Canal Saint-Martin Cruise: Locks, the Tunnel and the Seine

On the Seine, a sightseeing boat glides along on the level between the monuments. On the Canal Saint-Martin, it climbs: a rise of 25 meters over a few kilometers, lock gates closing behind you, a swing bridge that stops the street traffic to let you through, and a long tunnel under the Bastille. It is the slowest boat trip in Paris, and that is the point. This page compares the two companies, Paris Canal and Canauxrama, their departure points, times and prices, explains what happens in the locks, then covers the trips that combine the canal and the Seine and the license-free electric boats you can rent at the Bassin de la Villette. Every other kind of trip on the water is in our Seine river cruises overview.

Canal

GetYourGuide2.5 hoursOrsay · Solférino

Paris: Cruise on the Saint-Martin Canal and Seine River

4.3 (2,505)

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Canal

GetYourGuide2.5 hours

Unique Cruise on the Canal Saint-Martin and the Seine River

5.0 (1)

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A 4.55 km canal between La Villette and the Seine

The Canal Saint-Martin was ordered by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 to bring drinking water from the Ourcq river into Paris, and opened in 1825. It runs 4.55 km (just under 3 miles) and links the Bassin de la Villette, in the northeast, to the Port de l'Arsenal, which opens onto the Seine just upstream of the Île Saint-Louis. The canal belongs to the City of Paris, not to the Seine port authority.

The 25-meter difference in level is handled by four double locks (nine chambers in all, which is why brochures give different numbers): from south to north, the Temple, Récollets, Morts and Jaurès locks. Two swing bridges, on rue Dieu and rue de la Grange-aux-Belles, pivot out of the way as boats pass; farther north, on the Canal de l'Ourcq, the Crimée lift bridge rises.

From boulevard Jules-Ferry to the Bastille the canal disappears: it runs through a tunnel of about 2 km, vaulted over under boulevard Richard-Lenoir and then under the Place de la Bastille, lit by skylights. You can only see it from a boat. The canal is drained from time to time to clean it and service the locks; the last full draining ran from January to April 2016, and canal cruises stop while it is empty. No date has been announced for the next one.

Paris Canal: from the Musée d'Orsay to the Parc de la Villette

Paris Canal offers the most complete version, because it starts on the Seine. The boat leaves from the Port de Solférino, at the foot of the Musée d'Orsay (no. 12, quai Anatole-France; Métro Solférino, RER C Musée d'Orsay), heads up the river past the Tuileries, the Louvre, the Île de la Cité, Notre-Dame and the Île Saint-Louis, enters the Arsenal basin, slips into the tunnel, works through the locks and swing bridges, crosses the Bassin de la Villette and ends at the Parc de la Villette (211 avenue Jean-Jaurès, Métro Porte de Pantin), behind the My Boat restaurant. There is also a stop on the Bassin de la Villette, at 19/21 quai de la Loire.

The departures the company lists: 10 am from Orsay to La Villette, 2:30 pm from La Villette to Orsay, 3 pm from Orsay to La Villette. The cruise lasts 2h30, with commentary in French and English. On the company's website an adult ticket is €25, €22 for over-60s and 15–25s, €17 for children aged 4 to 14, free under 4, with a family discount for two adults and two children.

The boats have a covered section and an open deck, and toilets on board. Pets are not allowed, and boarding involves steps, which makes access difficult for travelers with reduced mobility. The company does not publish season dates: the booking calendar is what counts.

Canal

GetYourGuide2.5 hoursOrsay · Solférino

Paris: Cruise on the Saint-Martin Canal and Seine River

4.3 (2,505)

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Canal

GetYourGuide2 hoursLa Villette

Paris: Cruise from The Canal Saint Martin to The Seine River

4.5 (1,200)

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Canal

GetYourGuide1 hourOrsay · Solférino

Paris Canal St-Martin Sightseeing Cruise (Live Commentary)

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Canauxrama: from the Bastille to the Bassin de la Villette

Canauxrama, the sister company of Vedettes du Pont Neuf, runs the canal from the Port de l'Arsenal. Its "Old Paris" cruise lasts 2h30 and costs from about €23 on the company's website. It links the Port de l'Arsenal (pedestrian access opposite 50 boulevard de la Bastille; Métro Bastille, lines 1, 5 and 8) with the Bassin de la Villette (opposite 13 quai de la Loire; Métro Jaurès or Stalingrad), in one direction or the other depending on the date: check the departure point on your ticket, because that is the most common mistake. Live commentary in French and English, with a bar and toilets on board.

If you are short on time, the 1h15 express (around €18, a little more on the electric boat) leaves from the Arsenal, goes through the Bastille tunnel, two double locks and both swing bridges, and stops at the Square Raoul-Follereau, opposite 131 quai de Valmy, near the Gare de l'Est. You see the heart of the canal without the full climb to La Villette.

Canauxrama only shows its times in its booking calendar, which changes with the season and the day. So we do not reproduce them here: look at the listing when you book. A separate child fare is not published.

Canal

GetYourGuide2.5 hoursArsenal · Bastille

Paris: Seine River and Canal Saint-Martin Cruise

4.3 (1,600)

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Locks and tunnel: what happens during the 2h30

The trip is slow by design, and it is worth knowing that before you board with impatient children. At each lock, the boat moves into the chamber, the gates close behind it, the water rises or falls, then the gates on the far side open. With nine chambers, the sequence repeats nine times. From the open deck you watch the chamber walls slide past and the lock keepers at work; it is the best spot, unless it is raining.

The Récollets lock is the best known, thanks to the film Hôtel du Nord. At the swing bridges, traffic stops, the deck swings round, and passers-by watch the boat as much as you watch them.

The tunnel is the other high point: a long stretch in half-darkness, broken up by shafts of light falling from boulevard Richard-Lenoir above. It surprises people who thought they had booked "a sunny ride along the quays".

Direction matters. From the Seine to La Villette you go up: the locks fill the chamber, and you arrive in the 19th arrondissement, at the Parc de la Villette or on the basin, a long way from the center. From La Villette to the Seine you go down and finish at Orsay or the Bastille. In our view this second direction is handier if you want to go straight on to dinner or a visit in central Paris.

Seine and canal: the combined trips

The Paris Canal cruise already includes a stretch on the Seine, between Orsay and the Arsenal. Canauxrama, for its part, sells a 2-hour trip for around €25 that leaves from the quai de Valmy (between nos. 71 and 79, Métro République), goes under the rue Dieu swing bridge, through the Temple lock and the Bastille tunnel, comes out through the Arsenal onto the Seine and finishes opposite 19 quai de l'Horloge, on the Île de la Cité (Métro Pont Neuf). The booking platforms sell these routes under similar titles ("Seine River and Canal Saint-Martin"): look at the departure point and the direction on the listing to work out which company runs it.

The table below compares the same trip on our three partner platforms. Cancellation terms depend on each listing and are shown before you pay.

Paris Canal's departure at the foot of the Musée d'Orsay suits a morning at the museum followed by the 3 pm boat, as long as you avoid Monday, when Orsay is closed. A combined canal + Orsay ticket exists on Headout; it is covered with the others on our Orsay and museums with a cruise page.

License-free electric boats: AKWA at the Bassin de la Villette

You can skipper a boat yourself, but not on the Canal Saint-Martin and not on the Seine. At the Bassin de la Villette, AKWA rents license-free electric boats from 37 quai de la Seine (19th), taking over from Marin d'Eau Douce, which has left the site. You may only sail on the Bassin de la Villette and the Canal de l'Ourcq: the company makes it clear you cannot go down the Canal Saint-Martin.

Prices start at about €45 an hour for a 4-person boat and go up to around €95 an hour for 10 people; a plancha (griddle) boat for 9 rents for around €250 for two hours. The renter must be 18 or over, show ID and leave a €500 deposit on a card. You can bring a picnic, small and medium dogs are welcome, and there is no cancellation, only a postponement if the weather makes the outing unsafe. Opening hours are not published: book online.

And on the Seine? License-free boats are not allowed on the Seine inside Paris under the river police regulations. Every "private boat" on offer in Paris therefore comes with a skipper: see our private Seine river cruise page. License-free self-drive on the Seine only happens outside the city, for example toward Boulogne and Issy.

Practical tips: getting back, the weather, who it suits

All these cruises are one-way. Plan your way back: Métro Porte de Pantin (line 5) at the Parc de la Villette, Jaurès or Stalingrad (lines 2, 5, 7bis) at the basin, Bastille (1, 5, 8) at the Arsenal, RER C or line 12 at Orsay. The map of the quays and how to reach them is on our Seine piers page.

The boats have a covered area: rain does not cancel the trip, but it keeps you off the open deck, which is the real place to be for the locks. Allow a full 2h30, not counting the trip back, and see our how long and when to go page if you are weighing up several outings on the same day.

Who would we recommend it to? People who have already done the one-hour Seine cruise and want to see a different Paris, the Paris of the eastern neighborhoods, the locks and the iron footbridges. For a first look at the monuments, the one-hour Seine river cruise is still the better use of your time. Our Paris Canal and Canauxrama review compares the two companies in detail.