Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 Exposition Universelle as a temporary structure and was supposed to come down after 20 years. It got a reprieve when Eiffel proved it useful as a radio-transmission mast, and the antennas at the top saved it. Today it's the most-visited paid monument on Earth — about 7 million tickets a year.

Three visitor levels: first floor (57 m, with a glass-floor section that's the newest addition and the best-value photo), second floor (115 m, the classic city view), and the summit (276 m, with Gustave Eiffel's reconstructed private apartment and a champagne bar). You can take the lift the whole way or climb stairs to level two (674 steps, cheaper ticket, no queue on the ground). The summit is only reachable by lift and often closes in strong wind.

Visit strategy matters more here than anywhere else in Paris. Book the first slot of the day (9:30 AM) or the last (around 10:30 PM in summer, with the illumination) to skip 90 minutes of queue. The 20:00–22:00 window in July/August has the best light and the fewest tourists post-dinner. If you just want the classic tower-in-frame photo, the best free spots are the Trocadéro terrace across the river and the Champ de Mars lawn behind it — no ticket required.

The tower sparkles for five minutes at the top of every hour after sunset, from dusk to 1 AM. It's a fully-visible display of 20,000 flash bulbs installed for the millennium; the effect isn't on any postcard from before 2000.