Eiffel tower Paris France is one of the most recognizable buildings, most significant landmarks, and symbols of both Paris and France.
The tower has been named after its designer, Gustave Eiffel, and build originally to act as the main entrance port to the 1889 Exposition Universelle, held at the time in Paris.
PHOTO: The Paris Eiffel Tower as seen from Champ de Mars, the gardens in-between the tower and the École Militaire building. The palace on the picture background is Palais de Chaillot, on the other side of Seine river.
PHOTO: A view up to the Tour Eiffel, from Quai Branly. Using Quai Branly, you can easily walk (alongside Seine) to several nearby attractions, such as Pont Alexandre III, Musee d’Orsay, and the monumental Institut de France building.
PHOTO: To get up to the tower, you can choose either the stairs or an elevator ride up. As you can see from the picture, you may have to wait in line, for both of the alternatives.
PHOTO: Being the tallest building in Paris (at 324 meters), the Eiffel tower can be seen from many parts of the city. The pictured view is from Pont de Bir Hakeim, which crosses Seine. The statue in front is Holger Wederkinch’s artwork “France Renaissante” (“Renaissance of France”), a gift to Paris by the city’s Danish residents, in 1930.
When it was completed (1889), the tower was the tallest building in the world (at 324 meters tall), and remained in that position until 1930, when the New York Chrysler building surpassed it.
Today, Tour Eiffel is the second tallest building in France, after Millau Viaduct, which was completed in 2004.
You can tour the tower in terms of three separate levels…
…with tickets available to the first and second levels via the stairs or the elevator. The third level, however, is only accessible with the elevator.
If you use the stairs, the ascent to the first floor has 300 steps, with the ascent between the first and second levels having the same length.
Both of the lower levels contain a restaurant.
The first floor restaurant, “Altitude 95“, is named for being exactly 95 meters above the sea level.
Restaurant on the second level, “Jules Verne“, on the other hand, is (an expensive) gastronomic restaurant, to which you have to take a separate elevator.
To reach Tour Eiffel, one of the best ways is to use the Paris metro.
Of the nearby stations, the one I most often use is “Bir Hakeim – Grenelle” (Metro line 6).
The statue is one of two Paris copies of the Statue of Liberty in New York, with the other, a smaller one, being located within Luxembourg gardens.