Three boats sail the Seine after dark and they are not versions of one another. They leave from three different pontoons, run for seventy minutes to two and a half hours, and cost between nineteen and a hundred and forty-seven dollars.
A scheduled sailing from a fixed pontoon along the monument stretch of the Seine, returning to where it started. You board at a set time, the boat leaves without waiting, and for the next hour or more the lit facades of the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, the Conciergerie and Notre-Dame pass on either side.
What none of the three is, is a guided tour. One carries a live singer, one plays a music playlist and offers an app, and one offers nothing at all. That is the most consistent surprise in their reviews and it is stated plainly in every listing.
Traffic, roadworks, closures and one-way systems have no effect on a river. The itinerary you read is the itinerary you get, every night, which is true of nothing on wheels.
The great riverside facades face the water. From a road you get them through traffic and between other buildings; from a boat you get them lit, reflected and uninterrupted.
The Seine between the Pont de Sully and the Pont d'Iéna, with the Île de la Cité and the Île Saint-Louis, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in December 1991. Every one of these sailings runs inside it.
All three have indoor seating, which matters between November and March when an open-top format is an endurance test rather than an evening out.
The choice is really between the river and the boulevards, because they do not overlap. The Seine reaches everything on the water and nothing off it.
| Seine boat tour | Night drive by car or bus | |
|---|---|---|
| Route | Fixed by the river, identical every night | Varies with traffic, closures and the driver |
| Reaches | The riverside facades and every bridge | Montmartre, the Moulin Rouge, the Champs-Élysées |
| Stops | None — it is a seat for its whole length | Real stops on the private cars and the golf cart |
| Guide | None on any of the three | Live on most, recorded on the bus |
| Warm | Yes, indoor seating throughout | Only in the enclosed vehicles |
| From | $19 | $33 |
| Starts at | A fixed pontoon you have to find | Often your own address |
Compare boats and drives side by side
If you want Montmartre or the Moulin Rouge in your evening, no boat will take you. Our night tour options page covers the six formats that will.
Included: the sailing itself on all three; on the dinner cruise a three-course menu, wine, water, coffee, a live singer and a private table; on the Bateaux-Mouches sailing a personalised souvenir postcard; on the Vedettes boat a music playlist and an audio-guide app in ten languages.
Not included: a guide, on any of them. Also hotel pickup on all three, the souvenir photograph on the dinner cruise, and food and drink beyond the package. The crêpe several Bateaux-Mouches travellers expected is on the upgraded option only.
Price band: $19 to $147 per person, which is the widest spread of any night-tour format in Paris.
Duration: one hour, seventy to ninety minutes, or two and a half hours with dinner.
Arrive early. Fifteen minutes for the dinner cruise, twenty for the Vedettes sailing where seating is not guaranteed. The boats leave on time.
Find the right pontoon. Port de la Bourdonnais and Port de Suffren are both below the Eiffel Tower and fifteen minutes apart on opposite banks. Our meeting points page has all three with the nearest métro.
Two of the three refund; the Bateaux-Mouches sailing does not, though its ticket stays valid for six months.
Anyone who wants to get out and stand somewhere. A cruise is a seat for its whole length, and the finest view of the Eiffel Tower is from the ground at Trocadéro rather than from the river.
Anyone who wants Montmartre. The hill, Sacré-Cœur and the Moulin Rouge are all invisible from the Seine. A private car or the open-top bus reaches them; no boat does.
Anyone who wants to be told what they are looking at. None of the three has a guide. The open-top night bus has recorded commentary in several languages, and the walking tours have a live one.
Anyone travelling in a party of three who wants an occasion. A vintage 2CV charged per car costs about the same as three dinner-cruise seats and gives you Montmartre as well.
The three Seine sailings captured for this site, with the pontoon and the refund terms against each one.
| Cruise | Length | From | Boards at | Cancellation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bateaux Parisiens Seine River Gourmet Dinner & Sightseeing Cruise | 2 hours 30 minutes | From $147 per person | Port de la Bourdonnais, beside the Eiffel Tower | Free up to 24h | Book |
| Paris: Evening Lights Cruise with Legendary Bateaux-Mouches® | 70 minutes to 1.5 hours | From $19 per person | Port de la Conférence, beside Pont de l'Alma | Non-refundable | Book |
| Seine River Evening Cruise with Music (Drink Options) | 1 hour | From $29 per person | Port de Suffren, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower | Free up to 24h | Book |
Two and a half hours from Port de la Bourdonnais with a three-course dinner, wine and a live singer, and two of those hours on the water. Smart casual, a table of your own, and window seating available as a service tier.
From $147 per person
Seventy minutes of illuminated facades from Pont de l'Alma with the oldest cruise company on the Seine. Sailings leave every half hour from five, a souvenir postcard is included, and the ticket is sold without a refund.
From $19 per person
This one is sold non-refundable — the rest cancel free up to 24 hours ahead.
One hour on a fully electric boat from Port de Suffren, at the foot of the tower. A playlist plays instead of a guide, an app carries commentary in ten languages, and the boarding gangway sits below three large flags.
From $29 per person