lift	€28.00	€14.00	€7.00	€7.00

Official discounts: the youth rate applies to ages 12–24, the child rate to ages 4–11; the disability rate applies to the holder of a named disability card and one companion. Proof may be requested at the checkpoint.

Which to choose? If budget matters and you are fit, the stairs to the 2nd floor (674 steps, a 30 to 45 minute climb according to the operator) cost €8.70 less than the lift. For the summit, the stairs-then-lift option saves €8.70 per adult. The summit and the stairs are not accessible to people with reduced mobility. Combined offers (glass of champagne, guided tour, brunch) are sold online only.

Opening hours and closing days

The Eiffel Tower is open every day of the year, including Tuesdays (unlike several Paris museums). Hours change by date: the official site publishes a day-by-day calendar (entry, ticket office, lift and stairs hours). On October 15, 2026, the Tower was open from 9:30 am to 11 pm, with last ascents at 10:45 pm. In summer, closing is pushed back to 12:45 am according to the official page on the illuminations.

• Exceptional closures are possible, announced on the official site and on the Tower’s social networks;
• Show up 30 minutes before the time of your e-ticket to get through security (the operator allows 15 to 20 minutes between the entrance and the esplanade);
• The esplanade and the gardens can be visited for free, without a ticket, after the security check (entrances 1 and 2).

Best time to visit the Eiffel Tower

According to the operator, high season runs from late June to early September; weekends, public holidays and European school holidays are the busiest. Outside summer, the quietest part of the day is after 5 pm and in the evening; during the week, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are generally the least busy. Going up at sunset lets you see Paris by day and then lit up.

Our calculation: the golden lighting comes on at nightfall (sensors, switching on within 10 minutes) and the sparkle starts at the beginning of each following hour, for 5 minutes, according to SETE. For the 15th of each month, we calculated the time of sunset and of the end of civil twilight, then deduced the full hour of the likely first sparkle.

Month (15th)	Sunrise	Sunset	Day length (h:min)	Nightfall	First likely sparkle	Crowds (official)
January	8:38	17:21	8:43	around 17:57	19:00	Low
February	7:58	18:11	10:12	around 18:43	19:00	Low
March	7:03	18:55	11:52	around 19:26	20:00	Medium
April	6:59	20:42	13:42	around 21:15	22:00	Medium
May	6:08	21:25	15:17	around 22:03	23:00	Medium
June	5:46	21:56	16:09	around 22:38	23:00	High
July	6:03	21:50	15:46	around 22:30	23:00	Maximum
August	6:43	21:06	14:23	around 21:41	22:00	Maximum
September	7:27	20:04	12:37	around 20:36	21:00	Medium
October	8:11	19:01	10:50	around 19:33	20:00	Low
November	7:59	17:10	9:11	around 17:45	18:00	Low
December	8:37	16:54	8:17	around 17:31	18:00	Medium

As for weather, Paris normals (Météo-France) give 7 to 11 rainy days a month; month-by-month details are in our guide Paris: what to see and when to go. A clear sky matters more at the summit (276 m / 906 ft) than at the 2nd floor: check the forecast the same morning if you buy on site.

How much time to allow and what to see?

1. Climb: lift (a few minutes) or stairs to the 2nd floor, 10 to 15 minutes per floor;
2. Summit (summit ticket): lift from the 2nd floor, with a possible wait and a ticket check there;
3. Back down via the 2nd then the 1st floor: the visit always starts with the highest level; the 1st floor has dining, activities and shops;
4. Esplanade and gardens, free, before or after.

Allow about 1 h 30 for the first two floors and 2 h 30 to the summit, according to the official estimate, not counting the ticket-office line. A summit ticket also gives access to the 1st and 2nd floors; however, it is not possible to add the summit to a stairs ticket bought online.

Getting there: metro, RER, bus

Official address: Champ de Mars, 5 avenue Anatole France, 75007 Paris. The operator recommends public transport:

• RER C: Champ de Mars – Tour Eiffel, 5 min walk;
• Metro line 6: Bir-Hakeim, 11 min walk (station closed some Sundays in autumn);
• Metro line 8: École Militaire, 16 min; metro line 9: Trocadéro, 22 min;
• Bus: lines 30, 42 and 82 (stops 5 min from entrance 2), 69 and 86 (Champ de Mars).

Accessibility and prohibited items

People with reduced mobility, including wheelchair users, can go up to the 1st and 2nd floors by lift; the summit is not accessible to them for evacuation reasons. The ticket offices have a hearing loop and the toilets (at ground level and on both floors) are accessible. Bulky luggage and animals (except guide dogs) are not admitted and there is no left-luggage.

Order of the visit, services and restaurants

The visit starts at the highest level of your ticket, then continues downward. With a summit ticket by lifts, a first lift goes to the 2nd floor, a second to the summit: the summit can only be reached by lift from the 2nd floor. The 1st floor is visited on the way down, whatever the ticket (or on the way up with a stairs ticket). The operator states that no supplementary ticket lets you go up to the summit if you bought a 2nd-floor ticket: so choose the right ticket when you buy.

• Named tickets: each e-ticket is in a name; bring ID for each member of the group, children included, and proof for reduced rates;
• On-site services: free wifi, toilets, baby-changing table, information point at the West pillar, mobile visitor guide in French, English, Spanish and Chinese;
• Restaurants: Madame Brasserie on the 1st floor (contemporary cuisine) and Le Jules Verne on the 2nd floor (two-star fine dining), plus other dining options at different levels;
• Weather: the official site shows the temperature and wind at the summit; there is always wind on the 3rd floor, so bring an extra layer.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Buying a “skip-the-line” ticket on a third-party site: according to the operator, it does not exist and gives no advantage;
• Arriving at the exact time of the ticket: you need to be in the “ticket holders” line at that time, so come 30 minutes early;
• Presenting an incomplete or screenshotted ticket: the QR code must be fully legible (PDF format, no wallet);
• Coming with a suitcase: there is no left-luggage on site;
• Counting on buying on site for the summit in summer: sales may be halted if the summit is saturated.

What to see nearby

From the Champ de Mars, the Musée d’Orsay can be reached along the left-bank quays or by RER C, and the Louvre by following the Seine. For a day outside Paris, the Palace of Versailles is on the same RER C line as the Champ de Mars – Tour Eiffel station. All our neighborhood tips are in our Paris guide.

Frequently asked questions

Our sources

• toureiffel.paris (Société d’exploitation de la tour Eiffel): prices and hours, crowds, FAQ (tickets, skip-the-line, duration, stairs, wheelchair, Tuesday, esplanade), access map, illuminations, visitors with disabilities — consulted on 15 October 2026
• Météo-France, Paris-Montsouris climate sheet, 1991–2020 statistics (normals taken from our Paris page)
• Solar calculation: NOAA algorithm (Destination de Voyage), the 15th of each month of 2026
• toureiffel.paris, “Plan your visit” page (order of the visit, services, restaurants, named tickets) – consulted on 16 October 2026

Updated November 2026.