Private Seine River Cruise: Boats, Prices and Piers in Paris

What "a private boat on the Seine" actually means

On a regular sightseeing boat you share the deck with dozens, sometimes hundreds, of strangers, and the company sets the schedule. A private cruise turns that around: the boat leaves at the time you booked, with only your group on board, and the skipper sets the pace to suit you. You slow down in front of Notre-Dame, linger at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, play your own music. It is the format for birthdays, proposals, families who want to see Paris without the crowds and companies hosting clients.

In practice it nearly always means a small boat with 6 to 12 seats, hired with its pilot for one hour, 90 minutes or two hours. In 90 minutes a small boat covers the heart of the city without rushing: the "Paris departure" trip from My Paris River, for example, runs from the Statue of Liberty replica to the Jardin des Plantes, passing between the islands. Beyond twelve people you move into another category: yachts, large electric boats, barges, or even chartering a boat from one of the big companies (Bateaux Mouches includes private hire in its terms of sale). This guide covers the boats, the piers, the official prices and what they include, then points you to the specialist pages in our Seine river cruises section.

Small private boats: pontoon boats and day boats

Most private cruises sold in Paris use one of two types of boat.

The pontoon boat is a flat deck on two floats, fitted out like a small lounge: bench seats, a coffee table, sometimes a roof. My Paris River runs pontoon boats measuring 7.32 m by 2.59 m (about 24 by 8.5 ft) that carry up to 12 passengers plus crew, and it can cover them in winter; a second identical boat lets it take groups of 13 to 24. One weak point to know before you book: no restroom on board. Green River Cruises also sells a pontoon boat on Headout, for 90 minutes and a maximum of 12 people.

The day boat is a proper motorboat with a hull, a helm and often a small cabin. Paris Boat Club uses two Jeanneau Cap Camarat 7.5s, named Ettore and Angelo: 9 passengers maximum plus the skipper, a sun awning, a fridge, Bluetooth speakers and, above all, a cabin with a toilet. According to the company, Ettore is being converted to hybrid power.

In our view the pontoon boat wins for a group that wants to sit in a circle and picnic; the day boat suits a couple or a small group who prefer a quicker boat and the comfort of a restroom. Both are open-air, so bring a jacket in the evening, even in summer: speed and the water cool you down fast.

Yachts, electric boats and barges: the larger formats

When the group grows or the occasion calls for something dressier, three kinds of boat take over.

Yachts. Yachts de Paris runs six event boats, Cachemire, Acajou, Victoria, Excellence, Mirage and Paquebot, hired on quotation only. The Cachemire takes 2 to 18 guests (14 seated, 18 for drinks). Paris Private Boat offers a single "limousine boat", Le Buci, styled like a Venetian water taxi, from €1,000 for 90 minutes and €1,500 for a two-hour dinner; its capacity and pier are not published. The Michelin-starred floating restaurant Don Juan II is not a private cruise but a dinner sold by the seat, covered in our luxury dinner cruise guide.

Electric boats. Green River Cruises promotes electric boats alongside its pontoon boats and its "exceptional boats". For a very large group, Paris Canal charters electric boats for 75 to 85 people, with lithium batteries and solar panels, from around €1,200, but they sail on the Canal de l'Ourcq, not on the Seine.

Barges. Green River Cruises moors a barge, Les Maquereaux, at the foot of the Pont Marie, which serves as the base for some of its cruises. For several dozen guests you need to go to the companies with large vessels and ask for a quote; their charter conditions are stricter than for a small boat.

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

Capacity and price per hour, company by company

The rates below are the ones the companies show on their own websites; we have added an hourly equivalent so you can compare different durations. They move with the seasons and with promotions, so read them as ballpark figures.

Three details change the bill. First, almost every price is per boat up to a set number of passengers: at My Paris River, from 7 to 12 people the rate switches to €65 or €75 per person depending on the departure point. Second, children count as passengers, even toddlers: Paris Boat Club lets under-4s ride free, but they still take a seat. Third, the pier matters: at My Paris River, leaving from central Paris costs €490 against €390 from the Pont d'Issy, but the Issy option only goes as far as the Louvre and turns at the Pont des Arts, without passing between the islands. For a group of six, the realistic range is therefore €390 to €800 for 90 minutes on a small boat, and from €1,000 on a yacht.

Where private boats leave from: Beaugrenelle, Austerlitz, Henri IV

Private boats do not use the big Eiffel Tower pontoons reserved for the sightseeing companies: each has its own stop, managed like the others by HAROPA PORT, the port authority.

• Beaugrenelle stop (15th, Métro Charles Michels): Paris Boat Club's default pier, downstream of the Eiffel Tower. The company can also pick you up at the Louvre stop, at Saints-Pères or at Port Henri IV on request.
• 36 Quai d'Austerlitz (13th, below the Cité de la Mode et du Design, Métro and RER Gare d'Austerlitz): departure point for Green River Cruises' boat Playtime.
• Foot of the Pont Marie, Quai de l'Hôtel de Ville (4th): the barge Les Maquereaux, Green River's other Paris base.
• Port Henri IV (4th, opposite 10 bis Quai Henri-IV, Métro Sully-Morland): the events base of Yachts de Paris. Note that the Don Juan II dinner leaves from Port Debilly instead.
• Pont d'Issy, in Boulogne: My Paris River's default pier, outside Paris; its "Paris departure" option boards at the Port des Champs-Élysées.
• Port de Suffren, Port de Grenelle, Port de Javel Haut, Port de l'Arsenal: you will see private boats sold by resellers and rental sites leave from these. The exact pier is always on your booking voucher.

The full map of piers, with Métro stations, is in our Seine piers guide.

What a private cruise includes, and what it doesn't

The skipper is always included: the law requires it in Paris (see below). My Paris River states that its price also covers fuel and mooring fees. Everywhere, you can plug in your own music over Bluetooth.

Food and drink. This is the big difference between companies. Paris Boat Club puts it plainly: bring whatever you like, drinks and food. My Paris River also lets you bring a picnic at no extra charge. Green River Cruises includes two bottles of wine, or champagne on its romantic cruises, and lets you bring your own food with no corkage fee. By contrast, the Paris Seine private option sold through resellers bans outside food and drink. Platform listings often include a package, champagne, rosé, macarons, spelled out in the title.

Comfort. A toilet in the cabin at Paris Boat Club, none on the My Paris River pontoon boats: over two hours, that is not a small detail. Paris Boat Club provides life jackets for children.

Cancellation. It varies enormously: free until midnight the day before at Paris Boat Club, up to 96 hours ahead at My Paris River (date changes up to 48 hours), and not possible on the Green River option sold by Headout. Cancellation terms depend on the listing and are shown before you pay. Read them, especially if you are worried about the weather.

Can you rent a boat without a license in Paris? Not on the Seine

The question comes up all the time: can you rent a license-free boat and drive it past the Eiffel Tower yourself? No. The river police regulations for this stretch, recently revised by the Paris and Val-de-Marne prefectures, bar craft of 4.5 kW or less from crossing Paris, "even when they do not require a license". That is exactly the threshold for license-free boats in France. A VHF radio is also now mandatory. The result: every private boat on the Seine in Paris is driven by a professional.

If you really want to take the wheel, there are two options:

• The Bassin de la Villette and the Canal de l'Ourcq, with AKWA, based at 37 Quai de la Seine (19th). License-free electric boats, renter aged 18 or over, photo ID, a €500 deposit, from €45 an hour for 4 people up to €95 an hour for 10. The Canal Saint-Martin and the Seine remain off limits. Details on our Canal Saint-Martin page.
• The Seine outside Paris, for example between Boulogne and Issy, where license-free rental outfits operate according to the local press.

"Bareboat" rental listings closer to the center require a French inland-waterways license. For a visitor, a skippered cruise remains the only simple way to see Paris from a small boat.

Green River Cruises and Paris Boat Club are two different companies

This is the current trap, and plenty of online reviews get it wrong. Green River Cruises still trades: it sells its private cruises on greenriver-paris.fr, from 36 Quai d'Austerlitz and the foot of the Pont Marie, with further bases in Boulogne and Nogent-sur-Marne. It prices on a minimum of six passengers, from €55 per person in Paris, two bottles included. It is the company behind the private cruise sold on Headout.

Paris Boat Club is a separate business. It took over the old domain name greenrivercruises.com, which now redirects to parisboatclub.fr, hence the confusion: anyone typing the old address lands on the competitor's site. Paris Boat Club sails its two Jeanneau day boats from the Beaugrenelle stop, at €449 or €499 for two hours depending on the number of guests, and also sells annual membership plans.

In practice: if your booking mentions Austerlitz or the Pont Marie, it is Green River; if it mentions Beaugrenelle and a 9-seat day boat, it is Paris Boat Club. Neither leaves from the Port de l'Arsenal, whatever you may read. Our detailed reviews of the smaller operators cover both.

How the platforms sell private Seine cruises

GetYourGuide has by far the widest choice: more than twenty private options in our selection, from a small boat with rosé to a yacht with dinner. Headout sells the Green River cruise and a private outing for 2 to 6 people from the Port de la Bourdonnais. Tiqets has none in our selection. Before booking on a platform, run four checks:

1. Price per boat or per person? An €80 card next to a €490 one does not mean a boat six times cheaper: the first is often a per-person price. Recalculate for your group.
2. Who operates it? The company name is not always in the title; it is in the description or on the voucher.
3. Where do you board? The meeting point is on the voucher, sometimes only after booking.
4. Can you cancel? One listing is refundable until the day before, the next one not at all.

Booking direct with a company lets you negotiate a time or a pier; booking through a platform lets you read hundreds of reviews and pay in one go. Our GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout comparison sets out the differences.

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The right boat for the occasion: proposal, bachelorette, dinner, champagne

A private cruise is not always the best answer, and we are happy to say so. For a proposal, a small private boat gives you an intimacy no dinner cruise can match, but a dinner with a special package can be enough: our Seine proposal guide compares the two and explains how to time the moment to the Eiffel Tower sparkle. For a bachelorette party or a birthday, the real questions are headcount and music: see our birthday and bachelorette cruise page.

If eating well is the priority, a classic Seine dinner cruise costs less per person than a private boat with catering, and you are served at the table. To raise a glass without committing to a meal, the one-hour champagne cruise does the job for a few dozen euros. And for a couple's evening with no planning at all, a night departure from one of the big companies, just as the tower lights up, still has a lot going for it: a modest price, frequent departures, zero logistics. A private boat really makes sense when the group is four to twelve people and wants to choose its time, its music and what goes in the glasses.