Gustave Eiffel's 330-metre iron lattice tower, built for the 1889 World's Fair and originally intended to be temporary. The most iconic monument in Paris, visited by 7 million people annually. It sparkles every hour on the hour after dark.
Location
Saint-Germain, Paris
Map
Insider Intel
Book summit tickets online weeks in advance if you want to ascend to the top. The second level (115m) offers the best views — the summit is often foggy. Alternatively, skip the ascent entirely and view the tower from Trocadéro or Champ de Mars. The light show (five minutes every hour after dark) is worth catching once.
Early morning or late evening to avoid peak crowds. Sunset from the second level is spectacular but requires advance planning. The tower sparkles for five minutes at the top of every hour after dark until 1am.
Built in 1889 for the Exposition Universelle, the tower was intended to stand for 20 years. It survived because it proved useful as a radio antenna. Parisians initially hated it — the writer Guy de Maupassant supposedly ate lunch at the tower's restaurant daily because it was the one place in Paris where he could not see the tower. Security queues are long; book timed tickets online. The stairs to the second level are a cheaper option if you are fit. The tower's iron structure weighs 10,100 tonnes and expands up to 15cm in summer heat.