Seine River Cruise and Canal St Martin

No, there is none, and I would not recommend the Canal Saint Martin cruises. They are very, very slow (locks after locks after locks) and there are no sights per se. However, it is very pleasant to wander along the canal (the stretch south of Jardin Villemin), and in surrounding streets (rue des Vinaigriers, de Lancry, de Marseille, Beaurepaire...)

Canauxrama does a two-hour tour with a bit of both.

The Canal Saint Martin boat tour is the most boring and coldest thing to do in Paris in my opinion. I've done it three times.

Were you thinking of this as an activity for your whole large group + the infant and toddler or were you thinking of it for just a few of you?

I’ll echo those who say the Canal cruises are dull. Never again. Unless I have insomnia.

For novelty, I like St-Martin, partly because about a third of the route is in a tunnel. Novel, not scenic, and one-time-only experience for me. I like the locks, sometimes high enough above the street as to stare into apartment windows. Except for being on water, this voyage has little in common with the big Seine boats.

At the Villette basin end, other attractions include the relatively new philharmonic hall, a technology museum and a music museum, plus fairly convenient Metro transport to the city core.

the canal st. Martin trip is like watching paint dry. A great option for someone who can't walk much and can then sit and watch parts of Paris they would not often see glide by. But really really dull otherwise.

Canauxrama does a two-hour tour with a bit of both.

Well I stand corrected! I had no idea that the long tunnel to the Bastille still saw boat service. It sounds even more boring.

I've done only the Canauxrama two-hour Seine cruise that started from the Arsenal, an old bost-construction port. That one immediately goes through the locks into the Seine with, metros running on tracks above your head. It's very interesting. I can't imagine the Canal would be interesting.

If the Canal excursion starts at the Arsenal Bassin then the first part is interesting. The canal goes underground, with dramatic round skylights overhead, and then opens up to the open channel that you always see pictures of. Unless you are a HUGE fan of locks and man-made water systems, this open-channel part is quite boring...you go through many locks. This takes FOREVER. Interesting for the first couple but then there are many more after that - it's really too much for most people's interest level. I would walk from Bastille, through the parklets that have the openings to the skylights, and then eventually come to the open channel of the Canal St. Martin - it's just as good to walk along it, rather than be trapped on a boat you can't get off of. If you are looking for lunch around there, there's a great little restaurant just east of the canal called Bernadette that specializes in galettes...highly recommend! They are closed on Mondays, as are many neighborhood restaurants.

I guess it's whatever floats your boat (hee, hee hee!) but we loved the Saint Martin canal boat ride. It was a lovely change from tromping all over Paris by foot and we liked that it was smaller and much less crowded than the Seine boats. We sat up top with our sketch books, sipping hot coffee, enjoyed dropping through the locks. getting to peek into the various neighborhoods, seeing the Parisians exercising along the banks. It was very enjoyable to us. The long tunnel was great fun, chugging through the pitch black tunnels from light hole to light hole, watching little silver fish in the pools of light coming down from the skylights above and inching past boats coming the other way. Popped out in a charming little inlet full of the cutest little houseboats.