Waiting Line for Summit of Eiffel Tower

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This photograph was taken on the second floor of the second platform of the Eiffel Tower (the second platform has two distinct floors). You are about 38 stories above the ground in this photograph, which is halfway up the tower.

The people in this line are waiting to board the elevators that take visitors to the summit of the tower. Special inclined elevators take visitors to the first and second platforms; at that point, people continuing to the summit board relatively conventional (but custom-designed) elevators for the final ascent. In high season (such as when this picture was taken), the lines are long. The wait for the trip to the summit from here was about half an hour when I took this photograph.

You can see the deckplates of the platform and tower in this photograph (in the foreground). There are shops on this platform, also, but they are not visible here. The elevators to the summit (not visible here) are entirely modern, having been installed in 1983 (the original elevators were removed). Visitors board the elevators from a corridor at the center of the tower, then disembark from opposing doors that lead away from the center. There are two pairs of elevators; within each pair, one elevator serves as the counterweight of its partner, so when one is going down, the other is going up. The elevators are equipped with windows and travel in open shafts, so it is possible to see directly out the window to the ground while riding within them. The trip is 100 seconds long (really long seconds, if you are afraid of heights!).

This photograph was taken on a warm Friday in September, in the late afternoon, and the tower was crowded with tourists, despite the weekday and the fact that this was not the absolute peak of the season. There’s a lot of contrast between the surrounding daylight and the interior portions of the tower, so it’s hard to get a really nice photo—sorry about that.

See also my Eiffel Tower FAQ for more information on this landmark.

Photographed on September 3, 1999.