Eiffel Tower Paris

No sight in Paris is more famous than the Eiffel Tower. In 1887 it was built in Paris under the supervision of Gustave Eiffel.

It is located in the 7th arrondissement (district) near the river Seine and has since been the city's landmark. It was built for the Paris International Exposition as a viewing tower for the purpose of the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution. Nowadays, it is also used as a broadcasting tower for French radio and TV stations.

Architecture

The Eiffel Tower has three floors and reaches a height of 324 meters (354yd). On the second floor at the height of 60 meters (66 yards), you find the restaurant “Jules Vernes“. Bear in mind that one needs to book the table weeks in advance due the restaurant's popularity. Every seven years, the Eiffel Tower needs to be painted. In total, there are 25 workers painting the tower manually. At the top, it is usually painted a bit lighter than at the bottom to ensure the coherence of the color. Annually, there are roughly 6 million tourists visiting the Eiffel Tower. The Eiffel Tower is nowadays a symbol for modern engineering and its era. Many towers were modeled on the French original. The probably most famous and much smaller replica can be seen in Las Vegas. Before the construction could be realized, the architects were facing many problems. Many of the initial designs and sketches for the tower could not be realized, as there were severe issues with the statics or the impact of the wind conditions along the Seine.

Visit the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower is accessible via its stairs or elevators taking the visitors, if desired, up the highest platform. On the second floor, one needs to change the elevator in order to get to the top floor. This is why there are different prices charged for admission depending which floor one likes to go to.

One of the few French sights to be totally independent from public funds is, indeed, the Eiffel Tower. This is only possible due to the high admission fees. In total, there are more than 600 people employed to keep the sight running. A separate task force of the police has been instructed to keep the tower safe. 

By bus

The easiest way to get here is by using the bus lines 82, 42, 87 and 69, all of which will stop directly at the Eiffel Tower.

By subway

If you prefer to travel by metro instead, the lines 6 and 9 will take you here. There is no metro station directly located at the Eiffel Tower so you will need to walk a few minutes.

By other means of transport

Alternatively, you can get to the Eiffel Tower by the RER, by boat, by taxi or by bicycle.