Seine, Paris

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We love the Batobus. It's a boat bus that plies the river Seine. It stops at eight different Paris tourist sites and gives access to many more. When we stay near the Eiffel Tower, we get our passes there. If we're in the Latin Quarter or St. Germain, we usually get the passes at the Notre Dame stop.

The Batobus stops at The Eiffel Tower, St. Germain des Pres, the Jardin des Plantes, the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, Notre Dame, the Hotel de Ville and the Champs-Elysées. You can hop on and hop off or just take the tour. If you are just going to zip around once, like a boat tour, buy a single ride ticket. If you want the hop-on hop-off capability, get a pass for a day or two. Look for sales as they have them often.

A one-day pass is 15 euros, 7 euros for children under age 16
A two-day pass is 18 euros, 9 euros for children under age 16
A five-day pass is 21 euros, 10 euros for children under age 16
A full year pass is 60 euros, 38 euros for children under age 16

Students, seniors and other pass holders may take a small discount. If you have another pass, ask if you can get a discount on the Batobus. It never hurts to ask. Also, there are occasional sales and you might get lucky. We have a couple times. Enjoy!

This hop on/hop off boat runs up and down the Seine making 8 stops: Eiffel Tower, Musee D'Orsay, St Germain-Des-Pres, Notre Dame, Jardin Des Plantes, Hotel De Ville, Louvre, and Champs Elysees.

You buy a one day, two day, five day, or annual pass but it is soooo slow that I would not plan on using it to get on and off for sightseeing. It's just a nice ride along the Seine.

One day Pass:

€14 for adults
€7 for children under 16

Check website for operating hours and to order advance tickets.

A little cruise on the Seine?
The tours of the Bateaux - Mouches offer a relaxing view on their scenic route along monuments such as the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, the Musée d'Orsay etc.
The tours take about one hour.

A night-time cruise (with or without dining) is even more stunning: the boats are equipped with huge footlights illuminating the riverside monuments with big halogen lights.

Nice for the tourists, but a lot less pleasant for the Parisians living along the route of these boats.
Thats why they call them "Les Bateaux -MOCHES" ;-) Maybe you can find out somewhere what this means...

At first blush one might think that the Bateaux Mouche tour might go in the "tourist trap" catagory but this experience is anything BUT a tourist trap. For a mere 7 euro (children under 4 are free and 4-12 are 4 euro) you can sit on top of the boat and watch the most amazing sites of the City of Light pass by.

We have taken a ride on these boats on every one of our trips to Paris and it still hasn't gotten stale. The trip is different at every time of day and in every season. Catch the tour near sunset to see the roof of the Petit Palace glow. Take a night tour to see the floodlights flash on the Louvre and the beautiful buildings on the Isle de Paris. Once we went on a stormy day and actually got sea sick! Always the view of the Eiffel Tower lit up as you sail past is magnifique!

For information: Bateaux Mouches

Important tip: Don't go on one of the expensive dinner tours. The food is said to be not that good. Instead, bring along a bottle of wine or champagne and sit atop at sunset for a poor man's cruise. You won't be sorry!

Final note: There are other operators who have very similar tours. Bateaux Parisiens is one that I've taken and enjoyed.

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Seine boat trips are leaving from down at the Effel Tower, Pont Neuf and the Notre Dame.

Prices from € 9.00

Operating hours:
Summer: 10AM - 11PM
Winter: 11AM - 9PM

Special dinner cruises from € 85.00; departure time ~6PM (formal clothing!)

Bateaux Parisians has a Bato Bus that will cruise you around to specific places on La Seine that you can get off and then get back on after visiting your place of interest. It cost 10 Euro to ride the whole day, but unfortunately it is not listed on their site. It is a good way to get around though and we probably would have used it more had we knew that they had something like this. We did not know about it until our departure day as our plan that day was to take a Seine cruise. It truly is a wonderful way to enjoy Paris and gives you a chance to relax between attractions!

We didn't do these either but they're fairly popular with tourists. BatoBus is a river shuttle that operates like a HoHo bus but with fewer stops. From Jardin des Plantes area on the east to the Eiffel on the west, there are 8 docking points and you can get on and off as many times a day as the hours the boats run.

This can be a fun way to see Paris from the water but again, a one-day ticket is more than the cost of a metro carnet of 10, and hours are somewhat limited - especially in winter - so choose it for the experience or to assist with certain mobility issues and not as a cost-effective way to sightsee. Unlike the Hoho buses, the boats do not offer narration on the landmarks. If interested in that option, evening, or dinner cruises (no stops) see these services:

http://www.vedettesdeparis.fr/?langue=en

http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/

http://www.bateaux-mouches.fr/

http://www.bateauxparisiens.com/

Discover some of the most beautiful monuments of Paris, such as the Eiffel Tour, the Louvre or the Notre-Dame Cathedral on a Seine river cruise with commentary.

You'll find them in the center of Paris, next to the famous Pont-Neuf bridge.

By ordering your boat trip ticket on their website, you benefit from the following prices:

Adults: 8 Euros (instead of 12)
Children (4 to 12 yo) : 4 Euros (instead of 6)

The tickets can neither be exchanged nor refunded.
Cruise duration: 1 hour

Yoy also can get a Coupon for a 2 Euros reduction on the price of a one-hour boat trip with commentary on the website.