Seine River Cruise Tickets: Prices, Times and How to Book

Buying a Seine river cruise ticket is not complicated, but three details make the difference between a smooth evening and a pointless line: the type of ticket (open or dated), the age at which your child starts paying the adult fare, and the cancellation terms, which vary far more from one company to another than from one platform to another. This page gathers the official prices of the four sightseeing-cruise companies, what you actually buy on a booking platform, and how to book. To choose the cruise itself, start with our one-hour Seine cruise guide or go back to the home page.

Sightseeing

TiqetsPont de l'Alma

Seine River: Cruise by BATEAUX-MOUCHES®

4.4 (10,072)

from €17Check dates

Sightseeing

TiqetsEiffel Tower

Seine River: Cruise by Bateaux Parisiens

4.3 (9,984)

from €18Check dates

Night

TiqetsSuffren

Seine River: Evening Cruise with Music Onboard by Vedettes de Paris

4.3 (2,556)

from €22Check dates

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

Seine river cruise prices: the four companies, online and at the window

All four big sightseeing companies charge less online than at the ticket window, by €2 to €3 per adult. Here are the prices shown on each company's website for the one-hour narrated cruise (adult / child).

Under-4s ride free everywhere. These are "from" prices, checked regularly: they move with the seasons and promotions, and the product cards on this page show the price of the day. In our view, the gap between companies is too small to decide on: the pier, the departure time and the kind of commentary matter more. Vedettes du Pont Neuf has a live guide in French and English, and so does Vedettes de Paris, while Bateaux Parisiens relies mainly on an audio guide (about 14 languages) with a hostess on board. Our comparison of the companies goes into these differences.

Open ticket or dated ticket: what you are actually buying

This is the question that prevents the most unpleasant surprises. At Bateaux Parisiens, the ticket for the narrated cruise from the Eiffel Tower has no time on it: it is good for any departure and stays valid for a year from purchase. Once you enter the boarding zone at pontoon 3, the ticket is validated for the next boat and leaving is final. At Bateaux Mouches, the same principle applies: an open ticket, valid for a year, neither refundable nor exchangeable, but transferable to someone else; boarding is subject to space.

Vedettes de Paris sells timed tickets online (changeable or cancellable up to 24 hours before), open tickets valid twelve months, and, at the window, tickets valid on the day only.

Two products are always dated: the Bateaux Parisiens Notre-Dame & Champagne Cruise (Quai de Montebello, April to September), whose ticket is dated, timed and non-cancellable, and every lunch and dinner cruise. A missed Notre-Dame ticket is accepted at the Eiffel Tower pontoon as an exception; the reverse is never true. On a platform, the voucher you receive by email says whether it is an open ticket or a time slot: read it before you set off.

Seine cruise ticket prices for kids: every company has its own ages

Age bands differ from one company to the next, and this is where families sometimes overpay. A 12-year-old pays the adult fare at Bateaux Parisiens (child fare ages 4 to 11) and at Vedettes de Paris (4 to 11), but is still a child at Bateaux Mouches (under 13) and at Vedettes du Pont Neuf (4 to 12). The Batobus also has a child fare for ages 4 to 11.

On meal cruises, the rules change again: at Bateaux Parisiens, the €40 child price exists only on the Étoile menu, and on every other menu any child, babies included, pays the adult price; at Bateaux Mouches, the children's menus cover ages 4 to 12.

If you are traveling with kids, two cruises are worth a look: the Bateaux Parisiens Les Incollables® cruise, with a fan of quiz cards about the Seine (in French), and the Vedettes de Paris Family Cruise, designed for ages 6 to 13, with a captain's certificate at the end. Our Seine cruise with kids page compares the options and the practical questions (strollers, toilets, how long little ones can last).

Booking platform or official website: where are tickets cheaper?

Good news: for the big one-hour cruises, the platforms usually show the same price as the official online fare. At our last check, the Bateaux Parisiens cruise cost €18 on Tiqets, GetYourGuide and Headout, the same as on the company's website, and the Bateaux Mouches cruise €17 everywhere, including on Tiqets.

There are exceptions both ways. At Vedettes du Pont Neuf, the company's own online fare (€15) is lower than what the platforms show. On the other hand, some dinner offers look cheaper on a platform because they are a different sitting (an early dinner instead of the 8:30 pm one): compare the time and the length before the price. So we do not claim that one platform is always cheapest; the comparison tables on our pages put the same cruise side by side.

What a platform mostly gives you: payment in your own language, one account for several activities, traveler reviews and, depending on the ticket, more flexible cancellation than the company's own. What it does not change: you board at the same pier, on the same boat. Our GetYourGuide, Tiqets and Headout comparison goes into the detail.

Cancellation and refunds, platform by platform

Cancellation terms depend on the ticket: they are shown before you pay, on the platform as on the company's website. Never assume that "everything can be canceled".

On the company side, the differences are sharp. The Bateaux Parisiens terms of sale state that every booking is final, non-cancellable and non-refundable; a date change is sometimes possible by phone, possibly for a fee. The Bateaux Mouches sightseeing ticket is not refundable either, but a meal canceled in writing at least 72 hours ahead is refunded. Vedettes de Paris cancels a timed ticket free of charge up to 24 hours before. Vedettes du Pont Neuf refunds 80 % more than 48 hours ahead, 60 % between 24 and 48 hours, nothing after that.

On the platforms, each product has its own rules: some tickets can be canceled for free up to 24 hours before, others, such as some private cruises, can be neither canceled nor moved. Worth remembering: for a leisure service on a fixed date, the EU's 14-day withdrawal right does not apply. If it is the company that cannot sail (flood, breakdown, navigation ban), it gives a reduction or a refund under its own terms; an open ticket valid for a year leaves you time to come back anyway.

Times and slots: do you need to book a specific departure?

With an open ticket, no: you show up at the pier and take the next boat. In high season, Bateaux Parisiens and Bateaux Mouches send out a boat roughly every 30 minutes, from 10 am until 10 or 10:30 pm, a little less often from November to March. Vedettes du Pont Neuf starts at 10:30 am, while Vedettes de Paris runs its guided cruises from late morning to late afternoon, then drinks cruises in the evening.

A time slot does matter in three cases: the Notre-Dame & Champagne cruise (four evening departures), meal cruises, and busy evenings. In August and on summer Fridays and Saturdays, the late-evening departures fill up: with an open ticket, come early; with a time slot, you can relax. The Vedettes du Pont Neuf sunset departures often sell out on weekends, according to the company.

The season-by-season table, with first and last departures, is on our how long and when to go page; for night departures and the Eiffel Tower sparkle, see Seine night cruise.

How to book Seine river cruise tickets, step by step

The slowest part is usually not buying the ticket but the security check at the entrance to the quays at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, with bag searches. In summer, leave some margin if you are going on to a dinner or a museum.

Buying at the window on the day: when it makes sense

You can still buy on the spot everywhere. At Bateaux Mouches, the company advises going to the ticket office 15 to 20 minutes before the departure you want. At Vedettes de Paris, a ticket bought at the window is valid on the day only, and it is neither refundable nor exchangeable. The window costs €2 to €3 more per adult, but it has its perks: Vedettes de Paris gives counter discounts to students (€6) and Navigo pass holders (€3), and offers the guided cruise free on your birthday, with ID and subject to space.

Bateaux Parisiens accepts cash and cards on site, but not checks; on board the Vedettes de Paris boats, the bar takes cards only. In our view, the window works for an impromptu weekday cruise out of season. For a summer Saturday night, a sunset departure or a group, buy online: you save a few euros and, with a time slot, you are sure to board.

Tickets with extras: champagne, crêpes, dinner, combos

Beyond the plain sightseeing cruise, each company offers its cruise with an extra. On the company website, Bateaux Parisiens sells its crêpe cruise from €21; Vedettes de Paris offers its evening Drinks & Music cruise (no guide, playlist of French songs) from €22 online, also on Tiqets, and a champagne cruise at around €32. The Bateaux Parisiens Notre-Dame & Champagne cruise costs €39. The ice-cream, waffle or crêpe versions sold from Port de Suffren under other names are resellers' offers, not official Vedettes de Paris products.

For Vedettes de Paris by day, the guided ticket is also on Tiqets, as is the Vedettes du Pont Neuf cruise. Combos change the logic: the Tiqets Paris-Seine Pass bundles the Musée d'Orsay, the Vedettes de Paris evening music cruise, Sainte-Chapelle and the Conciergerie. The Batobus, for its part, is a shuttle pass (24 hours from €23 on the company website, also on Tiqets) with no guided commentary. No pass covers every company. See our pages on the Batobus, museum and cruise combos and Seine dinner cruise.

Cruises1-hour cruisefrom €17 PracticalPiersfrom €18 PracticalGYG, Tiqets or Headoutfrom €18 PracticalWith kidsfrom €17