Disappointing photos show what it was really like to visit the Eiffel Tower, and it's not as romantic as you might think

After I took my first solo train journey from London to Paris for work in November 2022, I spent a day visiting the Eiffel Tower.

The Eiffel Tower has been one of Paris' most iconic landmarks since it was built in the 1880s by engineer Gustave Eiffel.

Source: Tour Eiffel official website

Thanks to social media and TV shows like "Emily in Paris," I expected the Eiffel Tower to encapsulate Parisian beauty and spellbinding romanticism.

Whenever I saw the Eiffel Tower from a distance as I walked around Paris, I was impressed by the feat of architecture, and I thought it was sweet that so many people had come to see it with their loved ones.

But closer to the towering landmark, I was disappointed by the sheer number of tourists blocking each other's view and the kitschy consumerism of the area.

My disappointment began when I got to my hotel. I'd purposefully booked it to be close to the Eiffel Tower ...

... but the area around the landmark was so built up that my view consisted of the subway and a supermarket.

On the bright side, my hotel was only a 15-minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. But the closer I got to the famous landmark, the less romantic it felt.

When I researched the gardens bordering the Eiffel Tower on TripAdvisor a few months before visiting, I saw photos of people relaxing and picnicking on the grass.

Source: TripAdvisor

But I had missed the part where travelers said the gardens are closed in the colder months, and steel fences blocked the area from the public when I visited.

Source: Paris Journey

There were also signs around the park telling the public not to drop food that could attract rats, which felt a little off-putting to me.

As I got closer to the Eiffel Tower, I saw a long line of tour buses stretched across the street. It felt like an omen of what was to come.

The closer I got, the more my view was obstructed by other tourists and the steel fences that herd visitors toward the landmark.

When I arrived, I was acutely aware that I was one of several thousand tourists who visit the landmark daily — 20,000, it turns out. Many visitors wore berets, which felt more touristy than authentically French to me.

Source: Paris Tourist Office via Euro News

I chuckled to myself when I saw multiple street vendors standing outside the Eiffel Tower selling the traditional French style of hat to tourists.

But it wasn't just other tourists that burst my bubble of romanticism. The tower itself was under construction, and the scaffolding wasn't pretty.

I was also disappointed when I saw the long line of people waiting to go up the Eiffel Tower and opted out of the experience, which also saved me somewhere between $11 and $28.

Source: Tour Eiffel ticket website

When I walked over to the other side of the Eiffel Tower, I saw that it was similarly crowded with people taking photos of the famous landmark.

I thought it was a shame that so many people were looking at the landmark through the lenses of their phones — of which I'm also guilty — rather than experiencing the incredible piece of architecture in reality.

But I was surprised that the further I got from the Eiffel Tower, the more beautiful it appeared. I couldn't see the crowds of tourists or scaffolding and steel barriers anymore.

That's when I discovered, just a few minutes' walk away, that the Debilly footbridge, where thousands of love locks are hung, also provided sweeping views of the Eiffel Tower and the Seine river.

The Eiffel Tower may be a global symbol of romance, but these little locks were proof people in love had come to Paris.

While my visit to the Eiffel Tower was a good lesson in managing expectations, finding the Debilly footbridge taught me that sometimes the best parts of a trip aren't the things you plan.