Independent guideseine.boats is an independent guide to Seine river cruises. We are not the official website of any boat company or booking platform. Booking links go straight to our partners.
EN

CombosMuseum and boat combos

Orsay Museum and Seine Cruise Combo, Plus Other Museums

Orsay is the best-placed museum for a combo: Port de Solférino is three minutes from its entrance, and the Paris Canal cruise to the Canal Saint-Martin leaves from there. Here are the closing days, late openings and nearest pier, museum by museum.

Musée d'Orsay
closed Mondays; open late Thursdays until 9:45 pm
Pier
Port de Solférino, 3 min on foot from Orsay, 6 min from the Orangerie
Combo prices
around €30 (Picasso, Carnavalet, Petit Palais, Quai Branly), about €42 (Orsay)
Closed Mondays
Orsay, Picasso, Carnavalet, Petit Palais, Quai Branly
Closed Tuesdays
the Orangerie
Canal Saint-Martin
Paris Canal, Solférino → La Villette, 2h30, one way

Updated October 17, 2026Facts checked against official sourcesContains affiliate links

Orsay & museums + cruise: what you can book

9 offers · Prices checked on October 17, 2026

Platform

See everything on Headout →See everything on GetYourGuide →See everything on Tiqets →

Musée d'Orsay: hours, tickets, entrances

Orsay opens Tuesday to Sunday, 9:30 am to 6 pm, with last entry at 5 pm, and until 9:45 pm on Thursdays (last entry 9 pm). It is closed on Mondays, as well as on May 1 and December 25. An adult ticket costs €16 online and €14 on site: this is one of the few museums where buying online costs more. On Thursday evenings the late-opening rate drops to €12 online and €10 on site. Entry is free for under-18s and for under-26s who live in the European Economic Area (EEA).

There are two entrances. Entrance 1, on the river side, takes timed tickets bought on the museum's website; Entrance 2, on the forecourt, takes priority access and tickets sold by resellers, combo tickets included. Look at your voucher: it tells you which door to use. Work on the reception areas may change how entry works.

The combo math is simple: €16 for the museum plus about €17 for a one-hour cruise bought online makes €33; the Headout Orsay combo comes to about €42. For a minor or a young EEA resident, only the boat costs anything, so buy it on its own.

Port de Solférino: what actually leaves from below Orsay

Port de Solférino is 200 m and three minutes on foot from Orsay, on Quai Anatole-France, at the end of the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor footbridge; Métro Solférino (line 12), RER C Musée d'Orsay. But be careful: the big companies' one-hour sightseeing cruise does not leave from here. The boats that board at Solférino are the Paris Canal cruise to the Canal Saint-Martin, the Batobus ("Musée d'Orsay" stop), and the lunches and dinners of Paris Seine / La Marina de Paris and of Maxim's sur Seine.

If your combo includes a one-hour sightseeing cruise, the product page names the company, and therefore the pier: Square du Vert-Galant (Pont Neuf) 18 minutes on foot, Pont de l'Alma 23 minutes, the Eiffel Tower piers more than half an hour.

For a meal on the water without leaving the neighborhood, La Marina's lunch cruise leaves Solférino at 12:30 pm for 1h30, from about €69, and its dinners sail at 6:45 pm and 9:15 pm; drinks are not included in the standard menus. Maxim's sur Seine offers a pricier version, at 6 pm and 8 pm, with a pianist-singer. See our reviews of La Marina de Paris and Maxim's sur Seine, and the Batobus page.

Orsay and the Canal Saint-Martin with Paris Canal

The most unusual combo on this page pairs Orsay with the Paris Canal Seine + Canal Saint-Martin cruise, which leaves from Port de Solférino. The boat heads up the Seine past the Tuileries, the Louvre, Île de la Cité and Notre-Dame, enters the Port de l'Arsenal, passes through the vault of about 2 km under Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, works through the canal's four double locks (nine chambers) and swing bridges, then reaches the Bassin de la Villette and the Parc de la Villette. The cruise takes 2h30, one way, with commentary in French and English.

Published departures: 10 am and 3 pm from Solférino to La Villette, 2:30 pm from La Villette to Solférino. On the Paris Canal website, adults pay €25, over-60s and 15–25s €22, children aged 4 to 14 €17. Boarding is by steps, which makes it difficult in a wheelchair; there are restrooms on board, and pets are not allowed.

Two ways to plan the day. Orsay from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm, then the 3 pm boat, and you finish at the Parc de la Villette around 5:30 pm. Or, on a Thursday, the 2:30 pm boat from La Villette, arriving below Orsay around 5 pm, then the late opening until 9:45 pm. The canal is covered in detail on Canal Saint-Martin cruise.

Price check Seine + Canal Saint-Martin on more than one platform
PlatformListingRatingPriceWhere
GetYourGuide Paris: Cruise on the Saint-Martin Canal and Seine River · 2.5 hours 4.3 (2,505) €25 See on GetYourGuide
Tiqets Paris: Seine River Cruise & Canal Saint-Martin 4.5 (878) €25 See on Tiqets
Headout Seine River and Canal Saint-Martin Sightseeing Cruise 4.2 (85) €25 See on Headout
DirectParis Canal, Seine + canal (2h30)—€25Official site ↗

Lowest adult price per person in euros, checked on October 17, 2026. Times, menus and options can differ between platforms; check before you pay.

The Orangerie, six minutes from the pier

The Orangerie is Solférino's other museum: it stands in the Tuileries Garden, on the Seine side, at Place de la Concorde, about 400 m and six minutes on foot from the pier across the Passerelle Léopold-Sédar-Senghor. It closes on Tuesdays, unlike Orsay, which closes on Mondays: the two museums never close on the same day of the week. It opens from 9 am to 6 pm, last admission 5:15 pm, and until 9 pm on Fridays during exhibitions.

A ticket costs €12.50 online and €11 on site; on Friday evenings, €10 online. Booking a time slot is strongly recommended. The best deal is the combined Orsay + Orangerie ticket at €20, sold only at the Orangerie ticket desk: cheaper than the two tickets online, and better value than a combo if you are visiting both museums.

We do not track an Orangerie + cruise combo: in our opinion, take the combined museum ticket and buy the sightseeing cruise separately.

Picasso, Carnavalet, Panthéon: from the Pont Neuf

The Musée Picasso, 5 rue de Thorigny in the 3rd arrondissement, opens Tuesday to Sunday from 9:30 am to 6 pm (last entry 5:15 pm) and closes on Mondays. Entry costs €16, with a family rate of €12 per adult, an audio guide for €5, and free entry on the first Sunday of the month. A timed ticket guarantees entry within 30 minutes of your slot. Headout sells two Picasso + cruise combos at around €26 to €31, GetYourGuide a ticket with an optional cruise.

Carnavalet, 23 rue Madame-de-Sévigné, is close by: the permanent collections are free, with no booking, Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm, closed Mondays. Its combo, around €30, only makes sense if it gets you into a paid temporary exhibition; otherwise you are just paying for the boat, at more than the direct price.

Both museums are about 27 minutes on foot from the Square du Vert-Galant: cross the Marais and Île de la Cité, then take the staircase down from the Pont Neuf. The Panthéon, open every day, is 21 minutes from the same pier; its combo is among the cheapest, about €30, but the walk around the dome's colonnade is closed for works. Our review of the company at that pier: Vedettes du Pont Neuf.

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

Petit Palais and Quai Branly: the Alma and Eiffel Tower side

The Petit Palais, on Avenue Winston-Churchill in the 8th arrondissement, is 800 m and ten minutes on foot from Pont de l'Alma, the Bateaux Mouches pier. Its permanent collections are free, with no booking needed; it opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm and closes on Mondays. On Fridays and Saturdays, temporary exhibitions stay open until 8 pm, but the permanent galleries do not. As with Carnavalet, the Headout combo, around €30, is only worth it if it includes an exhibition.

The Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, 37 Quai Jacques-Chirac, is the closest museum to the Eiffel Tower piers: seven minutes to Port de la Bourdonnais. Entry costs €14 (€11 reduced), an audio guide €5, and entry is free on the first Sunday of the month, with a timed ticket. It opens from 10:30 am to 7 pm, until 10 pm on Thursdays, and closes on Mondays, except during the shorter French school vacations. Its cruise combo comes to around €29.

Thursday is the ideal day for both banks: the Quai Branly until 10 pm, Orsay until 9:45 pm, and a cruise at nightfall in between. The Eiffel Tower and its two piers are covered on Eiffel Tower + Seine cruise.

Javel Bas

Port de Javel Bas

Metro: Bd Victor – Pont du Garigliano (RER C)15th arrondissementLeft bank

Javel

Port de Javel Haut

Metro: Javel – André Citroën (10), Javel (RER C)15th arrondissementLeft bank

Companies: Paris en Scène, Le Capitaine Fracasse

Passy

Port de Passy (Maison de la Radio)

Metro: Av. du Président Kennedy (RER C)16th arrondissementRight bank

Companies: Trattoria en Seine (Le Théo), Le Diamant Bleu

Grenelle

Port de Grenelle

Metro: Charles Michels (10)15th arrondissementLeft bank

Beaugrenelle

Escale de Beaugrenelle

Metro: Charles Michels (10)15th arrondissementLeft bank

Companies: Paris Boat Club

Île aux Cygnes

Île aux Cygnes

Metro: Bir-Hakeim (6)15th arrondissementIsland

Suffren

Port de Suffren

Metro: Bir-Hakeim (6), Champ de Mars – Tour Eiffel (RER C)7th arrondissementLeft bank

Companies: Vedettes de Paris, Tootbus Paris, Ô Chateau (croisière champagne)

Eiffel Tower

Port de la Bourdonnais

Metro: Champ de Mars – Tour Eiffel (RER C), Bir-Hakeim (6), Trocadéro (6, 9)7th arrondissementLeft bank

Companies: Bateaux Parisiens, Batobus, Le Bistro Parisien, Big Bus Paris

Debilly

Port Debilly

Metro: Iéna (9), Trocadéro (6, 9)16th arrondissementRight bank

Companies: Ducasse sur Seine, Don Juan II (Yachts de Paris)

Pont de l'Alma

Port de la Conférence (Pont de l’Alma)

Metro: Alma – Marceau (9), Pont de l’Alma (RER C)8th arrondissementRight bank

Companies: Bateaux Mouches

Invalides

Port des Invalides

Metro: Invalides (8, 13, RER C)7th arrondissementLeft bank

Champs-Élysées

Port des Champs-Élysées

Metro: Concorde (1, 8, 12), Champs-Élysées – Clemenceau (1, 13)8th arrondissementRight bank

Orsay · Solférino

Port de Solférino

Metro: Solférino (12), Musée d’Orsay (RER C)7th arrondissementLeft bank

Companies: Maxim's sur Seine, La Marina de Paris / Paris Seine, Paris Canal

Louvre

Port du Louvre

Metro: Louvre – Rivoli (1)1th arrondissementRight bank

Pont des Arts

Port des Saints-Pères (quai Malaquais)

Metro: Saint-Germain-des-Prés (4), Pont Neuf (7)6th arrondissementLeft bank

Companies: Le Calife

Pont Neuf

Square du Vert-Galant

Metro: Pont Neuf (7)1th arrondissementIsland

Companies: Vedettes du Pont Neuf

Notre-Dame

Quai de Montebello

Metro: Saint-Michel (4, RER B/C), Maubert – Mutualité (10)5th arrondissementLeft bank

Companies: Le Son de la Terre (péniche jazz à quai)

Hôtel de Ville

Port de l’Hôtel de Ville

Metro: Hôtel de Ville (1, 11)4th arrondissementRight bank

Henri IV

Port Henri IV

Metro: Sully – Morland (7)4th arrondissementRight bank

Jardin des Plantes

Quai Saint-Bernard

Metro: Jussieu (7, 10)5th arrondissementLeft bank

Arsenal · Bastille

Port de l’Arsenal

Metro: Bastille (1, 5, 8)12th arrondissementRight bank

Companies: Canauxrama

Rapée

Port de la Rapée

Metro: Quai de la Rapée (5)12th arrondissementRight bank

Austerlitz

Quai d’Austerlitz

Metro: Gare d’Austerlitz (5, 10, RER C)13th arrondissementLeft bank

Companies: Green River Cruises

Bercy

Port de Bercy

Metro: Bercy (6, 14)12th arrondissementRight bank

La Villette

Bassin de la Villette

Metro: Jaurès (2, 5, 7bis), Stalingrad19th arrondissementCanal

Which museum on which day: a typical week

Day Open Closed Late opening
Monday Orangerie, Panthéon (Quai Branly during school vacations) Orsay, Picasso, Carnavalet, Petit Palais, Quai Branly —
Tuesday Orsay, Picasso, Carnavalet, Petit Palais, Quai Branly, Panthéon Orangerie —
Wednesday all — —
Thursday all — Orsay 9:45 pm, Quai Branly 10 pm
Friday all — Orangerie 9 pm (exhibitions), Petit Palais 8 pm (exhibitions)
Saturday all — Petit Palais 8 pm (exhibitions)
Sunday all — —

The boats sail every day. On Mondays, the Orangerie and the Panthéon are the only museums on this page that stay open, which makes it a good day for the Seine. The other pairings, with their walking times, are on museum + cruise combos; for the Louvre, Orsay's neighbor across the river, see Louvre + Seine cruise.

Our picks

Our pick

1

The most logical

Orsay and a cruise: walk out of the museum and you are at the water's edge.

2

Orsay and the canal

The museum plus the Seine + Canal Saint-Martin cruise, which leaves from Port de Solférino.

3

Picasso

The Musée Picasso and a cruise for around €30.

4

Quai Branly

Seven minutes on foot from the Bourdonnais pier, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

5

Paris-Seine Pass

Orsay, the Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie, plus the Vedettes de Paris evening cruise with music.

Frequently asked questions

What day is the Musée d'Orsay closed?

Mondays, as well as May 1 and December 25. On Thursdays it stays open until 9:45 pm.

Does the cruise in an Orsay combo leave from Port de Solférino?

Not necessarily. The one-hour sightseeing cruise leaves from the Eiffel Tower, Pont de l'Alma or the Pont Neuf, depending on the company named on the product page. From Solférino you get the Canal Saint-Martin cruise, the Batobus and the La Marina and Maxim's meal cruises.

Is there an Orsay + Orangerie ticket?

Yes, at €20, sold only at the Orangerie ticket desk. Both museums are a few minutes from Port de Solférino.

Is the Petit Palais or Carnavalet combo worth it?

Only if it includes a temporary exhibition: the permanent collections of both museums are free.

How long is the Canal Saint-Martin cruise from Orsay?

About 2h30, one way to the Parc de la Villette, with departures at 10 am and 3 pm from Solférino.

Keep exploring

Private & combosPrivate cruisefrom €80 Private & combosProposal cruisefrom €399 Private & combosBachelorette & birthdayfrom €80 CombosMuseum + cruise combosfrom €29 CombosEiffel Tower + cruisefrom €18 CombosLouvre + cruisefrom €44 CombosCatacombs + cruisefrom €90 CombosMoulin Rouge + cruisefrom €13