Seine Boat Tour in Paris: How the One-Hour Boat Ride Works

Bateau-mouche, vedette, trimaran: what are we talking about

In Paris, everyone talks about "taking a bateau-mouche" or going for a boat ride on the Seine. The word "bateau-mouche" comes from the shipyards of La Mouche, a district of Lyon, whose boats were used at a World's Fair in Paris; over time it became the everyday French word for any sightseeing boat. But Bateaux-Mouches®, with capitals, is also the brand of one company, whose modern history began in 1949 with Jean Bruel, and which boards only at Pont de l'Alma. In English, use the name for that company only; a "vedette" is simply a launch, and that is what the Vedettes de Paris and Vedettes du Pont Neuf boats are called. Several Bateaux Parisiens boats are glazed trimarans.

Whatever the company, the tour works the same way: about an hour nonstop, heading east to the islands, turning around, and coming back along the other arm. You cannot get off on the way. The commentary is either a live guide (French and English), an individual audio guide, or both. The big boats have a glazed, heated lower deck, where you hear the commentary better, and an open upper deck, where you see better. Our tip: ride the way out downstairs to listen, the way back upstairs for photos.

If you want to hop on and off wherever you like, you do not need a boat tour but the Batobus, a shuttle with nine stops.

Sightseeing

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See everything on GetYourGuide →See everything on Tiqets →See everything on Headout →Prices checked on October 17, 2026

The route: what you see from the water

From the Eiffel Tower or Alma, the boat heads upstream first. In order you pass: the Palais de Chaillot and the Palais de Tokyo on the right bank, the Grand and Petit Palais, the dome of Les Invalides framed by Pont Alexandre III, the Assemblée Nationale, the Concorde obelisk, then the Musée d'Orsay on the left bank and the Louvre on the right, the Institut de France, Pont Neuf and the Conciergerie. Then comes Notre-Dame, followed by the Hôtel de Ville and Île Saint-Louis. The boat turns near Pont de Sully or the Institut du Monde Arabe.

Why does the way back not follow the same line? Around the islands, traffic is one-way: the Bras de la Monnaie, on the left-bank side along Notre-Dame, can only be used heading upstream, and the Bras Marie, along Île Saint-Louis, only heading downstream. Depending on the hour, then, you will not always pass on the same side of Notre-Dame.

The Statue of Liberty replica on Île aux Cygnes is not a guaranteed part of a one-hour tour: only some longer cruises go that far. The bank-by-bank detail is on what you see from the Seine.

Where to board a Paris boat tour

Four piers sell the one-hour boat tour all year. At the foot of the Eiffel Tower, on the left bank, there are two, on either side of Pont d'Iéna: Port de la Bourdonnais (pontoon 3) upstream for Bateaux Parisiens, and Port de Suffren downstream for Vedettes de Paris, easy to spot by its three big French flags. Port de la Conférence, at Pont de l'Alma on the right bank, belongs to Bateaux Mouches: metro Alma-Marceau or RER C Pont de l'Alma, and it is the only pier where you can park for free during the cruise. Finally, Square du Vert-Galant, under Pont Neuf at the tip of Île de la Cité, is the Vedettes du Pont Neuf pier: you reach it by a staircase from the bridge.

If you are staying in the Marais, the Latin Quarter or near the Louvre, the Vert-Galant saves you crossing Paris. If you are visiting the Eiffel Tower, both piers there are a few minutes' walk away. From April to September, Bateaux Parisiens also runs a one-hour cruise with a drink (champagne, beer or a soft drink) from Quai de Montebello, opposite Notre-Dame, with four departures between 5 pm and 10 pm.

Addresses, metro stations and wheelchair access are covered in detail on Seine cruise piers.

By day or at night: when to take a Seine boat tour

By day you can read the facades, see the stone and take photos without blur. In the evening you get the lit bridges and the illuminated Eiffel Tower, but you lose the detail. Our favorite: the departure that straddles sunset, so the way out is in golden light and the way back in the dark. The Eiffel Tower sparkles for five minutes at the start of every hour after dark, until at least 11 pm; on some evenings, especially in summer, it carries on later — check the tower's website for the day.

That window moves a lot with the seasons: around 5 pm in December, around 10 pm in June. In August and on summer weekends, the evening departures fill up, while the morning tour is, in our experience, much quieter. The big companies sail all year; in winter, a few days of flooding can suspend departures.

For a boat tour in the evening or at night, read Seine night cruise and Seine sunset cruise; to choose the day and the length, how long and when to go.

Cheap Paris boat tours: prices and discounts

On the companies' own websites, the one-hour boat tour costs €15 online at Pont Neuf, €17 at Bateaux Mouches, €18 at both Bateaux Parisiens and Vedettes de Paris. At the ticket window, expect €17 to €21. Buying online saves €2 to €3 per adult, and Bateaux Parisiens and Bateaux Mouches tickets stay valid for a year, with no date.

Discounts are mostly found at the Vedettes de Paris ticket window: €6 off for students and for 12–30-year-olds holding the French "carte jeune" youth card, €3 off with a Navigo pass, and a free guided cruise on your birthday, with ID. Everywhere, under-4s ride free and kids pay roughly half price.

The "crêpe" or "afternoon snack" variants cost a few euros more. The table below compares the Bateaux Mouches tour on the three platforms.

A Seine boat tour with kids

For a child, a boat ticks every box: it moves, you can go out on deck, and an hour goes by fast. For toddlers, a folding stroller is best: check with the company. Age bands vary: child fare from 4 to 11 at Bateaux Parisiens and Vedettes de Paris, 4 to 12 at Pont Neuf, under 13 at Bateaux Mouches.

Four options are made for them. Bateaux Parisiens runs a cruise with the "Les Incollables®" quiz (booklet in French). Vedettes de Paris organizes a family cruise for ages 6–13, with riddles and a captain's certificate to collect at the shop. Vedettes du Pont Neuf serves an afternoon snack on board. And the platforms sell an amphibious bus tour that, according to the listing, leaves from the Champ-de-Mars and drives into the Seine at Sèvres for about twenty minutes on the water; under-2s are not accepted.

There are toilets on board at Bateaux Parisiens, Vedettes de Paris and Pont Neuf. More advice on Seine cruise with kids.

Self-drive, small boats or the canal

"Can I rent a boat without a license in Paris?" On the Seine, the answer is no. The navigation rules inside Paris exclude small license-free boats, even electric ones. If you want to take the helm, head to the Bassin de la Villette, in the 19th arrondissement: AKWA rents license-free electric boats there, from about €45 an hour for four people, with a €500 deposit and a renter aged 18 or over. You then sail on the basin and the Ourcq canal, not on the Canal Saint-Martin or the Seine.

For a small boat on the Seine, the answer is a private boat with a skipper: a few hundred euros for an hour and a half, shared between up to six or nine people depending on the boat. See private Seine cruise.

And for a boat tour on the Canal Saint-Martin, with its locks and its tunnel under Bastille, one-way cruises of about 2h30 link the Seine to La Villette. See Canal Saint-Martin cruise. Every other option, from dinner to the Batobus, is sorted in the Seine cruise catalog.

Frequently asked questions