Seine River night cruise w/ Vedette du Pont Neuf

yeah, if you get off w the main crowd, you're fine; when I took the cruise in 21, the most 'unsafe' part was walking up the stairs from the dock. there was construction but it's now gone.

for the 9:15 cruise, they probably will hold the ship at the ET until the lights come on - that's what they did when I took a cruise that was the last one officially before sunset. you can contact them to confirm, tho.

The lights don’t shimmer until it is dark. We last visited Paris in July 2022 and took a late cruise so the kids could see the shimmer. It is important to arrive very early so you get one of the seats on the open top deck. We got there about 45-60 minutes before departure and ran up the steps when they opened the gate. We got the last seats and we were early ad fast.

We are in Paris now and the Eiffel Tower lights up at about 9:30 (dusk) and sparkles for 5 minutes on the hour at 10:00 and 11:00. (My understanding is that the lights turn off at 11:45.) We took the Vedettes du Pont Neuf one-hour cruise on Friday at 9:45 and they got us to the sparkling tower by 10. Lovely, even in the rain. You may want to arrange for a later trip.

I'm thinking with sunset closer to 10:00 in June that it would need to be a 9:15 cruise(?). Has anyone ever taken one of those from the Pont Neuf and in June/summer?

Hi Kristi, we took a Seine River cruise with Vedettes du Pont Neuf in early-July, and similarly attempted to sync our cruise to coincide with changing skies over the city. It all worked out; but took some planning, especially to get front-row seating for unblocked views of the buildings and monuments all lit up.

1. For the night you're considering, check https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/france/paris?month=6 to know when sunset hits.
2. Purchase a voucher ahead of time from Vedettes' website; print out to use/exchange (QR Code ticket) on that day.
3. Lineup to board the departure BEFORE the one you're planning to take, and follow the queue until you get to the front.
4. Once up to the stanchion, let the people behind you go past and tell the ticket-taker you'll wait (30 min) for the next departure.

Most Vedettes ships have a 3 x 3 seating configuration upfront, so those seats go immediately. Don't dwaddle! :)

If you time it right, you'll have the first thirty minutes - direction towards Eiffel Tower - at sunset; and the return ~30m leg with Paris all lit up. It's beautiful that time of night and enjoyed from the Seine. Have a great trip!

Maybe I am missing something. How is a Vedette cruise any better than say a Batobus trip? I bet the latter is a lot cheaper. but maybe I do not know enough about the Vedette cruise. Peter

The Batobus is more expensive than the cruises -- it is an all day hoho boat -- it has no commentary, I doubt it runs late at night, it currently is not open but has people crammed under the glass cover -- not a sightseeing experience. The cruises are cheap and Vedettes offers a slight discount if you buy on line. But they are cheap anyways. Batobus is 20 Euro and Vedettes pont Neuf is 14.

Thank you so much everyone! This is so incredibly helpful!!
Thank you for the wonderful details on how to make the most of the experience! And for those who are still in Paris at the moment enjoy!!
Sincerely,
Kristi