Eiffel Tower: 2nd Floor Access by Stairs + Guide
The climb with company: a guided ascent of the Eiffel Tower stairs to the 2nd floor, from $39 (EUR 36) - 674 steps inside the ironwork with a live guide (English or Spanish) narrating the two-hour experience. The cheapest way to get both exercise and commentary on the monument.
What the guided climb includes
- Stairs access to the 2nd floor - the climb ticket upgraded with a guide and hosted entry
- Live guide in English or Spanish for the ~2-hour experience
- The pace of a group climb: stops on the landings, the stories between the steps
- Refundable option at checkout - cancel by 23:59 the day before
Versus a solo stairs ticket you are paying for the guide, the group pacing and the hosted entry. Versus the elevator guided tour (from $42), you save a little and earn the descent through the ironwork.
Is the guided stairs climb for you
| Yes if | No if |
| You want the climb but not alone | Any knee, heart or mobility issue - take the elevator |
| You like the story between the steps | You are on a tight schedule - 2h plus security |
| Elevator tickets are sold out and you want guidance anyway | Summer midday heat - mornings are the sane slots |
The summit is not included by default - check the checkout options if the top matters, or compare routes on stairs vs elevator.
What 674 steps actually feel like
The staircase winds up inside the tower's south pillar and legs - you are climbing through the structure, not beside it, with the ironwork close enough to touch and the city filtering through the lattice. The first stretch to the 1st floor (about 330 steps) is the easy half: the landings break it up, the glass floor is up there to walk over, and everyone is still smiling.
The 1st-to-2nd stretch is where the climb earns its name - another 340-odd steps, steeper-feeling, with the ground dropping visibly through the grid below you. The guide sets the pace: walk, stop on a landing, story, walk again. Most healthy adults finish the whole ascent in 45 minutes to an hour and rate it the best part of the visit. The descent elevator is open to everyone at the top, so the effort is strictly one-way.
Two honest warnings. One: it is a real climb, and the monument itself tells people with knee, heart or mobility problems to take the elevator - believe it. Two: in July and August the midday slots turn the stairwell into a heated can. Book the morning or evening climb and the whole thing is a pleasure.
Stairs tickets - the budget secret of the tower
Here is the thing most visitors never learn: stairs tickets are the last category to sell out and the cheapest way up the monument by a wide margin. They release about 14 days out instead of 60, the queues are shorter because the crowds all queue for the elevator, and the walk itself is the story you will tell at dinner.
The guided version adds the hosted entry and the narration for a few dollars over the bare stairs ticket. If the elevator calendar shows nothing on your date, this is the door that is still open - and arguably the better experience anyway. Check dates, then compare with the stairs vs elevator breakdown if you are still deciding.
Climb logistics - what the day looks like
The climb starts where every tower visit starts: security on the esplanade, then the south pillar, where the stairs entrance sits apart from the elevator lines. The guide meets the group outside the cordon (the voucher pins the spot), walks everyone through the check and the pillar navigation, and the climbing begins from ground level.
Allow roughly two hours for the full experience - the ascent at group pace with story stops, time on the 2nd floor deck, and the elevator down. Then the honest part: you will feel it the next morning, in the good way, and the photos from inside the ironwork on the way up are the ones none of your elevator-riding friends have.