Bateaux Parisiens River Cruise

I don't think Bateaux Parisiens goes from anywhere other than their Eiffel Tower location. Notre Dame (Ile de la Cite) is another outfit, Vedettes du Pont Neuf. Yes, they do a round trip cruise up river to just past Ile St Louis then return around and return in the other channel. The sparkles light up on the Eiffel Tower after dark for a minute or so on the hour.

Hi Bernadette!

We did the Bateaux Parisien dinner cruise a few years ago. At that time, there was only one location to meet the boat, not a choice. We VERY MUCH enjoyed the food, wine and atmosphere. Although it's a bit spendy we thought it well worth the price and had a wonderful evening gliding by all the lights - fantastic! We chose seats in the middle, elevated a step or two up from the window seats and still had great views. This dinner cruise was a bit more formal with more people but totally wonderful. We also took a dinner cruise on Le Calife on another trip. It is a much smaller, more intimate experience with fewer people. Not quite as elegant but the food, wine and views were all great. You are a bit closer to your neighbors on Le Calife if that matters to you. We really enjoyed both of the dinner cruises.

Oops, I just noticed you said WITHOUT dinner. Sorry I first missed that. Enjoy! Happy Travels!

I've been on the Bateaux river cruise three different trips - just the cruise, not the dinner cruise. I like to take the cruise in the evening because all of the buildings & bridges are beautiful lit up at night. Also, people are out walking or enjoying the evening with friends that you'll see along the river. You definitely want to sit on the top open level of the boat to see the views, so try to be ready to board as soon as they open the ramp.

My preference is to take the cruise that starts at the top of an hour, so we're going by the Eiffel Tower during the time it's twinkling. It sparkles at the top of the hour (10:00pm, for instance) for 5 minutes.

We hopped on the boat at the ramp at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
Just walked down the steps, bought our tickets out of a machine - had to wait about
15 - 30 minutes for our time. Boarded, sat on top - outside and loved seeing Paris at
night and all the lights mentioned above.
We were there in Feb - it was cold - but still loved it.

all of the Seine cruises are round trip loops. There is a dock under Pont Neuf, one by the Eiffel tower and one just upstream on the right bank from Pont d'Alma. I don't think it makes much difference which one you choose although the Vedettes du Pont Neuf are smaller boats and you can't really move around like on the big flat boats. Night is best.

We've taken both but not with lunch or dinner. We much prefer Vedettes du Pont Neuf over the Bateaux Parisiens. Overall it just seemed to be a better cruise and the guide / narrator was much better. We've done the cruises in the day and evening. Evening (dark) is definitely better. Just our experience.

I like the cruises (without a meal) both by day and by night; each is a different experience. They're inexpensive enough that you can do both.

I have not done Bateaux Parisiens. I preferred Vedettes du Pont-Neuf to Bateaux-Mouches because Bateaux-Mouches used recorded commentary in multiple languages. When a language was on that people didn't understand, they just shouted over it - very annoying. With Vedettes du Pont-Neuf, there is a live guide speaking French, then an English recording (at least that was the set up when I took it); this greatly reduced the rudeness, as people were much quieter even when "their" language wasn't on.

If you are interested in Vedettes du Pont-Neuf, buy advance tickets at a discount from their website (scroll down a bit, on the right): http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/home/

the Batobus in addition to being crowded and unpleasant in summer is more expensive than taking a river cruise. Yes it is an all day pass for 17 rather that about 13 for a cruise, but that is only a savings if you want to use it as a bus all day.

Thanks, everyone, for your input and suggestions!

If you want to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle I'd recommend taking either Vedettes du Pont Neuf on the half-hour or Bateaux Parisiennes on the hour.
The Eiffel Tower only sparkles for 5 minutes on the hour.
Make sure you check the sunset times before you take the cruise.