Eiffel Tower Guided Tour in English with Optional Seine Cruise Paris

Allée Léon-Bourgeois and the foot of the Eiffel Tower

Allée Léon-Bourgeois is the tree-lined path that runs along the edge of the Champ de Mars beside the tower's eastern pillar, and the small park on it is where our host checks you in, next to the ticket line for Entrance 1. The spot is well chosen: you are already under the tower, so the guide's commentary begins with the structure itself rising above you, the four pillars named after the points of the compass, the 1889 lifts and the security entrances between them.

How to get to the Eiffel Tower meeting point: Bir-Hakeim metro on line 6 and the Champ de Mars-Tour Eiffel RER C station are each about ten minutes on foot, and École Militaire on line 8 is slightly further down the Champ de Mars. Check in at least fifteen minutes before your start time; the guide leads the group through security together, and an Eiffel Tower tour cannot wait for latecomers.

The Eiffel Tower and its story

Standing beneath the arches, your guide tells how the tower rose in twenty-six months for the World's Fair of 1889, how 7,300 tonnes of wrought iron were assembled with two and a half million rivets, and why the artists of the day signed a petition against the monstrous lamppost. At 300 metres it was the tallest structure in the world until 1930; with its broadcasting antennas it stands at 330 metres today. It was meant to be dismantled after twenty years, and radio saved it.

On the way up the guide points out the names of seventy-two scientists engraved beneath the 1st floor balcony, the lift machinery and the painting campaign that renews sixty tonnes of paint roughly every seven years. The guided commentary runs about twenty-five to thirty minutes from the foot of the tower to the 2nd floor, which is exactly the part where context changes what you see.

The 2nd floor at 115 metres

The elevator carries the group to the 2nd floor, 115 metres above the Champ de Mars, where the guided part concludes with the best lesson in the geography of Paris you can get. Your guide shows you the Trocadéro directly across the river, the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs-Élysées, the white domes of Sacré-Cœur on Montmartre, the gilded dome of Les Invalides, the glass roof of the Grand Palais and the long wings of the Louvre beside the Seine.

The 2nd floor has open galleries on all four sides, telescopes and panels, and it is the place to take your photos before the summit line. Is the Eiffel Tower 2nd floor better than the summit? Many say the view here is more detailed; the summit is higher and wider. With the default option you get both, and with the 2nd-floor-only option this is where the visit ends.

The summit at 276 metres

After the guide leaves you on the 2nd floor, holders of the default option join the line for the summit elevators and ride up to 276 metres, the highest public viewpoint in Paris. The summit level is glazed, with panels naming the landmarks, and an open terrace above it lets you feel the wind at the top of the city. From here you see the Seine winding west towards the Bois de Boulogne, the towers of La Défense, Montparnasse to the south and, on clear days, the hills beyond the suburbs.

The digital guide app on your phone continues the commentary up here with interactive maps and tips on what to look for. The best time to visit the Eiffel Tower summit is a clear day, and the afternoon departures in winter let you catch the sunset from the top. In strong wind the summit may close without notice; in that case the tower-only part is refunded.

The 1st floor glass floor and the Champ de Mars

On the way down, step out at the 1st floor, 57 metres up, where a transparent walkway lets you look straight down at the esplanade and exhibition panels explain the construction and the lighting. Children love the glass floor; adults usually take a breath before stepping on. Around it are windows that frame the Champ de Mars and the river, and shaded seating if you want a pause before the final elevator to the ground.

You finish on the Champ de Mars, free for the lawn photo of the tower, a walk across the Pont d'Iéna to the Trocadéro terraces or, if you chose that option, the one-hour Seine cruise from a pier beside the tower, whose ticket is flexible and can be used that evening or another day. Bir-Hakeim metro is ten minutes away for the rest of your day in Paris.