The Eiffel Tower photographed from the Montparnasse Tower observation deck with Paris spread out below

How to Get Montparnasse Tower Tickets

Tour Montparnasse rising above the Paris skyline seen from street level

The one building in Paris that every Parisian loves to hate. Also the one building that gives you the best view of everything else.
The Eiffel Tower photographed from the Montparnasse Tower observation deck with Paris spread out below
This is it. The shot everyone comes for. The Eiffel Tower framed against the Paris skyline, taken from the only rooftop where you can see it properly.
Aerial view of Paris with Montparnasse Tower standing tall above the surrounding rooftops
From 210 meters up, Paris stops being a city and starts being a scale model. You can trace every boulevard Baron Haussmann carved through the old medieval streets.
There is an old joke in Paris: Tour Montparnasse has the best view in the city because it is the only place you cannot see Tour Montparnasse. Like most good jokes, it is mostly true.

The elevator takes 38 seconds to reach the 56th floor. That is barely enough time to register what is happening before the doors open and suddenly all of Paris is laid out in front of you — the Eiffel Tower dead ahead, the Seine curving through the middle of everything, Sacre-Coeur sitting on its hill up in Montmartre. Every other observation deck in Paris makes you look at the city minus its most famous landmark. This is the one that includes it.

And yet Montparnasse Tower remains weirdly under the radar. Most visitors head straight for the Eiffel Tower summit or the Arc de Triomphe rooftop without realizing that the best panoramic view in Paris is inside the building Parisians pretend does not exist.

Looking up at the Montparnasse Tower from its base as it rises into the sky

Stand at the base and look up. Fifty-nine floors of concrete and glass that Paris never wanted but travelers absolutely love.

In a Hurry? Our Top 3 Picks

Best overall: Montparnasse Tower Observation Deck Entry Ticket — $22. The standard ticket that gets you to the 56th floor indoor deck and the 59th floor open-air terrace. Simple, affordable, and all you really need.

Best for context: Montparnasse Tower Guided Tour — $47. A two-hour walking tour through the Montparnasse neighborhood that finishes with the observation deck. You actually learn the stories behind what you are looking at from the top.

Budget alternative: Top of the City Observation Deck Entry — $23. Similar deck access through a different operator, sometimes with better last-minute availability.

Contents

How Montparnasse Tower Tickets Work

Close view of Tour Montparnasse surrounded by classic Parisian buildings

Love it or hate it, the tower is hard to ignore. Built in 1973, it sparked an outcry so fierce that Paris banned skyscrapers for the next fifty years.
The ticketing system for Montparnasse Tower is refreshingly simple compared to the bureaucratic nightmare of getting Eiffel Tower access. There is one ticket type for the observation deck. It gets you into both levels — the indoor 56th floor and the open-air 59th floor terrace. No complicated tier system, no summit upgrades, no stair-versus-elevator decisions.

Official tickets are sold through the tower’s own website at tourmontparnasse56.com. Standard adult admission runs about 20 euros. There are reduced rates for ages 12-18 and children 4-11, and kids under 4 get in free. You pick a date and a time slot, though in practice the time slots are more like suggested windows — they do not turn people away for being 20 minutes late.

Third-party tickets through platforms like GetYourGuide and Viator cost a couple euros more but come with free cancellation policies that the official site does not always offer. If your travel dates are flexible or you are the type who changes plans, the small markup is worth the insurance.

Unlike the Eiffel Tower, Montparnasse rarely sells out completely. Even in peak July and August, you can usually grab same-day tickets. The exception is sunset time slots on weekends during summer — those do fill up, and if you want one, book a few days ahead.

Skip-the-line is mostly marketing here. The regular queue at Montparnasse is nothing like what you face at the Eiffel Tower or the Louvre. Even on busy days, the wait is usually 10 to 15 minutes. You are paying for the view, not for queue-skipping.

The Best Montparnasse Tower Tickets and Tours

Stunning aerial view of Paris showing the Seine River and famous landmarks across the city

On a clear day you can see Sacre-Coeur, the Louvre, Notre-Dame, and the La Defense towers all from one spot. No other observation deck in Paris comes close.
I went through every Montparnasse Tower experience available on the major booking platforms. For an attraction this straightforward, you do not need eight options. There are really just three worth considering, and the right one depends on whether you want the bare-bones deck visit or something with more substance.

1. Montparnasse Tower Observation Deck Entry Ticket — $22

Montparnasse Tower Observation Deck Entry Ticket
The standard ticket and honestly the only one most visitors need. Thirty-eight seconds in the elevator, then Paris at your feet.

This is the one to get if you just want to go up, see the view, take your photos, and leave. At $22 per person it is one of the cheapest observation deck tickets in any major European city — roughly half what you would pay for the Eiffel Tower summit. The ticket covers both the 56th floor indoor observation area and the 59th floor open-air terrace, and there is no time limit once you are up there.

The 56th floor is where you will spend most of your time. Floor-to-ceiling windows with printed decals showing you exactly which landmarks you are looking at in each direction. The glass is kept clean enough that phone photos come out sharp — something I cannot say for every observation deck I have visited. Then three flights of stairs up to the terrace for the open-air 360-degree panorama. On the Montparnasse Tower Observation Deck entry page, visitors consistently call it one of the most underrated experiences in Paris.

Read our full review | Book this ticket

2. Montparnasse Tower Guided Tour — $47

Paris Montparnasse Tower Guided Tour with Best View of the City
Two hours with someone who actually knows which building is which. Worth it if you want to understand what you are looking at from the top.

This is a two-hour experience that starts on the ground with a walking tour through the Montparnasse neighborhood before finishing at the observation deck. The guide covers the history of the tower itself — including why Parisians loathe it so much — the old Montparnasse artist quarter where Hemingway and Picasso used to drink, and the stories behind the landmarks you will see from the top.

At $47 per person, it is double the price of the standard ticket. But you are getting a proper guided experience of the neighborhood plus the deck access. If you are the kind of traveler who wants context rather than just a photo op, this is the better option. The guided tour review goes into more detail about what the walking portion covers.

Read our full review | Book this tour

3. Top of the City Observation Deck Entry — $23

Paris Montparnasse Top of the City Observation Deck Entry Ticket
Same tower, same views, different booking channel. Useful when the main ticket is sold out for your preferred time slot.

This is essentially the same observation deck visit as option one, sold through Viator instead of GetYourGuide. The price is nearly identical at $23 per person, and you get the same access to both the 56th floor and the 59th floor terrace. The main reason to know about this option is availability — when the GetYourGuide listing shows sold out for a particular date, this one through Viator sometimes still has slots open, and vice versa.

The experience itself allows one to two hours, though most people spend about 45 minutes to an hour up top. That is plenty of time to do a full circuit on both levels, take your photos, and soak it in without feeling rushed. Check the Top of the City entry listing for current availability on your dates.

Read our full review | Book this ticket

When to Visit Montparnasse Tower

A panoramic view of the Paris cityscape at sunset with warm golden light across the rooftops

This is the reason everyone tells you to book the late afternoon slot. When the sun drops low enough, the whole city turns copper and gold.
Timing your visit to Montparnasse Tower is less about avoiding crowds and more about chasing the light. The tower is open daily from 9:30am to 11:30pm (last entry at 10:30pm), with slightly shorter hours in winter.

Sunset is the move. And I do not say that lightly, because “go at sunset” has become one of those travel cliches that is rarely worth the effort. Here it genuinely is. Arrive about 90 minutes before the sun goes down and you get three distinct experiences in one visit: the city in full daylight, the golden hour when every zinc rooftop in Paris turns warm amber, and then the city lights switching on as darkness falls. The Eiffel Tower sparkles on the hour after dark — watching that from 210 meters away with nothing blocking your view is one of those moments you do not forget.

A moody sunset over Paris featuring the Eiffel Tower silhouette against golden clouds

Sunset from the open-air terrace on the 59th floor is a different experience entirely. Bring a jacket — the wind up here is no joke.
Morning visits (9:30-10:30am) are the best for photography if you want clean, sharp shots without lens flare. The light comes from the east, so the Eiffel Tower side of the view is beautifully front-lit. You will also have the deck mostly to yourself — most travelers are at breakfast or heading to the bigger-name attractions first.

Midday (12pm-3pm) is fine but not ideal. The light is flat and harsh, which makes photos look washed out. The 59th floor terrace gets hot in summer with no shade. And this is when school groups tend to show up.

Night visits are underrated. The city looks completely different after dark, and the 56th floor glass windows become a natural frame for the lit-up skyline. The Eiffel Tower light show is visible every hour on the hour for five minutes, and from Montparnasse you see it in full without the neck-craning you would do from the ground.

Night aerial view of Paris showing the illuminated Eiffel Tower and city lights

After dark, the Eiffel Tower lights up and the city becomes a grid of golden streetlights. Thursday and Saturday nights tend to be less crowded for evening visits.
Best months: April through June and September through October. Summer is warm but packed. Winter is cold on the terrace but the shorter days mean you can catch sunset at a reasonable hour without staying out late.

How to Get There

Paris city street with the Montparnasse Tower visible in the background among classic Haussmann buildings

Getting there is straightforward. Metro line 4, 6, 12, or 13 to Montparnasse-Bienvenue. Follow the signs or just look up — you cannot miss it.
Tour Montparnasse sits at the intersection of four Metro lines, which makes it one of the most accessible landmarks in Paris.

Metro: Montparnasse-Bienvenue station serves lines 4, 6, 12, and 13. Exit toward “Rue de l’Arrivee” and the tower entrance is right there. The walk from the Metro exit to the ticket counter takes about two minutes.

From the Eiffel Tower: Take Metro line 6 from Bir-Hakeim directly to Montparnasse-Bienvenue. About 10 minutes. Or walk it in 25-30 minutes through the 15th arrondissement, which is a pleasant route along Boulevard de Grenelle.

From Notre-Dame / Latin Quarter: Line 4 from Saint-Michel to Montparnasse-Bienvenue. Five stops, about 12 minutes door to door.

From the Louvre: Line 12 from Assemblee Nationale or walk south across the Seine and through Saint-Germain. The walk takes about 30 minutes and passes through some of the best cafe-watching streets in Paris.

The entrance to the observation deck is on Rue de l’Arrivee, on the north side of the tower. Look for the “Top of Paris” signage at street level.

Tips That Actually Matter

Aerial shot of the Champ de Mars gardens leading to the Eiffel Tower seen from Montparnasse Tower

The Champ de Mars stretches out like a green runway leading straight to the Eiffel Tower. This perspective only exists from one place in Paris.
Bring a jacket for the 59th floor. Even on a warm summer day, the open-air terrace at 210 meters catches serious wind. I have seen people in July up there with their arms crossed, shivering, cutting their visit short because they did not plan for it.

The 56th floor is the better photo spot. Counterintuitive, but the clean glass windows on 56 give you sharper, more stable shots than the wind-buffeted 59th floor. If you are shooting with a phone, press it gently against the glass for stability.

The floor decals are brilliant. On the 56th floor, printed diagrams on the floor show you exactly what building you are looking at in each direction. They include distances and names, which is incredibly helpful when you are trying to figure out whether that distant dome is the Pantheon or Les Invalides.

Do not eat at the top. There is a small bar/cafe area, but the prices are steep and the options are forgettable. Montparnasse is one of the best neighborhoods in Paris for food — the Rue de la Gaite has excellent restaurants, and the Breton crepe places along Rue du Montparnasse are legendary. Eat before or after.

Combine it with the Catacombs. The Paris Catacombs entrance is a 10-minute walk from the tower at Place Denfert-Rochereau. Tower in the late afternoon for sunset, then Catacombs the next morning (book those tickets well in advance — they do sell out).

Rain is not a dealbreaker. The 56th floor is fully enclosed with clean windows. You lose the open-air terrace experience, but the views through glass are still excellent. Rainy day Paris from above has its own moody appeal, and you will have the place almost to yourself.

Aerial shot of the Paris skyline with the Montparnasse Tower prominent against the sky

Sixty years after its construction, Montparnasse Tower remains the tallest building in central Paris. The city made sure of that.

What You Will See from the Top

Aerial view of the Eiffel Tower at sunset with the Paris skyline stretching to the horizon

The Eiffel Tower at golden hour from the only rooftop in Paris where you can actually see it. That is the whole point of coming here.
The observation deck gives you a genuine 360-degree view of Paris, and because the city is relatively flat with strict building height limits, you can see an absurd distance in every direction.

North: The Eiffel Tower dominates the view, with the Champ de Mars garden stretching out below it. Beyond that, the Arc de Triomphe sits at the far end of the Champs-Elysees axis. On clear days you can make out the towers of La Defense, the business district, about 10 kilometers away.

East: The Jardin du Luxembourg and the dome of the Pantheon. Further out, Notre-Dame and its ongoing restoration. The towers of the 13th arrondissement provide the only real competition to Montparnasse in terms of height.

North-Northeast: Sacre-Coeur perched on the Montmartre hilltop. It looks tiny from here, which gives you a real sense of just how far away that neighborhood is — and how impressive it is that you can see it at all.

South: The least photogenic direction, but still interesting. The sprawl of southern Paris suburbs stretching toward the horizon. On exceptionally clear days, people claim you can see the edge of the forest at Fontainebleau, about 55 kilometers away.

The Eiffel Tower silhouetted against a pastel pink and orange sunset sky

Some evenings the sky does things you would not believe. And from up on the 59th floor, there is nothing between you and the show.
Aerial view of Paris at sunset with golden light illuminating the cityscape rooftops
The golden hour from up here lasts about forty-five minutes. If you time your visit to arrive ninety minutes before sunset, you get daylight views, golden hour, and the city lights coming on.

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A Paris street with cafes and pedestrians with the Montparnasse Tower visible in the background

The tower sticks out from almost every angle in the 15th arrondissement. Follow it like a compass and you will find the entrance on Rue de l’Arrivee.
If you are working your way through the major Paris observation points, you will probably want to hit the Eiffel Tower as well — just know that tickets there require a lot more planning and the queues are in a different league entirely. The Arc de Triomphe rooftop is the third option and arguably the best value at around 16 euros, though the views are more focused on the Champs-Elysees axis than the full 360-degree panorama you get here. Between the three, Montparnasse gives you the most complete view of Paris for the least effort and money. That is not a bad combination.

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Montparnasse Tower gives you the best panoramic view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and from there the city spreads out in every direction. The Catacombs are a twenty-minute walk south and take you underground for a perspective that could not be more different from the observation deck. Heading north, the Musee d’Orsay is reachable in about twenty minutes on foot and houses the finest Impressionist collection in the world. For a different vantage point entirely, the Arc de Triomphe rooftop at the other end of the city gives you the Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower in the same frame. And a Seine river cruise from below the Eiffel Tower shows you all these landmarks from the water.

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