The Paris River Bus

Paris is beautiful from a boat.

Well, it would be beautiful from anywhere, I suppose, but a boat is a good way to see the sights along the Seine river in relative comfort.

There are various boat companies running sightseeing tours. A 1-hour cruise on Vedettes de Paris — the boat pictured passing under the gorgeous Pont Alexandre III bridge above — costs 14 €. Vedettes du Pont Neuf is currently running a spring promo, with erstwhile 14 € cruises now only 9-10 €. Cruise tours by Bateaux Parisiens also cost 14 €.

But for just a couple more euros, a one-day Batobus pass (16 €) will allow you to get on and off as often as you like, or stay on the boat the whole day if you should feel like it. The two-day pass is an even better value at 19 €. Batobus has 8 stops along the river — including ones near the Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame, the Hotel de Ville, and the Louvre — so it’s a great way not only to see the sights along the river but also to get from one Paris attraction to another.

In our case, we were staying at the Grand Hotel du Loiret, only a stone’s throw away from the Hotel de Ville and a short walk from the Batobus stop of the same name, so we found being able to hop-on and hop-off very convenient.

The Batobus is especially invaluable during inclement weather. It rained constantly the last time we were in Paris, so sometimes we would just stay inside the boat and sightsee from its dry, warm seats.