Eiffel Tower Madame Brasserie Dinner Paris

The Eiffel Tower, symbol of Paris

The Eiffel Tower was built between 1887 and 1889 as the entrance arch to the Universal Exhibition held in Paris for the centenary of the French Revolution. Named after the engineer whose company designed and built it, the wrought-iron tower rises 330 metres above the Champ de Mars and was the tallest structure in the world for more than forty years. Many Parisians first called it an eyesore; today it is the most visited paid monument on earth and part of the UNESCO-listed banks of the Seine.

The tower is repainted by hand roughly every seven years in its own shade of bronze brown, and after dark it glows gold and sparkles for five minutes at the start of every hour. Eiffel Tower opening hours run from morning until late evening every day of the year, and the dinner ticket on this page gives you a reason to be inside the tower exactly when Paris is at its most beautiful.

The first floor and its views

The first floor sits 57 metres up, on the broad platform where the four legs of the tower join. It was renovated in 2014 with a glass floor section that lets you look straight down to the esplanade, transparent balustrades and a walkway around the outer edge with views over the Seine, the Trocadéro gardens, the Champ de Mars and the gilded dome of Les Invalides. Exhibits explain how the tower was built and how its lifts still work.

Because the restaurant is on this level, your Eiffel Tower dinner includes the lift ride and the express security line, so there is no separate Eiffel Tower tickets queue to worry about. Before or after the meal you can step out onto the platform to watch the city lights. Access to the second floor and the summit is not included, but can be added separately on another day.

Dinner at the first-floor brasserie

The brasserie wraps around the inside of the tower's iron structure, with tables looking out through the lattice towards the city. Service starts at 21:00 and lasts about two hours. The default Grande Dame menu brings a starter, two main courses, a dessert and petits fours, prepared in a modern French brasserie style with seasonal produce; the Gustave menu on another option is a lighter three courses. Still or sparkling water and coffee are served with both.

Is the Eiffel Tower restaurant worth it? For a birthday, an anniversary or a first evening in Paris, few settings compare: you eat inside the monument itself, with the iron beams overhead and the lights of the city all around. Families are welcome, and children aged 4 to 11 receive their own menu with a starter, a main course, a dessert and a soft drink on the central-seating options.

Champ de Mars, Trocadéro and the Seine

The tower stands at the end of the Champ de Mars, a long lawn stretching to the École Militaire, and faces the Trocadéro across the Pont d'Iéna. How to get to the Eiffel Tower is easy: take metro line 6 to Bir-Hakeim, line 6 or 9 to Trocadéro, or the RER C to Champ de Mars–Tour Eiffel. From Trocadéro, the walk across the bridge gives the classic full view of the tower.

The best time to visit the Eiffel Tower area is early evening, when the Trocadéro terraces fill with photographers and the river boats start their night departures. Arrive well before your 21:00 seating to stroll the riverbank and take photos from the Pont d'Iéna; after dinner, the illuminated tower above the Champ de Mars makes a perfect ending to the evening.