Paris Boat Tours
If you’re looking for a different experience while vacationing in Paris, there are a wealth of Parisian boat tours to choose from. If you’ve seen the popular sights on land and you’d like to experience them from a different angle, a boat tour is a great choice for you. With plenty of options, you may be tempted to embark on more than one. You’ll find boat tours that explore different areas of the city, focusing on various tourist attractions. You may even decide on a combination tour that includes a boat tour and a walking tour of the city.
A popular boat tour is the Bateaux Parisiens Sightseeing Cruise, where you’ll enjoy dinner from an a la carte menu, and be entertained by live musicians as you make your way down the River Seine. The average cost of this particular boat tour is around $100 per person, but the experience is well worth it. You’ll enjoy a different vantage point as you take in sights such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre museum and Notre Dame Cathedral, so don’t forget your camera. You’ll surely want to record every moment of this three hour evening cruise, as you watch the sun go down on the beautiful city of Paris.
If you’re looking for something more than your average boat tour, and you’d like to knock a few items off your Paris to-do list, the Seine River Dinner Cruise with La Marina de Paris and the Moulin Rouge Show is one of the best options for you. This is a unique and exciting opportunity to include some romance in your vacation if you’re traveling with your significant other. You’ll spend the better part of 6 hours cruising down the River Seine as you pass by Paris’ most famous attractions, such as Place de Concorde and the lit up Eiffel Tower. You’ll thoroughly enjoy the scrumptious dinner served to you on board your tour boat. After you disembark, you’ll head to the Moulin Rouge show, where you’ll enjoy being entertained by this world famous cabaret performance. The indulgence doesn’t end there, you still have to devour the half bottle of champagne that is included in the cost of this boat tour. While this is one of the pricier tours, you can’t go wrong at around $275 per person.
For around $100 per person, you can book the Seine River tour, Paris Illuminations and Dinner on the Champs-Elysees. A full day’s tour of Paris is probably a good choice if you’re spending just a few short days in the city. The Paris City Tour by Minivan, Seine River Tour and Lunch at the Eiffel Tower, which costs around $350 per person, combines three unique experience into one package. Relaxing in the air-conditioned comfort of a minivan, you’ll be driven around Paris accompanied by a knowledgeable tour guide who will point out everything that’s worth seeing.
The group will stop for a short tour of Notre Dame Cathedral, then on to Montmartre, where you can explore for a bit on foot. At Montmarte you can look out for the Moulin de la Gallette Windmill and Sacre Coeur Basilica among others. From the minivan you’ll step onto a tour boat which will take you along the River Seine. Your helpful tour guide will give you a brief history of the monuments and attractions as you pass them. This is the best time to ask any questions you may have, and you can also ask your tour guide to take a few snapshots of you in the forefront of some of the world’s most famous locations. At the end of the boat tour, you will then sit down to an appetizing lunch at the 58 Tour Eiffel restaurant, before you are taken safely back to your hotel.
If you have a few hours to wile away in Paris before your flight, or you have a packed itinerary, the Bistro-Style Seine River Dinner Cruise is an excellent choice. The extremely affordable price tag is also great for the budget traveler, at around $40 per person for a 75 minute cruise along the River Seine. You’ll embark from Ile de la Cite and cruise past Paris’ waterfront in the early evening, enjoying famous attractions such as the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, you can upgrade to include wine or champagne to your package, to accompany your three course meal.
This tour offers a glossy brochure containing all the information you need to fully enjoy each tourist attraction you see along the way, and makes a great keepsake. You’ll learn all about the gothic architecture of the Notre Dame Cathedral, and enjoy taking in the splendor of the Hotel de Ville and Musee d’Orsay. It should be noted that depending on the time of year you’re in Paris, the boat tour route will vary. During the summer you’ll enjoy a more extensive route, while due to higher water levels of the River Seine, from November to April the boat cruise will take a shorter route, beginning and ending at the Eiffel Tower.
Photo by Joe deSousa
