The website says the Eiffel Tower is sold out for two months. Is there anything I can do?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 28 Jul, 2023
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When we arrived on a Sunday afternoon (April 7, 2013) we were (after waiting in a long line) able to buy tickets for an immediate visit. Unfortunately, you must go up the tower immediately after buying your tickets, so having one person wait in line while others explore nearby is not practical unless you can coordinate with mobile phones, etc.
The line for the elevator was 2-3 times as long as the one for the stairs.
While we were waiting in line, they announced that the third floor (i.e. the top) was closed. When we got to the head of the line, we asked and they said it would open up in 30 minutes. On the second floor we waited in another line to buy tickets to the top. Tedious, slow, and crowded, but we got what we wanted.
How to possibly avoid waiting at the Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower consists of several stages. The lower part can be done either by stairs or by lift. The higher part can normally only be done by lift. There’s usually a big queue for the lift at the ground floor, but not much of a queue for the stairs.
When I climbed the Eiffel Tower, I didn’t know that, and I wanted to take the stairs all the way. This was not possible, and I turned around at the end of the stairs. However, I also noticed that at this stage, tickets were being sold for the elevator, and there was no queue at all. I’m not 100% sure, but it appears very likely that you can jump the queue by walking up the stairs as far as possible and then taking the lift from there.
Note that I did not try to get a ticket for the lift, but I had the impression that it was possible.
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The site explains:
If all the times are taken, the following message will be displayed: “no tickets available for the date requested”. Choose another day (or purchase your ticket for immediate entry at the monument ticket counters).
That says to me that if you can’t buy online, you can still go up, but you’ll have to wait in a (possibly long) line.
This is a Monday morning, 9 years ago – I wouldn’t mind waiting in this line (in fact, I waited in one just like it before I got the picture):
However, it can clearly get much longer. Investigate those pictures more closely to see what your chances might be like on a weekend.
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Credit:stackoverflow.com‘