By Rowan Ellis · Updated · Affiliate links, explained in my disclosure
BATEAUX PARISIENS - S.E.V.P.T.E
Seine Cruise departing from the Eiffel Tower Web Rate
4.4 (91,857) · from $20
Choosing a boat tour in Paris mostly comes down to one question: how much time do you want on the Seine, and do you want a meal with it? I compared 12 Paris boat tours, from $19 to $505, and the best ones are not the most expensive. Prices are in US dollars, checked in October 2026, and the booking links are affiliate links, as I explain on my about page.
My pick for a first boat tour in Paris is the one-hour Bateaux Parisiens cruise from the Eiffel Tower at $20: 4.4 from 91,857 reviews, the most reviewed trip in my list, with an audio guide in 14 languages. If I wanted one evening to remember, I’d take the Bateaux Parisiens dinner cruise at $129, rated 4.7. And for a group that wants the river to itself, the Visite Paris En Bateau private cruise at $448 is rated 5.0. If the Seine is all you want, my page on a Paris Seine cruise compares the six cruises that follow the river most closely.
Boat tours in Paris almost all follow the same stretch of river, the part of the Seine between the Eiffel Tower and the island of Île Saint-Louis, which the UNESCO World Heritage listing of the Banks of the Seine recognises. Paris boat tours of this stretch are short: the standard cruises take one hour and return to where they started. The Seine itself is about 777 kilometers long according to Wikipedia, but the part you sail on is only a few kilometers of that.
The best-reviewed one-hour boat tour in Paris is the Bateaux Parisiens cruise from pontoon 3 at Port de la Bourdonnais, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. It costs $20, has 91,857 reviews at 4.4, and the listing says departures run every 30 minutes, with the winter timetable from October to March running from 10:30 AM to 9 PM. It is the Paris boat tour I’d book if you can only see the river once. The other card in this section is for a different kind of buyer: a private 50-minute cruise on a covered electric catamaran from the Quai de la Photo in the 13th arrondissement. It costs $505, includes two bottles of Prosecco and a light meal to share, and has no reviews yet, so I’d treat it as an unproven premium option.
BATEAUX PARISIENS - S.E.V.P.T.E
My pick: My first pick: $20, 1 hour from the foot of the Eiffel Tower, 4.4 from 91,857 reviews, audio guide in 14 languages.
Quai de la Photo
My pick: A private 50 minutes on an electric catamaran for $505, with Prosecco; no reviews yet, and no view of the Eiffel Tower.
Paris boat trips range from a quick look at the monuments to a full evening afloat, and the evening end is where Bateaux Parisiens is strongest. Its 3-course dinner cruise costs $129, takes 2.5 hours and is rated 4.7 from 8,948 reviews, the best rating of any trip with more than 1,000 reviews in my data. You board at Port de la Bourdonnais, pontoon 5 or 7, and check-in ends 15 minutes before departure. A singer performs live on board, and the menu is à la carte, with Champagne and priority seating as optional extras.
Reviewers on the listing talk about the food and the staff, and one calls a dinner cruise a must for a first time in Paris. That matches how I’d use it: a celebration rather than an everyday plan, with the sights going past while you eat. The fixed point to check is the menu you pick, since the price you see is the base ticket and the extras change the total. Anyone who wants a meal but not a $129 ticket should read the Paris en Scène and Bateaux-Mouches dinner boats further down this page.
Night tourBATEAUX PARISIENS - SEINO VISION
My pick: The dinner cruise I'd rank first: $129, 2.5 hours, 4.7 from 8,948 reviews, live singer and a 3-course à la carte meal.
If you want something small on top of the standard Paris boat tour, the Global Tours and Tickets Paris boat cruise adds a crêpe. It costs $23, runs 1 hour and is rated 4.4 from 12,803 reviews. The boat is the same Bateaux Parisiens departure from pontoon 3, with a multilingual audio guide in 14 languages, and the ticket is valid for 1 month. The crêpe is made fresh with Nutella or sugar, and one reviewer notes it was served up the road, facing the Eiffel Tower, rather than on the boat.
So this is a $3 premium over the plain cruise for a snack and a flexible date, which is fair if you like the idea of a crêpe by the tower. The frequency is lower than on the basic ticket: the listing says a boat every 30 minutes from April to September and every 45 minutes from October to March. For a cruise with more depth than a snack, see the Eiffel Tower access package further down.
Global Tours And Tickets
My pick: $23 for the one-hour cruise plus a fresh crêpe by the tower; 4.4 from 12,803 reviews and a ticket valid for a month.
A boat tour in Paris at night is the one I’d choose over the daytime cruise if the weather is dry, because the monuments are lit up and the Eiffel Tower sparkles. The Vedettes de Paris evening cruise is $28, 1 hour, rated 4.4 from 26,102 reviews, on an electric boat with a music playlist and optional champagne, wine or beer. It leaves from 2 Port de Suffren, near the tower, where you look for three large flags in red, white and blue. There is no guide on board, so you download the operator’s app and bring headphones.
One reviewer on the listing writes that it was cold but breathtaking, and another says to book a slot that catches the sunset and the lit tower together. I’d do the same. An hour in the dark on an upper deck can feel colder than you expect, so I’d bring a coat even in the shoulder season. The Bateaux Parisiens illuminations cruise, further down this page, is the same hour at a lower price but with a guide in the headphones.
Night tourVedettes de Paris
My pick: My night pick: $28, 1 hour on an electric boat with music, 4.4 from 26,102 reviews, no guide so bring headphones.
If you are searching for a Paris boat tour near you, the answer for most visitors is the Eiffel Tower. The Bateaux Parisiens pontoon, the Vedettes de Paris dock and the Batobus Tour Eiffel stop are all within about a quarter of a kilometer of it in my place data, and the Bateaux-Mouches pier on the Pont de l’Alma is 1.0 kilometer away in a straight line. That makes the tower the natural place to start, and the tower itself is where one product adds more than a ride.
The Paris’ TRIP package at $89 combines reserved access to the first and second floors of the Eiffel Tower with a Seine cruise, rated 4.6 from 7,755 reviews. It takes 3 hours in total, and the cruise itself is 1 hour, so about two of the three hours are the tower and the meeting. You meet at the operator’s office, 41 Avenue de la Bourdonnais, 5 minutes on foot from the tower, to swap your voucher. Summit access is optional, a guide is included for the tower and time inside is unlimited. Cancellation is the strictest in my list, a 50% refund up to 24 hours ahead.
Paris' TRIP
My pick: Tower and river in one booking: $89, 3 hours with a 1-hour cruise, 4.6 from 7,755 reviews, but only a 50% refund.
Boat tours in Paris cost less than most people expect: the cheapest I found is $19. The Bateaux-Mouches sightseeing cruise is a 1-hour trip from the Pont de l’Alma, rated 4.4 from 6,150 reviews. The ticket has no set date or time, which is rare, and the listing says departures run from 10 AM to 9:30 PM. It has a heated main deck with large windows and an upper deck with a 360-degree view, and free parking is offered for the duration of your cruise.
Here is how the prices stack up across my 12 trips: one-hour cruises are $19 to $28, the Batobus pass is $26, dinner cruises are $73 to $129, the tower package is $89, and the two private boats are $448 and $505. The private boats look expensive, but the $448 listing prices the boat rather than each guest: its text describes a standard boat for 1 to 4 people and a larger one for 1 to 6, so a group of four pays about $112 each. Check the date picker on that listing before you book.
Compagnie des Bateaux Mouches
My pick: The cheapest ticket in my list: $19, 1 hour, 4.4 from 6,150 reviews, with no fixed date or time.
Tickets for a boat tour in Paris come in three flavours: a timed ticket for one boat, an open ticket you can use any day, and a pass for a hop-on hop-off service. Most are timed or open for one hour on the water. The Bateaux Parisiens illuminations cruise is a timed ticket at $20, rated 4.3 from 12,416 reviews, which starts at the Eiffel Tower and runs by day or at night. Commentary comes from an onboard audio guide in 14 languages or from a web app.
The listing says boats leave every 30 minutes, from 10 AM to 10 PM between April and September and from 10:30 AM to 9 PM between October and March. A reviewer says there was quite a line for the evening ride, but that the tower sparkled as they left and as they returned. I’d arrive early for a sunset slot and keep the booking confirmation on my phone. Read the cancellation text before you book: this ticket, like every listing here except the tower package, is refundable in full up to 24 hours before the start.
Night tourBATEAUX PARISIENS - S.E.V.P.T.E
My pick: $20 for a timed one-hour cruise, 4.3 from 12,416 reviews; the version I'd book for the lit-up tower.
People who search for what travellers say about a boat tour in Paris are usually asking whether a dinner boat is worth it. I don’t quote forum posts here, so I use the reviews on the listing instead. The Paris en Scène dinner cruise has 12,381 reviews at 4.3, and the sample reviews praise the food, the service and the views. It is $73 for 105 minutes, with a first course, a main course, a dessert and mineral water, and it leaves from Port de Javel Haut in the 15th arrondissement.
That is cheaper than the $129 Bateaux Parisiens boat, but it is a smaller and less central experience. The ship sails from Javel Haut to Île Saint-Louis, and the listing describes club-style armchairs facing the river and an outdoor terrace. Guests with mobility impairments are listed as not suited, which is the one clear limit. I’d take it if cost matters more than a live singer, and I’d choose the Bateaux Parisiens boat if the music matters.
Night tourParis en scène
My pick: The cheaper dinner option: $73, 105 minutes, 4.3 from 12,381 reviews; not suitable for guests with mobility impairments.
If you are visiting for a day or two, a boat tour in Paris, France does not have to be a single fixed round trip. The Batobus hop-on hop-off pass is a river shuttle with 9 stops: the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d’Orsay, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Notre-Dame, the Jardin des Plantes, the Hôtel de Ville, the Louvre, the Place de la Concorde and Les Invalides. It costs $26 for a 24 or 48-hour pass, is rated 4.4 from 6,612 reviews, and the boats are heated with a terrace.
I like it for people who plan to see two or three of those places anyway, since the river replaces a metro ride. It is less good for someone who wants a single narrated hour, because there is no guide on board and the commentary comes from a web app in French, English, Italian, Spanish and German. The listing shows summer hours only, from 4 June to 19 September 2026, so I would check the winter timetable before you travel. Snacks and drinks are not included.
BATOBUS
My pick: Use the river as transport: $26 for a 24 or 48-hour pass with 9 stops, 4.4 from 6,612 reviews; check the winter hours.
A boat ride in Paris is not always an hour in daylight, and a Paris boat tour can last all evening. The Bateaux-Mouches dinner cruise is the other big restaurant boat, at $128, rated 4.5 from 4,745 reviews. It lasts 2 hours and 15 minutes on the water, in a trip of 2.5 hours in all, with boarding between 7:30 and 8:15 PM, departure at 8:30 PM and return to the dock at 10:45 PM. You eat a 3-course à la carte meal on the Harmonie or Prestige menu, or 4 courses on Excellence.
The Harmonie menu comes with a glass of wine, Prestige with half a bottle of wine and Excellence with half a bottle of wine or Champagne, and vegetarian and vegan dishes are available. The live music repertoire is French and international. One reviewer thought the portions were very small but flavorful, which is the sort of detail I like to know before paying $128. If you want the higher rating of the two Bateaux dinners, the Parisiens boat is ahead at 4.7.
Night tourCompagnie des Bateaux Mouches
My pick: The other big dinner boat: $128, 2.5 hours, 4.5 from 4,745 reviews, with wine included on every menu.
A boat ride in Paris, France, with a skipper of your own is the final way to do it. The Visite Paris En Bateau cruise is private, 1.5 hours long, rated 5.0 from 405 reviews and priced at $448. It starts at Port Javel Haut in the 15th arrondissement, close to the small Statue of Liberty, and passes the Eiffel Tower, the Pont Alexandre III, the Musée d’Orsay, the Louvre, the Pont Neuf and Notre-Dame. The itinerary lists five minutes between each of the stops.
Champagne, a captain, a bottle of water, Bluetooth speakers and hotel pickup and drop-off are included. Food and drinks beyond that are not, but you can bring your own snacks. The listing text gives two boats: a standard one for 1 to 4 people and a larger luxury one for 1 to 6, at a higher price. For a full comparison of the private options, read my guide to a private boat tour in Paris.
Visite Paris En Bateau
My pick: My private pick: $448 for the boat, 1.5 hours, 5.0 from 405 reviews, with Champagne and hotel pickup.
Nearly every route in my data passes the same ten landmarks: the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides, the Musée d’Orsay, the Île de la Cité, Notre-Dame, the Hôtel de Ville, the Louvre, the Place de la Concorde and the Grand Palais. The route map below follows the one-hour Bateaux Parisiens cruise, which starts and ends at the tower.
Stops on the route
The river distances are short. From the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre is 3.2 kilometers in a straight line, from the tower to Notre-Dame is 4.1 kilometers and from the Louvre to Notre-Dame is 1.2 kilometers. Those figures come from the coordinates in my place data and are not sailing distances. For official visitor information, the Paris tourism office is the source I’d start from.
Most Paris boat tours leave from one of two stretches of river. The first is around the Eiffel Tower, on the Left Bank, where Bateaux Parisiens, Vedettes de Paris and Batobus all have a dock. The second is the Pont de l’Alma, on the Right Bank, where Bateaux-Mouches has its pier. The private operators are different: Visite Paris En Bateau and Paris en Scène use Port de Javel Haut in the 15th arrondissement, and the Quai de la Photo is in the 13th. Places with a stop badge are named in a tour itinerary.
Tourist attraction
4.7 · 498,104 Google reviews
Av. Gustave Eiffel, 75007 Paris, France
Boat tour agency
4.3 · 31,641 Google reviews
Port de la Bourdonnais, 75007 Paris, France
Boat tour agency
4.3 · 33,497 Google reviews
Pont de l'Alma, Port de la Conférence, 75008 Paris, France
Boat tour agency
4.3 · 7,090 Google reviews
2 Port de Suffren, 75007 Paris, France
Boat tour agency
4.2 · 2,145 Google reviews
Port de la Bourdonnais, 75007 Paris, France
Tourist attraction
4.7 · 380,307 Google reviews
75001 Paris, France
Tourist attraction
4.8 · 117,918 Google reviews
Esplanade Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 75007 Paris, France
Tourist attraction
4.7 · 102,036 Google reviews
6 Parvis Notre-Dame - Pl. Jean-Paul II, 75004 Paris, France
Boat tour agency
4.4 · 7,207 Google reviews
1 Square du Vert Galant, 75001 Paris, France
Pick the trip type first and the boat second when you plan a boat tour in Paris, because the type decides the price, the length and the crowd. This table is built from the 12 listings in my data, and each type with its own page gets a side-by-side comparison there.
| Trip type | Price from | Typical duration | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seine cruise | $20 | 1 to 3 hours | The classic Eiffel Tower to Notre-Dame stretch, by day or night |
| Private boat tour | $448 | 50 minutes to 1.5 hours | A group that wants its own boat, with Champagne or Prosecco |
| Dinner cruise | $73 | 105 minutes to 2.5 hours | An evening meal with the lit monuments |
| Hop-on hop-off | $26 | 24 or 48 hours | Using the river as transport between 9 stops |
My short answer for a first boat tour in Paris is the $20 Bateaux Parisiens cruise from the Eiffel Tower, because it is the most reviewed and one of the cheapest. Here is how I’d decide, in order:
Before I booked any boat tour in Paris, I’d check three things: the exact pontoon or pier, since the Eiffel Tower and the Pont de l’Alma are 1 kilometer apart, the timetable for the month you travel, which is shorter from October to March, and the cancellation text, which is a full refund up to 24 hours ahead on all but the tower package. Browse the Paris boat tours above, pick one boat tour in Paris and use the booking links to see current availability for your dates.
The 8 most-reviewed boat companies on Google Maps in Paris, with what I found about each. Ratings and reviews are Google's.
Boat tour agency
4.3 · 33,497 Google reviews
5 of the tours I compared · from $19
Boat tour agency
4.3 · 31,641 Google reviews
5 of the tours I compared · from $19
Boat tour agency
4.4 · 7,207 Google reviews
1 of the tours I compared · from $28
Boat tour agency
4.3 · 7,090 Google reviews
1 of the tours I compared · from $28
Restaurant
4.5 · 3,164 Google reviews
Not in my GetYourGuide comparison: book direct
Boat tour agency
4.2 · 2,145 Google reviews
1 of the tours I compared · from $26
Boat tour agency
4.4 · 1,413 Google reviews
1 of the tours I compared · from $26
Boat tour agency
5.0 · 902 Google reviews
Not in my GetYourGuide comparison: book direct
For a first visit I'd book the one-hour Bateaux Parisiens Seine cruise from the foot of the Eiffel Tower: $20, rated 4.4 from 91,857 reviews, with an audio guide in 14 languages. If you want a proper evening, the Bateaux Parisiens dinner cruise is $129 and rated 4.7. For a private group, the Visite Paris En Bateau cruise is $448 and rated 5.0.
It can be, if you want to use the river as transport. The Batobus pass is $26 for 24 or 48 hours and has 9 stops, from the Eiffel Tower to Notre-Dame, the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay, and it is rated 4.4 from 6,612 reviews. For a plain one-hour look at the monuments, a standard Seine cruise at $19 to $20 is cheaper.
On price and rating they are close. The standard one-hour cruises cost $20 with Bateaux Parisiens and $19 with Bateaux-Mouches, both rated 4.4. Bateaux Parisiens leaves from the Eiffel Tower and Bateaux-Mouches from the Pont de l'Alma, about 1 kilometer away. The dinner cruises are $129 and $128, rated 4.7 and 4.5.
I think a Seine cruise is the easiest way to see the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d'Orsay, the Louvre and Notre-Dame in one hour, and the standard cruises cost only $19 to $28. The most reviewed one has 91,857 reviews at 4.4. Eleven of the 12 listings in my data offer a full refund up to 24 hours ahead.
The 12 trips I compared run from $19 for the one-hour Bateaux-Mouches cruise to $505 for a 50-minute private catamaran. One-hour cruises are $19 to $28, the Batobus pass is $26, the dinner cruises are $73 to $129, the Eiffel Tower access plus cruise is $89, and the private cruises are $448 and $505.
I'd start with the one-hour cruise from the Eiffel Tower at $20, or the illuminations version at the same price if you can go after dark. Both pass Les Invalides, the Musée d'Orsay, Notre-Dame, the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde, with an audio guide in 14 languages and snacks and drinks to buy.
On cost per hour the $19 Bateaux-Mouches cruise and the $20 Bateaux Parisiens cruises are hard to beat, with 4.3 to 4.4 ratings from thousands of reviews. For an evening, the $73 Paris en Scène dinner cruise is the cheapest meal on the water, at 105 minutes and rated 4.3.