Eiffel Tower Reserved Elevator Access with Seine River Cruise Paris

The Eiffel Tower with a reserved group entry

The Eiffel Tower rose over the Champ de Mars in 1889 as the entrance arch of the World's Fair, 300 metres of puddled iron assembled from 18,000 pieces in little more than two years. Critics called it useless and ugly; within a few years it had become the symbol of Paris, and today its three visitor levels receive around six million people a year. Because so many of them arrive without a ticket, the queues at the base can swallow an afternoon, which is why Eiffel Tower reserved access is worth planning before you travel.

With this product your entry is reserved as a group: you meet the guide at the office on Avenue de la Bourdonnais, walk five minutes to the tower and ride the elevator together to the 2nd floor, where the guide gives a presentation on the construction, the engineering and the life of the monument. After that the tower is yours for as long as you like, including the summit with the default option.

The 2nd floor: the Arc de Triomphe and the Haussmann boulevards

The 2nd floor at 115 metres is where the guide's presentation takes place, and it is the best level for understanding the layout of Paris. From here the wide, straight boulevards cut through the 19th-century city by the prefect who rebuilt it radiate toward the Arc de Triomphe, the golden dome of Les Invalides sits just below you, Sacré-Cœur crowns the Montmartre hill to the north and the Seine curves away toward Notre-Dame and the Île de la Cité. Viewing tables identify every monument and the deck has two levels, so there is always a free spot at the railing.

After the presentation you can stay on the 2nd floor as long as you want, then take the elevator to the summit if your option includes it or go down to the 1st floor, 57 metres up, to stand on the glass floor and see the exhibitions on the tower's history. The visit to the 2nd floor typically takes about an hour including the elevator queues.

The summit of the Eiffel Tower

The default option includes standard elevator access from the 2nd floor to the summit, 276 metres above Paris and the highest public viewpoint in the city. There is a glazed level with panoramic windows and an open platform above it where you feel the wind; on a clear day the view stretches about seventy kilometres, and at night the city becomes a carpet of lights with the Champs-Élysées drawn in a straight line toward La Défense. A reconstruction of the engineer's office at the top shows how visitors were received here in 1889.

Summit ticket holders queue on the 2nd floor for the summit elevators, which can add up to twenty minutes in high season, so allow time. The summit may close in bad weather, for maintenance or for safety; if it does, your visit continues on the lower floors. The 20:45 departure is the one to choose for the summit after dark, when the tower sparkles on the hour.

The Seine River cruise

The one-hour Seine River cruise is the second half of this booking and the easiest way to see the monuments of Paris in a single sweep, because almost all of them were built facing the river. Boats leave from the foot of the Eiffel Tower and follow the Seine east past the Pont Alexandre III, the Grand Palais, the Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre, round the Île de la Cité and the Île Saint-Louis with Notre-Dame Cathedral at the centre, and return along the opposite bank beneath the bridges of Paris. An audio guide app on your own phone explains what you are passing in thirteen languages, including English.

Your cruise ticket is handed to you at the office after the tower visit and is valid for six months, so you can cruise immediately, wait for sunset or come back on another day. Bring a charged smartphone and headphones for the audio guide. The cruise runs in all weather, with covered seating on board.

Avenue de la Bourdonnais and the Champ de Mars

The office where you exchange your voucher is at 41 Avenue de la Bourdonnais, on the quiet edge of the 7th arrondissement five minutes on foot from the tower, between the Champ de Mars and the École Militaire. The Champ de Mars itself, the long park at the base of the tower, was the parade ground of the military academy and the site of the great exhibitions of the 19th century; today it is the best free view of the tower and the place where Parisians sit on the grass in the evening to watch the lights come on.

To get to the meeting point, take the RER C to Champ de Mars Tour Eiffel, metro line 6 to Bir-Hakeim or line 8 to École Militaire, each about ten minutes' walk. Across the Pont d'Iéna the Trocadéro terrace gives the classic photograph of the tower, and it is an easy place to finish the day after the cruise.