What the rules actually are at both locations, and what they mean for your session
For most professional photoshoots at the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre, you do not need a permit. Both locations are largely accessible to photographers and their clients without paperwork, provided you are shooting in public outdoor spaces and your images are for personal use. The rules become more specific in two situations: shooting on the platforms of the Tower itself, shooting inside the Louvre museum, and using nighttime images of the Tower for commercial purposes. This guide breaks down exactly what applies where, so you can plan your session without surprises.
I am Finzi. I have shot hundreds of sessions across Paris, including at Trocadero, Bir-Hakeim, the Louvre courtyard, and every angle around the Eiffel Tower. The permit question comes up constantly. Here is the honest answer, with the official sources to back it up.
No permit is required to shoot in the public spaces surrounding the Eiffel Tower. The Champ de Mars, Trocadero, Bir-Hakeim bridge, Avenue de Camoëns, Pont d'Iéna, and the banks of the Seine are all public land. A photographer and client working together there, without lighting rigs or a crew of ten or more, require no authorization from anyone.
The Ville de Paris handles permits through its Paris Film office for fiction, advertising, and commercial productions in public city-managed spaces. For an ordinary portrait or couples session with a single photographer and a small group, that process does not apply. The threshold where paperwork enters the picture is large commercial productions with equipment, lighting, and significant crews, not a personal photoshoot.
TipTrocadero, Champ de Mars, Bir-Hakeim, Camoëns: all public, all free to shoot. Show up. No paperwork.
| Package | Price | Duration | Photos | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | €300 | 1 hour | 30 photos | 1 location |
| Signature | €500 | 2 hours | 50 photos | 2 locations |
| Prestige | €800 | 3 hours | 60 photos | 3 locations |
This is where the rules shift, and it is worth knowing clearly. The daytime Tower has no copyright protection. Anyone can photograph it freely. The nighttime illuminations and the famous sparkle effect are a different matter. According to toureiffel.paris, the official Eiffel Tower website operated by SETE (Société d'Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel), "professional use of images of the Eiffel Tower at night require prior authorization and may be subject to a fee."
What this means in practice: a couple photographed at night in front of the sparkling Tower, with images delivered to them for personal use, sits in a different category than images used in advertising campaigns, commercial publications, or revenue-generating contexts. Personal photos and private sharing are explicitly tolerated. Commercial use is what triggers the authorization requirement. If you are booking a personal session, this distinction matters, and any professional photographer working in Paris should know exactly where that line sits.
TipShooting the sparkle for your own gallery is fine. Publishing it in an ad campaign is not. Know which one you are doing.
Shooting on the actual platforms of the Eiffel Tower is a separate question from shooting in the public spaces around it. SETE, the company that runs the Tower, offers a formal film and photo shoot process for productions wanting access to the structure itself. Their site states the Tower "offers a variety of spaces capable of hosting all types of film shoots, under conditions tailored to the production's requirements" with teams supporting location scouting and logistical coordination.
For a standard personal photoshoot, the platforms are accessible to any paying visitor. You can shoot there as a visitor with a camera. What you cannot do is set up professional lighting, reserve sections of the platform, or conduct any kind of coordinated commercial production without going through SETE directly. In twenty years of shooting around the Tower, I have never needed to take a session onto the platforms. The angles outside, especially at dawn from Trocadero and from Bir-Hakeim, are stronger than anything you get from inside the structure.
TipThe best Eiffel Tower photos are taken from public ground, not from inside the Tower.
The glass pyramid and the surrounding Cour Napoléon are among the most photographed spots in Paris. Both are accessible without a ticket. This is the exterior of the museum, not the interior. A personal photoshoot in the Cour Napoléon, with the pyramid and the palace facade as backdrop, requires no permit. The space is public and open to anyone.
The Ville de Paris confirms that it does not issue permits for shoots inside certain major monuments, the Louvre museum being explicitly listed among them. That restriction applies to the interior. Outside, in the courtyard, you are in a public domain space. Come early. The courtyard at sunrise is close to empty, the pyramid catches the first light cleanly, and you have clean architecture in every direction without competing with tour groups.
TipThe Cour Napoléon is free, open, and one of the best architectural backdrops in the city. No ticket, no permit, no queue before 9am.
Personal photography inside the Louvre is generally permitted throughout the permanent collection galleries, without flash and without a tripod. Temporary exhibitions may have stricter rules, sometimes prohibiting photography entirely because of agreements with the institutions that loaned the works. These are the museum's own internal rules and they can change between exhibitions.
Commercial photography inside the Louvre is a different matter. If you are planning a professionally organized shoot inside the galleries, you need to contact the Louvre's press and events department in advance. Walking in with a client and a professional camera without prior authorization is not a workable approach for commercial work. For the kind of personal travel and portrait sessions most visitors are planning, the public areas inside the permanent collection are accessible with a standard entry ticket and no additional paperwork.
TipFlash and tripods are banned throughout the museum. Handheld only. Morning light through the pyramid roof is the best natural light in the building.
For the sessions I run, none of this creates a problem. Every location I shoot, including Trocadero, Bir-Hakeim, the Louvre courtyard, Camoëns, Palais Royal, and the Seine banks, is public space. No permit is required. I know which spots work best at which time of day, and I plan every session around the light, not around bureaucratic constraints. You show up. I handle everything else.
Where it matters is nighttime commercial use of Tower images. For personal gallery delivery, which is what every session I offer produces, this is not an issue. I shoot across 30+ locations in Paris and I work within the rules at every one of them. If you have specific questions about a location you have in mind, contact me directly and I will tell you exactly what is possible. Book at least 2 to 4 weeks in advance, especially between April and October when availability tightens.
TipPick a session. Choose a date. I handle the rest.
Quick answers to the questions visitors ask before they book.
“Finzi made us feel entirely at ease. He didn't pose us; he guided us through real moments. Every photo shows us the way we actually are. Together, laughing, present.”
Pick a session. Choose a date. I handle the rest.
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