An empty Eiffel Tower photo at sunrise? Our counts by spot
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An Eiffel Tower photo with nobody in it is possible at sunrise, not guaranteed. Our frame of the Trocadéro side terrace at 06:27 on 28 April 2024, eight minutes before sunrise, shows nobody. On 10 August 2023 the main Trocadéro esplanade had 19 people at 06:22 and 12 at 06:39, with sunrise at 06:36.
Can you get a photo of the tower with nobody in it at sunrise?
Sometimes. We counted the people in six of our own photos taken around sunrise at the Trocadéro and the Pont d’Iéna on two mornings, Thursday 10 August 2023 and Sunday 28 April 2024. On the April morning three frames show nobody, or nobody besides the three people we were photographing. On the August morning our two frames of the main esplanade, which faces the Eiffel Tower, show 19 people at 06:22 and 12 at 06:39. The emptiest frame, the side terrace of the Trocadéro beside the gilded statues of the Palais de Chaillot, shows nobody at 06:27, eight minutes before sunrise. Across the six frames the count runs from none to 19.
That August count is what the photo guides we read leave out. On 22 October 2026 the sunrise guide at kevmrc.com, last updated 30 October 2023, described the Trocadéro as empty at sunrise, and shotkit.com, updated 18 September 2025, named sunrise as the time to avoid the crowd. Neither gives a date or a count. On our clear August morning the esplanade at sunrise held a dozen people.
What we counted: every person visible outdoors in one photo, on one morning, at the minute the camera recorded. On the April morning two frames show three people we were photographing; for those we report that nobody else is in frame. Two mornings cannot separate season, weekday, weather and year, so read each line below as what one frame showed, not as what you will find.
Where and when did we count the fewest people?
| Place | Date | Time of the photo | Sunrise that day | Photo taken | People in frame | Sky in the photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trocadéro side terrace, beside the gilded statues | Sunday 28 April 2024 | 06:27 | 06:35 | 8 minutes before sunrise | 0 | overcast, wet paving |
| Trocadéro esplanade | Sunday 28 April 2024 | 06:36 | 06:35 | 1 minute after sunrise | the 3 people we photographed, nobody else | overcast |
| Pont d’Iéna, on the roadway | Sunday 28 April 2024 | 06:54 | 06:35 | 19 minutes after sunrise | the 3 people we photographed, nobody else | overcast |
| Trocadéro esplanade | Thursday 10 August 2023 | 06:22 | 06:36 | 14 minutes before sunrise | 19 | clear |
| Trocadéro esplanade | Thursday 10 August 2023 | 06:39 | 06:36 | 3 minutes after sunrise | 12 | clear |
| Place de Varsovie, at the foot of the Trocadéro gardens | Thursday 10 August 2023 | 06:43 | 06:36 | 7 minutes after sunrise | 3 on foot, two cars on the road | clear |
Each row is one of our photos, counted at full resolution on 22 October 2026, with the time from the camera’s own record. Sunrise for those two dates is the NOAA solar calculation for the Eiffel Tower; for the same days in 2026 the Paris table at calendriergratuit.fr gives times within a minute of it.
The two mornings differ in everything that moves a crowd: April against August, a Sunday against a Thursday, a gray sky after rain against a clear one. Our photos cannot tell you which of those made the difference.
Which viewpoints did we test, and what did each show?
From the middle of the esplanade the tower stands dead ahead between the two wings of the Palais de Chaillot. The places below are away from the middle of the esplanade. Each line is what our frame showed there, on one morning.
- The Trocadéro side terrace. Our frame looks along a paved walkway between a low stone wall and the Palais de Chaillot, with its gilded statues on the right and the tower ahead. Our one frame from there, at 06:27 on 28 April 2024, eight minutes before sunrise, has nobody in it. It had rained, and the puddle on the paving gave the reflection in the photo at the top of this page.
- The Pont d’Iéna. The bridge crosses the Seine from the foot of the Trocadéro gardens straight to the tower. At 06:54 on 28 April 2024, 19 minutes after sunrise, nobody stood on the roadway in our frame except the three people we were photographing, and one car stood far back by the tower. On 18 September 2024 L’Écho touristique reported the bridge permanently closed to private cars after the Olympic Games, with buses and taxis still allowed across. Our April 2024 frame predates that change.
- Place de Varsovie, at the foot of the Trocadéro gardens. From the square you look over the road and down the Pont d’Iéna to the tower. At 06:43 on 10 August 2023, seven minutes after sunrise and four minutes after our frame of 12 people on the esplanade above, our frame here shows three people on foot and two cars. The city says the square is to become a pedestrian zone (paris.fr, updated 28 May 2025), so the road in the foreground of our 2023 frame is due to change; no date has been given.
Bir-Hakeim bridge, Rue de l’Université, Avenue de Camoens and the Champ de Mars appear on the photo spot lists we read on 22 October 2026; all four are among the 16 spots at roamandthrive.com (updated 8 March 2026). We have no dawn frame from any of them, so we give no count for them.
What time is sunrise in Paris, month by month?
| Date in 2026 | Sunrise in Paris, local time |
|---|---|
| 15 January | 08:38 |
| 15 February | 07:58 |
| 15 March | 07:03 |
| 15 April | 06:59 |
| 15 May | 06:08 |
| 15 June | 05:46 |
| 15 July | 06:03 |
| 15 August | 06:43 |
| 15 September | 07:27 |
| 15 October | 08:11 |
| 15 November | 07:59 |
| 15 December | 08:37 |
Times from the 2026 Paris sunrise table at calendriergratuit.fr, read on 22 October 2026. The clock changes move sunrise by an hour overnight: 06:36 on 28 March, 07:34 on 29 March; 08:24 on 24 October, 07:26 on 25 October.
All six of our counted frames fall between 14 minutes before and 19 minutes after sunrise. We have no count from earlier or later, so that is the window we can speak for, and it is not a promise for any morning. To stand where we stood when we counted, be in place at least 15 minutes before the sunrise time for your date. On both our mornings civil dawn, when the sky starts to lighten, came at 05:59 by the same NOAA calculation, about 36 minutes before sunrise, and our terrace frame at 06:27 was taken in that blue half hour.
Will a sunrise tour get you the empty frame?
Not on its own. Our private sunrise walk starts at the Trocadéro metro exit, but its start times are set by season, not chosen for an empty tower. In the booking calendar on 22 October 2026 the walk starts at 06:30 on the May, late June and early August 2027 dates we checked, at 08:00 in late October and at 08:30 in late December. In late June that is about 45 minutes after sunrise; in late December, about 10 minutes before. We have not counted the Trocadéro at those start times, so we do not sell them as an empty window.
What the walk gives a photo reader is the picture with you in it. It is your group only, up to 8, with a guide who takes the photos, so there is no tripod to set up and no phone to hand to a stranger. From the Trocadéro the walk goes 5 km along the Seine, past the Pont Alexandre III, Place de la Concorde and the Louvre, to the Tuileries, and ends with a sit-down French breakfast on Rue Saint-Honoré. The bike route starts on Rue Cler, begins with the tower and rides 8 km to Notre-Dame. The Montmartre walk stays in Montmartre.
If all you want is the frame, go alone. The Trocadéro, the Pont d’Iéna and Place de Varsovie are free public space with no ticket, and nothing we sell gets you a frame the street does not.
| Route | Meeting point | Price per group, 1 to 2 / 3 to 4 / 5 to 6 / 7 to 8 guests | Start | Duration | Included | Not included | Cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Private Paris sunrise walk | Trocadéro metro exit, 50 Avenue du Président Wilson | €250 / €300 / €350 / €400 | 06:30 to 08:30 by season | about 2.5 hours | private guide, photos taken by your guide, sit-down French breakfast | hotel pickup | free up to 24 hours before, full refund; non-refundable inside 24 hours |
| Private Paris sunrise bike tour | Rue Cler | €300 / €375 / €450 / €525 | 06:30 to 08:30 by season | about 2.5 hours | the same, plus bikes | hotel pickup | free up to 24 hours before, full refund; non-refundable inside 24 hours |
| Private Montmartre sunrise walk | 72 Boulevard Marguerite de Rochechouart, in front of Popeye | €200 / €240 / €280 / €320 | 07:00 to 08:30 by season | about 2.5 hours | private guide, photos taken by your guide, sit-down French breakfast | hotel pickup | free up to 24 hours before, full refund; non-refundable inside 24 hours |
Prices as shown in our booking calendar on 22 October 2026. Up to 8 guests, your group only; from age 6 on foot and 13 by bike; guides speak English, French or Spanish, one language per group. We run rain or shine; in extreme weather we cancel and refund in full. Online booking closes 24 hours before the start; in peak season, book about two weeks ahead.
If you want to be in the photo rather than behind the camera, book the private sunrise walk from the Trocadéro and pick your date: the calendar shows the exact start time for each day. Traveling alone, or more than 8 of you, message us and we set it up directly.
This piece is part of our Paris without crowds hub. For every private tour price side by side, with what each includes, see how much a private Paris tour costs.