Seine, Paris

The Batobus are something like a crossing between Seine cruises and the Hop-on/Hop-off tour buses.
They are boat shuttles doing regular 'circuits' of Paris' sights and attractions, they stop at :
- Port de la Bourdonnais (in front of theTour Eiffel)
- In front the Musee d'Orsay
- Quai Malaquais (Saint Germain des Pres)
- Beside Notre Dame
- Near the Jardin des Plantes
- Near the Hotel de Ville (Townhouse)
- At the Pont du Caroussel (behind le Louvre)
- At the Pont Alexandre III (Champs Elysees).

You can buy passes, which are valid for as many trips as you like during a specific period of time, at each Batobus stop or in the airports or at the Tourist Office.
They cost
1-day Pass: €12 (€6 for children under 16)
2-day Pass: €14 (€7 for children under 16)
5-day Pass: €17 (€8 for children under 16)

There is a Batobus every 15 to 30 minutes, from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.in winter; from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m in spring and autumn; from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

They are no cruise and provide no comentary, but it is a pleasurable way to discover Paris, far from the traffic jams (and a bit of water is nice in summer).

Notre Dame to the Eiffel Tour is a very long walk. And there and back is even longer! While there is so much to see along the way, an easy way to save your feet (knees) is to take the Batobus. This is a boat/bus that navigates the Seine with eight stops along the way.

A one day ticket is 11 euro. The boat/bus operates from 10 am to 10 pm in the summer months, with shorter operating hours in the off season.

Information available at: Navette Batobus

Being in Paris for only a few days, I was glad Geisha_Girl suggested we all go on a boat trip on the Seine.

The open air boat tours (which last about an hour), cost about $7.00 euros. They provide you with a view of many local monuments. As you slowly traverse the Seine, you listen to a recording, describing the sights you are seeing.

Just get yourself to the Eiffel Tower and the Seine will be in full sight. You can hop on any of the tour boats (trust me, there are MANY!).

Am told this tour at night is wonderful. If you have the time, take advantage of the dinner tours available.

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.

There are two companies that provide boat trips along the Canal St. Martin from the center of Paris to Parc de la Villette, Canauxrama and Pariscanal. The starting point differs for each so check the webpages.
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We took Pariscanal in 1992 -- from near Musée D'Orsay to Parc de la Villette was a very relaxing and interesting 3 hours. You pass through "real" Paris and watch as old locks are opened and shut by their keepers.

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I always like to make boattrips. It gives another perspective of the area and the city. In Paris are different possibilities for boattrips like with Bateaux Mouches from the Pont de L'Alma with trips every 20 or 30 minutes.

Another possibility is the Batobus between Tour Eiffel and Jardin de Plantes, where you can get on or off the boat at 8 different places. There are passes, wich are valid for as many trips as you like during one or more days. You can buy these passes at each Batobus stop or at the Tourist Office. They cost € 13 for one full day.

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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.

Prices updated January 4, 2013
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!

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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!

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...