Eiffel Tower Paris Tours›Eiffel Tower Guided Tour by Stairs with Optional Summit by LiftUpdated 2026-09-09
Eiffel Tower Guided Tour by Stairs with Optional Summit by Lift
★★★★★ 4.8
(5,782 traveller reviews)
Summit optionalMeets on Rue Buenos-AyresLive guideMax 25
674 steps, two flights, and a guide who stops on the way to tell you what you are standing inside. This is the highest-volume ascent captured for this site and the only one that goes up the way Gustave Eiffel intended. The stair ticket is the cheapest entry the monument sells, and the top floor is a lift ride from the second if you add it at checkout.
Hours, prices and access verified by the Eiffel Tower Paris Tours team — last checked 2026-09-09
Twenty to thirty minutes inside the lattice rather than looking at it through a lift window.
The first floor, unavoidably
A stair ticket routes you through the level almost every lift passenger skips.
A guide for the ascent
Somebody who stops on the way up to explain what you are standing inside, which is what travellers remember afterwards.
The blue kiosks, not the green one
A separate queue from the lift, and usually a shorter one.
Unlimited time afterwards
When the guiding ends you stay on the platforms for as long as you want.
A cap of 25
Small enough that the group climbs together and nobody is left on a landing wondering where everyone went.
Climbing the Eiffel Tower rather than riding it
There are two ways to the second floor and they cost different money for the same
platform. The lift is €23.50 at the official rate; the stairs are €14.80. What the cheaper ticket buys is not a compromise — it is the better
experience, and most people who climb say so afterwards.
The climb is two flights with the first floor between them. The first is steeper and
winds, so you never see far ahead, which is a mercy. The second is straighter. You come
out at 115 metres having spent half an hour inside the structure, which is the part
nobody in a lift gets.
Be clear about what this does not do: it does not skip the security. Nobody does.
Everybody clears the same two checks whatever they are holding, which is the monument's
own rule and is set out on what to expect. What a booked
ticket removes is the ticket desk, and that is the queue that actually catches people
out.
The top is not reachable on foot. The staircase stops at the second floor and the last
161 metres are by lift for everyone, so if 276 metres is where you are going, tick the
summit option when you book. The level-by-level detail is on
the second floor and summit page, and the
comparison in full is with the Eiffel Tower stairs tours.
How the climb runs
Meet. Rue Buenos-Ayres, outside next to the café, fifteen minutes early. The street faces Entrance 1. Look for the blue sign — and do not go to the tower first.
Security. The first of two checks, at the entrance to the site. Allow fifteen to twenty minutes.
The blue kiosk. Your guide takes the group to the stair boarding area rather than the lift queue.
First flight. Up the inside of the pier to the first floor, with stops. This is the steeper half.
The first floor. The natural halfway stop: the glass floor, the outdoor walkway and the history exhibition.
Second flight. Straighter and easier, out onto the second floor at 115 metres.
The top, if you booked it. By lift from the second floor. Tower rules put the summit first, before you explore below.
Your own time. The guiding ends and the platforms are yours for as long as you want them.
Who this suits, and who should book something else
Book this if
You can manage about 674 steps in two flights with a couple of pauses.
You want the cheapest ticket the monument sells and a guide with it.
You would rather see the structure than photograph it.
You are going in the evening, when the stairwell is lit by the same golden system
that lights the outside.
Book something else if
You use a wheelchair or crutches — the stairs and the top are closed to you,
and the lift to the second floor is the route.
You are with a toddler or a non-folding stroller. There is no way to switch to the
lift halfway.
You are short of time. The climb takes thirty to forty-five minutes.
What the fare covers
In the fare
Your Host is there to facilitate your entry, provide you with all the necessary information
Access up to the second floor by stairs
Access to the Eiffel Tower Summit by lift (if option selected)
Panoramic Views: Marvel at sweeping Paris vistas.
Unlimited Time: After the tour, stay as long as you wish.
Not in the fare
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Food and drinks
Skip the line
Where it meets, and why that matters here
Rue Buenos-Ayres, 75007 Paris, outside and next to the café. The street
faces Entrance 1, and the operator's team hold a blue sign. Arrive fifteen minutes before
the start time.
The instruction on this listing is emphatic and worth repeating: do not go
directly to the Eiffel Tower. The group forms on the street and walks in
together, and somebody standing hopefully under the piers has missed it. Every meeting
point is mapped on the map page.
Know before you go
Shoes with grip. The descent is where people find out what their footwear is like.
Nothing you cannot carry. There is no storage anywhere on site, which matters more on the stairs than in a lift.
A layer. The platforms are open to the wind at every level.
The summit can close. High wind or sheer capacity shuts the top, and you get the summit portion of the fare back when it does.
From 29 September 2026, stair tickets need booking ahead. This tour already reserves, so it is unaffected.
Moderate fitness. If you manage a metro staircase without stopping, you will manage this with a pause or two.
What travellers said about the climb
★★★★★
We had planned to give up on the stairs and take the lift. Our guide talked us into carrying on, kept the pace sensible, and we were very glad afterwards. The climb was nowhere near as hard as we had braced for.
Marizel S. · First-time visitors · August 2026
★★★★☆
The stairs are genuinely tough and my wife did not finish them. Worth knowing too that if the wind gets up, or the crowds do, the top can close on the day. The guiding itself was excellent.
James S. · Couple · August 2026
★★★★★
Went on a quiet slot and had the staircase almost to myself for the photographs. Climbing it rather than riding up changes the whole thing — you see the ironwork close enough to touch.
How many steps are there, and can anyone climb them?
About 674 steps take you from the ground to the second floor, in two flights with the first floor in between. Some of the climbing listings ask for a moderate level of fitness, and there is no shame in stopping at the first floor. The stairs do not go to the top: that last stage is by lift for everybody.
Should you book the second floor or the top?
The second floor at 115 metres is where the views of individual monuments are sharpest, and it is where the tower's own pages send you for them. The top at 276 metres is higher, colder and further from the city, and it needs a second queue for a second lift. Book the top if the height itself is the point; book the second floor if the view is.
What happens if the top is closed when you arrive?
The top closes in high wind, in bad weather and sometimes at capacity, and the tower says so plainly. Most operators refund the summit portion of the fare when that happens, and several state it in their own listing. Your second-floor access is unaffected, so the visit still happens.
How long do the security queues take?
Allow 15 to 20 minutes to clear the entry check before you are even beneath the tower, and expect a second check before you enter the pillar. Both are compulsory and neither is skippable, whatever ticket you hold. Your ticket time is the time you must already be in the ticketed queue, not the time you arrive at the gate.
What does the time on your ticket mean?
It is the time you must already be beneath the tower, in the queue for visitors with tickets. It is not the time to arrive at the gate. Allow 15 to 20 minutes on top of it for the entry security, and bring some ID, because each e-ticket is personal and may be checked.
Is there a version of this without the stairs?
Yes. The same second floor is reachable by lift. If you would rather ride up and spend the time at the top, the small-group summit tour goes straight to 276 metres with the top floor in the fare rather than added at checkout.
