Paris - best boat cruise

Based purely on what I've read in guidebooks (no personal experience) and on the fast that I would prefer a smaller boat, I'd go with Bateaux Vedettes du Pont-Neuf as recommended by George.

If you blow off everything that serves grub (which you should and apparently have), that leaves bateaux-mouches and batobus on the main river.

Batobus is a day/night hop on/off affair with eight or nine convenient stops. Bateaux-mouches has a single boarding point on the right bank roughly across from the Invalides, but about a quarter-mile downstream. The nearest metro stop is also about a quarter-mile away. If you try to approach the landing from the north (along the Champs) it's a half-mile hike because of the street pattern in the area. I'm not a fan of walking the right bank quai in the day since the sun is in your eyes as you look across the river. Additionally, the left bank is better at night since, as you look across the river, there's a steeper gradiant to the north which lets you see more lights.

They both turn around at the same spot to the east (botanical gardens). Batobus turns around to the west just after passing under the Pont de l'Alama bridge. I think bateaux-mouches goes a bit further west; to me this is not an advantage since the average tourist doesn't go down there anyway and there's not much to see.

Searching distant memory, I think bateaux-mouches has an inconsequential narration. Batobus does not, but with a map on your lap you can easily figure everything out. Bateaux-mouches costs about ten euros. Batobus is a couple more for a one-day pass and only a tad more for a two-day deal. The batobus boats are smaller, so you don't have to look across a throng to see what's on the other side of the boat.

With it's multiple stops and hop on/off feature, batobus is an alternative way to get around. Additionally, if you're pooped, you can jump on and rest for a loop or two while you build up steam for your next sally.

I love the batobus and feel it is a great way to get around. The only issue I had with it was that when I was there (August) it was not possible to do a complete loop in the dark to enjoy seeing all the lights, etc. If your goal is to see the river in daylight, the batobus is the way to go, as you can hop on and off all day. We had a 5 day pass and used it frequently. If you want to do a night cruise, it might not work for you.

We enjoyed the night cruise:www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/ . Their website contains a discount coupon which they honor. It is particularly appealing if you are staying in the area near Notre Dame/Pont Neuf where it originates. This is not a dinner cruise.

Andrea has a very valid point. In August, according to the batobus site, the thing closes at 9:30, which is right at sunset for early that month.

Guess which idiot has apparently never ridden the thing at night in the summer?

Keri,

If you take a sunset cruise at nine pm and the Bateaux Parisien leave from the Notre Dame end at 20h20, 21h40, 23h00 and take one hour (all according to their web site) and the sun set in Paris at about 9:50 last week:

Case 1 -- The '9:00' cruise actually started at 8:20. The turn around point at the west end is more than half way, call it forty minutes for grins. The sun was still way up in the sky when the boat was headed west and did not set until after the boat returned to Notre Dame.

Case 2 -- The '9:00' cruise actually started at 9:40. It would take the boat, minimally, ten minutes to swing the eastern end of Ile Saint-Louis and get headed west -- making it at about the time the sun disappeard below the horizon. Well, not quite -- sunset tables are generally published for sea level, but some are modified for altitude of the site -- it doesn't really matter since on a boat in Paris you're sitting in a thirty foot deep ditch and have buildngs and such sticking up further between you and the setting sun. Nuts! The sun would have already disappeared by the time you settled into your seat and looked back over your left shoulder -- nope, it'd be worse since there's the issue of the Pont au Double being right behind you, or if you're a bit further down the quai there's this great big church in the way.

Keri, I just don't think that you can see the sun set from the Bateaux Parisien with a Notre Dame start this time of year. Maybe you could charter one or something, or maybe starting from the Eiffel Tower end would work out better -- they leave every half hour until ten-thirty from down there so you should be able to work out the timing. The cost is eleven euros, a tad cheaper than batobus. Mid-July sunset is still about 9:45, dropping to around 9:00 in mid-August.

The OP never mentioned wanting to take the boat at sunset, she was just wondering about the best option for a boat cruise.

Not knowing if she wanted to do this in daylight or in the dark to enjoy the river at night I wanted her to know her options.

Ed - Don't be so hard on yourself! :-)

Wow! Thanks for all this good input. FWIW, we were originally thinking of something for during the day ... spotted the Bateaux-M dock as we ran across the bridge yesterday, dodging raindrops. The original idea was to get some water-vantage point photos, but the weather today (and for the next few days) is on the gloomy side. The descriptions of the night cruise alternative is something to look into! (Of course, that means dragging the spouse away from the evening World Cup game. ;-> )

we did a night cruise 2 or 3 years back. It was a very enjoyable way to see the city since many buildings are lit up with floodlights. At that time they were also doing the light show on the Eiffel Tower (which I think may have been discontinued) and it was pretty cool to see from the river. It did get cool on the water and I wish I had brought a jacket.

I would definitely stay away from the batobus. we found it hot, time consuming, expensive, and slow. it is not a tour just supposed to get you from point a to point b on the river. take the metro, it's fast, cheap, easy, and cool on a hot day.

i can't comment on a boat tour as i have not taken one but the batobus was one of our least favorite things about paris.