How Many Steps Does the Eiffel Tower Have?

Q: How many steps does the Eiffel Tower have in total?

1,665 steps, from the esplanade at the bottom to the top.

Q: How long does it take to climb to the second floor?

About 30 to 45 minutes, depending on fitness.

In brief

The Eiffel Tower has 1,665 steps from the bottom to the top, but visitors can only climb 674 of them. The stairway above the second floor is closed to the public, so nobody can walk the whole way. Everyone finishes the climb to the top by elevator.

Total steps, bottom to top: 1,665¹.
Steps the public can actually climb: 674¹.
Steps to the first floor: 327¹.
Steps from the first floor to the second floor: 347¹.
The stairway from the second floor to the top is closed to the public¹.
Everyone finishes the climb to the top by elevator, from the second floor¹².

Every number on this page comes directly from the Eiffel Tower’s own official website, and the bracketed numbers link to the exact source at the bottom. For a wider set of checkable Paris facts, see Paris Facts for Kids.

Quick facts

Question	Answer
Total steps, bottom to top	1,665¹
Steps the public can actually climb	674¹
Steps to the first floor	327¹
Steps from the first floor to the second floor	347¹
Can you climb from the second floor to the top?	No — that stairway is closed to the public¹
How you finish the climb to the top	By elevator, from the second floor¹²
How many elevators go from the ground to the second floor	5²

Why two different numbers?

Ask “how many steps does the Eiffel Tower have?” and you’ll get two honest answers, because it depends what you mean. If you mean every step built into the Tower, from the ground all the way up to the top, the answer is 1,665¹. If you mean how many steps a visitor can actually walk up, the answer is much smaller: 674¹.

The gap exists because of where the stairs stop. The Eiffel Tower’s own FAQ explains it plainly: stairs from the bottom of the Tower go up to the second floor, and that stretch adds up to exactly 674 steps. Counting onward from there, there are 1,665 steps in total from the esplanade to the top — but the stairway from the second floor to the top is not open to the public¹. So the extra 991 steps exist inside the Tower’s structure, but no visitor is allowed to use them.

That’s a real difference, not a rounding error: 991 steps, more than the 674 a visitor can actually climb, sit inside the Tower unused by anyone on foot. The Eiffel Tower’s own site does not give a reason for closing that stairway, so this page does not guess at one¹.

How the 674 steps break down

The climbable stairs come in two stretches. The first stretch runs from the esplanade at the very bottom up to the first floor: 327 steps. The second stretch continues from the first floor up to the second floor: 347 more steps. Add them together and you get 674¹.

Climbing that far takes about 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how fit the climber is, according to the Tower’s own website¹.

What happens after the second floor?

If your ticket includes the top, you don’t keep climbing stairs — you switch to an elevator. Two pairs of special elevators, called “duolifts,” carry visitors from the second floor up to the top. There’s no walking option for that last stretch, for anyone, on any ticket¹².

The Tower also runs 5 separate elevators that go from the ground all the way up to the second floor, for any visitor who buys an elevator ticket instead of a stairs ticket². So a visitor going all the way to the top always uses an elevator for at least part of the trip — either for the whole climb, or just for the final stretch above the second floor, after walking the 674 public steps¹².

Visiting with the stairs in mind

Families planning to use the stairs should know the Eiffel Tower’s own advice: it’s best to avoid the stairs with very young children or babies, and there’s no locker room to leave a stroller partway up¹. The stairways are also closed to visitors with reduced mobility¹. Stairs tickets are sold separately from elevator tickets and cost less, since a stairs ticket only needs to cover the climb to the second floor¹. For ticket prices, opening hours and which entrance sells stairs tickets, see the Eiffel Tower visitor guide, and for a full comparison of the two ways up, see Eiffel Tower: Stairs or Elevator?

If you’re using this page for a school report, the number to write down depends on the question you were asked. “How many steps does the Eiffel Tower have?” is 1,665. “How many steps can you climb?” is 674. Both are correct answers to different questions, and both come from the same official page¹.

Is it true you can climb all 1,665 steps?

No. This is a common mix-up, and the Eiffel Tower’s own website is clear about it: only 674 of the 1,665 steps are open to the public, because the stairway above the second floor was closed off¹. If you see a claim online that says a visitor can climb every step to the top, this page does not repeat it — it isn’t what the Tower’s own site says.

Frequently Asked Questions