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Best Seine River cruise without dinner

Headed to Paris next month and want to do the Seine River cruise at night and see the city lit up. I see that sunset is late at about 10:00pm. What cruise is best and what time to depart? No dinner cruises! thank you!

Posted by
8035 posts

I think it doesn't matter; they are all pretty similar so pick the one tht launches from near where you are. The Vedettes Pont Neuf launch as you would expect from below Pont Neuf and use somewhat smaller boats. If you want to walk around the deck choose one of the others. You can prepay on line for the VPN and save a couple of Euro; the voucher is good for a ticket any time you walk up. But they are all inexpensive and run the same route. No need to plan ahead, just pick a day and grab the one near you. (There are sites near Pont d'Alma and near the Eiffel Tower and perhaps others as well.

Posted by
2123 posts

Hi Lei, we took the. Bateau Parisian cruise the other night and it was fine. Part of the boat is enclosed so it's a good choice if it's raining or cold. You board right by the Eiffel Tower. The Bateau Mouches is at Pt Alma (5 min walk from ET) and has a totally open second deck, that might be a better choice for a nice day or evening. Both are nice and inexpensive.

Posted by
2261 posts

As Janet says, it probably doesn't matter much. We also did the Vedettes Pont Neuf and it was fine. What we could not control, however was the group of fifty or so French sixth graders who came around the corner and onto the bridge and boarded with their chaperones immediately after us! It was a great time, but just a little noisier than we had expected-so romantic! I have told my wife several times that I owe her a river cruise in Paris, which I will make good on in the fall.

Posted by
335 posts

Personally, I avoid the Bateau Mouche as the boats are much larger and overrun with hordes of tour bus folks. The one time I used the Bateau Parisien, the roof of the boat was solid, not glass, so it was hard to see the lighted buildings along the river. My preference is the Vedette Pont Neuf.

Posted by
183 posts

We did the evening cruise at 10 pm , they all use the same route , I think we used the bateau Parisian which was just down from the Eiffel Tower , bought tickets that evening with no problem , once it was over we walked along the seine river and stopped and sat and had a glass of wine from one of the small booths along the river ,and enjoyed the evening