Eiffel Tower Tips

There are many things I love about Paris, but the Eiffel Tower (ET) is not one of them. Don't get me wrong - it's great to look at from far away and from up close, during the day and at night. I'm a big fan of the symbolism of it, its history, its architectural characteristics. But I don't like big crowds, I don't like waiting in line, and I don't like tourist traps. (ET: check, check, and check.) So even though we've been to the ET four times since September, until last week I hadn't actually been up the tower since 1999.

Last week, of course, was a special occasion: the first time my mom has ever visited me in Europe (she waited until my fifth stay of 2+ months to take the plunge). Once I had committed to "going up," I did everything in my power to eliminate the obstacles that normally keep me earth-bound. And I succeeded. If you, too, are interest in avoiding crowds, shortening your wait, and generally enjoying your experience of the ET, I have the following advice to offer:

1. Go on a weekday, preferably early in the week. Three of the four times we've been to the ET this year, it was Saturday and the place was mobbed. My mom, Cathy, and I went on a Tuesday and were shocked at how few people were around.
2. Arrive early. The tower opens at 9 and most people - especially jet-lagged people - aren't capable of getting there that early. We got there at 10:30 and walked right in (in part thanks to #3 below). By the time we left at 11, the line had already tripled in size. Cousins Ethan, Sandi, and Jacob arrived at the ET around 11 on a Saturday in October and waited around 45 minutes to take the stairs. 
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3. Buy tickets in advance. Most tourists don't know you can buy and print tickets online. Everyone waits in line for an hour or more just to buy tickets, then another lengthy period of time to enter the tower. Who wants to spend a trip to Paris waiting in line? Not this guy. Look, there's even a special entrance, just for you! 
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4. Take the stairs. The southwest pillar is the only one that allows you to climb to the first and second floors. The line there is usually shorter. Climbing is not only good exercise but gives you more time to appreciate your surroundings without the crowding you'll surely experience at each landing. And if you like counting things, you'll love counting the 600+ steps you'll take. Notice how the sign for the stairs includes an unfortunately-designed stick-figure (photo and Nazi-stick-figure-identification courtesy of JP): 
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5. Go up only as far as the second floor. I know this sounds lame, but due to construction (continuing Jan. 4 through Feb. 5) we were forced to stop at the second floor, and it couldn't have mattered less. The view from the second floor is ridiculous - you can see all of Paris quite clearly, as well as many of the suburbs. The higher you go, the better the chance you'll be in the clouds (literally) or that the ground will be too hazy to make out much of anything. Moreover, after you get up to the second floor, you have to wait in a new line to take the single elevator up to the summit. So now you're waiting in line for another significant chunk of time, which (again) is not my idea of funtimes. Consider that the first floor is 187 ft. (57 m) above ground level, the second floor is 377 ft. (115 m) high, while nearly every other building in Paris (with the exception of the Tour Montparnasse) rises no higher than 121 ft. (37 m). This is all to say, there's nothing you can see from the summit that you can't see from the second floor.

This advice serves mainly to ensure a speedy, efficient, and relatively un-crowded visit. It does not ensure ideal visibility, which depends heavily on the weather and season (going earlier in the summer is better than going earlier in the winter, since the sun is higher, which diminishes glare from too much light or haze from too much pollution). Here are two examples of the view from the second floor.

Tour Montparnasse, as barely seen through the early-morning glare and haze during our visit last week.

The difference is clear in a photo from Maggie and Alyssa's visit on December 26.

Lest you think me a rabid, unrepentant anti-towerist, I offer a slideshow of gratuitous beauty presenting views of and from the Eiffel Tower over the course of our stay thus far. Enjoy!