Where do you go when the elevator stops at the second level of the Eiffel Tower in Paris?

Answer 1

Once you get off at the second floor, you will immediately see another chaotic spiraling mass of people, very much like the one that you will just have spent the previous hour or two waiting in at the bottom, only condensed into a much smaller area and even more confusing than the one before it. The key to this portion of your adventure is to realize that there are also two lines up here. However, unlike at the bottom, both lines are not going to the same place. The elevator closest to the side of the tower facing the Seine is actually a down elevator. You should only get into this queue if you are trying to descend. This is tricky because the end of the line for people wishing to descend is the first thing you will encounter as you exit the first elevator. Many people get into this line thinking they are queuing up for the second elevator and spend several valuable minutes waiting before they realize they are in the wrong line. If you are going all the way to the top, the set of elevators more toward the center of the tower are actually the ascending elevators. But here is where it gets tricky. The outside queue that wraps around the perimeter of the second floor of the tower is actually the line for the second elevator going to the top. The easiest way to find the end of the queue for the ascending elevators is to turn immediately to your left upon disembarking the first elevator, walk past the queue for the descending elevator and follow the ropes to the outside perimeter of the tower. Depending on how long the line is, you will either be able to make another left into the line at that point or you will be able to turn right and follow the ropes to the end of the line. There are signs intended to make all of this easy, but the amount of confused people wandering around the second level of the tower is a pretty good testament to the confusion rather than clarity caused by the signage. Again, depending on the size of the crowds on a given day, you should plan to spend about thirty minutes to an hour on this part of your adventure. The good news is that you will have plenty of time and opportunity for taking pictures. The views of Paris, even from this height, are amazing. The bad news is that it can be kind of windy and chilly and there are no public restrooms on this floor.