Long Lines and Queues, Paris

Somewhere, sometime you are going to stand in a queue. It's almost unavoidable. Our Paris Museum Passes helped immensely but there were a few places with no "fast lanes" for pass holders. The towers at Notre Dame was our longest wait: no fast lane and only so many people can go up at a time. St. Chapelle also didn't have a line just for pass/ticket holders until after the security checkpoint.

So to make the best use of your time, here are a few suggestions:

• The Louvre is notorious for long, long waits IF you pick the wrong entrance. Whatever you do, DON'T get into the line at the large glass pyramid outside unless you can see that the queue is short - which it can be during certain seasons/times of day. Use the Richelieu (pass or ticket holders only - see my Paris Museum Pass tip), Gallerie du Carrousel or Porte des Lions entrances, or order tickets in advance at:

http://www.louvre.fr/llv/pratique/billetterie.jsp?bmLocale=en

• Towers at Notre Dame: Be there before the opening hour on a weekday morning to avoid the longest lines. If that isn't possible, bring something to pass the time; grab a crepe nearby and refuel, do some reading, etc. If there are two or more of you, take turns holding your place.

• Saint-Chapelle: Again, the shortest lines will be early on a (sunny) weekday morning.

• Eiffel Tower: If you want to go up in the thing, it's sheer insanity not to order time-specific tickets in advance:

http://www.tour-eiffel.com/preparing-your-visit/buying-your-tickets

Yes, if you buy it far in advance of the weather report, you do risk your pre-reserved ticket time landing on a rainy day but it beats losing hours of sightseeing. If you don't pre-buy a ticket, arriving early, before the opening hour, or later in the evening can also help.

If you are in Paris long enough and want to see enough of what it offers, I can't overstress the value of the Museum Pass for skipping most ticket lines and cutting down on trips to the ATM.

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Be ready to spend 30-40 min. in line to any Paris sight.
As the weather warms up, so the lines lengthen at the top tourist attractions in Paris.

There is a pass that not only gets you to the front of the line but can also save you money.
The Paris Museum Pass will allow you to visit more than 60 museums and monuments in Paris and the surrounding area, as many times as you like and without having to wait.

La Conciergerie - www.conciergerie.com will express mail The Paris Museum Pass to your home address.
Paris ComboPass® Premium provides 2- to 6-day pass packages, it is the only place you can buy these kind of pass packages.

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Although VT member Nemorino writes: "The company that runs the Eiffel Tower claims to be working on a solution to the queuing problem", I'm not going to hold my breath. Our mom tried to go to the top in 1964 and only got to the second level. In 1976 when I went, it took two hours to get to the top level.

But since 9-11 the whole queuing thing in Paris has gotten ridiculous. Not just the Eiffel Tower, but the Louvre, Versailles, the towers at Notre Dame - a lot of places have queues. Some of these queues are because of scanning procedures put into place after 9-11 but sme of them date from before that. Some places there is away around it (like go in a different Louvre entrance).

For the Eiffel Tower I can see two ways around the lines. If you made a dinner reservation - the restaurant has their own elevator. You wouldn't get all the way to the top, but you'd still get a pretty good view and personally I think it is more interesting to see from a shorter distance above the ground.

And you can apparently now buy tickets on line, which would eliminate the line for the ticket purchase at least.

Before my recent trip to Paris I read so much rubbish about queues I was not intending to go into any tourist attraction. Read the truth here.
Eiffel Tower 5.30pm Monday 4th Feb. Weather was chilly but dry. Queue for stairs ticket (4 Euro) office was approx 4 people. Yes, 4. Queue for actual entrance after buying ticket was, well not even a queue. I just walked slowly in. Stairs were pretty clear and I wasn't caught behind anyone. After the first stage I was able to directly continue up to the 2nd level. Upon arrival I noticed approx 10 people queuing to buy tickets (3.7 Euro) for the top (only lift for this bit). I spent some time looking around the 2nd level before going to buy a ticket for the top. Now it was down to about 5 people (6pm). Once I got the ticket I moved slowly to the lift and was going up within 5 mins. Around 6.30pm I came down with no queue for the lift. Just a 2 min wait for it to come up.
Eiffel Tower 12.30pm Wednesday 6th Feb. Weather clear and sunny. I didn't go up but again the queue for the stairs was virtually non existent. Please note that on both occasions the queue for the lift ticket (11.70 Euros) office was very long. So if you are not fit, handicapped, elderly or plain lazy you will have to wait.
Notre Dame 10.30am Tuesday 5th Feb. Free entry and no queues to cathedral. longish queue for roof area though I think these were for guided tours.
Grand Arch- La defence 2pm Tuesday 5th Feb. No queue, straight into lift and to roof (9 Euro approx).
Montpasse 1pm 6th Feb. No queue. (9.50 Euro)
Arch De Triumph. 3.30pm 5th Feb. No queue (approx 8 Euro)
Just to add, these areas were not full of beggars or people hassling you. I think in total 2 women approached me by the Eiffel tower for money but that was about it.
Remember this was during the week in February and I have no idea what it's like other times of year.

Paris has many fantastic churchs, galleries and monuments to visit. As a consequence they are very popular with vast numbers of people wanting to get in. This is especially so during the Summer months.

Many of the people going to these places are travelling with tour groups and therefore get to the places of interest from 10am and onwards. Queues can stretch for some unbelieveable distances in the busy season so to avoid being disappointed GET THERE EARLY!!

A good example is the Eiffel Tower which is very very quiet earlier in the day but an ocean of people by 11am through until late.

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The ONLY way to save time when visiting the Eiffel Tower is to get there before it opens at 9AM daily, year round. At 9AM in season there are only about 100 people in line (about 3 elevator cars full ). Be sure you get in the line that fulfills your desire: walk-up, lower level. upper (they are separate). Off season at 10AM the line is about 300 (1/2 hr wait). This is only the first delay if you are going to the top. The second car from the 1st level will have a growing line and there will be the two waits going down. At best if you are to take in the views, figure on 2 hours and add 2 hour for each hour later than 9 for arrival. Our comments for alternate Paris Views isin our Eiffel Tour Tips of 11/19/06.

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Doesn't matter which "leg" you want to go up, there is always a very long queue. If your queue is moving faster, you might be on a "stairs only" queue. There are two with lifts, and two for stairs only. Choose carefull because you might be in the wrong one!

Louis 14th would have no doubt turn in his grave (can you do that if you are beheaded ?) at the millions of peasants who now trapse through his house every day to gawp at the opulance of his gaff.

Even with it piddling with rain, the queues were about 90 minutes long to gain entry when we visited on a Sunday in May.

Talking to one of the attendants, the best bet is to visit in Jan /Feb or August (no French then, you see). If you can't manage that, then consider spending the night before your visit at a hotel in the town of Versailles, or at least get to the palace bang-on opening time.

That way you might just be able to see the place without the world and it's father, sister, daughter, uncle, nanny and cleaner seeing it with you.