After 10 years it was almost torn down, until someone discovered it made a great aerial for that new fangled radio thing, and so it was spared the wrecker's blowtorch. Until 1930, it was the world's tallest man-made structure at 320 metres, built of 7000 tonnes of iron and held together with 2.5 million rivets. Three levels are open to the public, and a disconcertingly curved lift follows the angle of legs. It will cost you from 20 francs to first level to 57 francs for third, which is 276 metres above ground. It can be scary for those not too keen on heights, particularly when you think Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was a railway engineer whose skills normally involved laying things flat on the ground.
Horrendous queues form at peaks.
Organised tours often have entry booked for certain times and go straight in. Uluru, Northern Territory Renamed in 1985, when it became the country's first Aboriginal national park, Uluru remains Ayers Rock to most of the rest of the world. It is 340 metres high and climbing is the challenge, although this is discouraged because it is disrespectful to the Aboriginal community for whom the rock has special significance. It's also dangerous in the wet, when windy, or too hot, and in the mornings it can be freezing. But there's plenty to see around its base as well as charming changes of color at sunrise and sunset.