Eiffel Tower Stairs

Hi I was thinking of using the stairs to ascend the tower when I go to Paris in September and while im sure its a good workout im more concerned about how open are the stairs? Do you feel really safe or is it more like a %26quot;Don%26#39;t Look Down Experience%26quot;? Im not afraid of heights but am a little unsure about the %26quot;getting up there bit%26quot;

Thanks

|||

Well my son is afraid of heights and we walked from ground level to the first floor just fine. It is open in the sense of being stairs you can see through but you do not feel like you will fall. There is plenty of chain link fencing and other types of supports. Having walked to the first floor, my son was happy to be finished with scouring the Eiffel Tower. It was high enough for him.

BTW, he said the walk up the stairs was one of the highlights of the trip. Go figure! Moms

|||

If you%26#39;re going all the way to the top you%26#39;ll have to take the Elevator from the 2nd Level on up. I%26#39;ve been there twice and taken the Stairs DOWN but not up. You walk so much in Paris anyway...why not save a few steps. Anyway...while it%26#39;s quite stuffy on top and claustrophobic (keep your hand on your wallet) and crowded...there and on the elevators, the stairs are quite airy and not at all scarey or disorienting and offers great views as well. You should walk around the 1st level and descend from a different pillar and there%26#39;s no hurry or rush and they was hardly anyone on them both times I did this, Sept %26#39;05 and Sept %26#39;07 in the late afternoon around 4PM both times.

|||

its definately a dont look down experience. We just got back this week. We planned on going to the top until we saw it in person then we all chickened out. too tall for our tastes

|||

In Paris few weeks ago with my grandson and daughter. We took the lift up to the second floor and walked down. I am over 80 and my grandson 6 we both thought it a great experience to walk down. Plenty of places to stop and look at the views and the construction of the tower itself. Felt completely safe.

Not so sure about walking up unless you are quite fit! Long way up to second floor!

|||

i walked up the stairs, and i%26#39;m afraid of heights... there was no issue. it feels more than safe.

however, my mother, 70 years old, bad back, wonky knees, walked up the stairs with no problem... and she said it was one of the best experiences of her life.

the queue to use the stairs was so short compared to the lift. it%26#39;s not as difficult as people make it out to be.

you don%26#39;t need to be a superfit athelete to complete it.

the stairs aren%26#39;t wobbly, there are hand rails, it feels really safe.

honestly, i think the people who use the lift are missing out on the real experience. the stairs are better.

Yvette

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

TripAdvisor staff has removed this post because it did not meet TripAdvisor's forum guidelines with regards to off-topic chat. Please limit conversations to subject matter directly related to the host forum. For example: when in the London forum, please stick to topics that relate to travel within the London Metropolitan Area.

Off-Topic Chatter is a forum for discussions gone afield from the topic of travel. Please note that the Off-Topic Chatter forum is un-moderated -- the Forum Posting Guidelines are not enforced, with the exception of pornographic images or text, hate speech, unauthorized re-prints of copyrighted text, and messages that promote or encourage illegal activities. Each user is expected to take responsibility for his or her own conduct.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 5:32 am, October 21, 2008


|||

Do the stairs. There%26#39;s no queue, it only costs about 4 euros (the lift is about 12 from memory), you get to see the tower is constructed up close, you get beautiful perspectives of Paris through the %26quot;lace work%26quot; of the structure, and the stairs themselevs are wide, well spaced and feel perfectly safe.

|||

Thanks for that feedback folks, Ive been up it 3 times once during the World Cup in 98 and the queues were amazingly small for such a big event, once with my girlfriend in summer %26#39;05 which i queued an hour and once in winter %26#39;06 which it was so cold there was only us on the elevator, but I don%26#39;t like queuing so you have sold me on the stairs!! Cant Wait

|||

along the same lines, i%26#39;m going to paris in a couple of weeks (on a saturday) and only for the day. i%26#39;ve been loads of times before but am taking a couple of people who have never been before. one of the girls in my company wants to go up the tower, but since we%26#39;re gonna be pushed for time we don%26#39;t want to spend a lot of the afternoon queuing..

..i think the views from the second floor are just as good as the top, am i right in thinking you can only walk up as far as the second floor? can anyone give me any insight into what they reckon the queues might be like for a) the stairs and b) the lift...say maybe around 3pm on a sat afternoon?

i%26#39;ve pretty much got the rest of the itinerary sorted, but this is the one thing that%26#39;s a bit hazy, it%26#39;s been a couple of years since i%26#39;ve been up the tower.

thanks :)

|||

-:- Message from TripAdvisor staff -:-

This topic was inactive for 6 months and has been closed to new posts. We hope you'll join the conversation by posting to an open topic or starting a new one.

To review the TripAdvisor Forums Posting Guidelines, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/forums_posting_guidelines.html

We remove posts that do not follow our posting guidelines, and we reserve the right to remove any post for any reason.

Removed on: 9:21 pm, October 08, 2009