Guide · Dinner on the river

A Paris dinner cruise, from first course to the lit Eiffel Tower

A Paris dinner cruise sets a table on the Seine while the monuments light up. Here is how the boats differ in length, departure time, menu, dress code and price.

Check availabilityfrom $75 · free cancellation possible

Editorial team, champagnecruiseparis.comUpdated October 26, 2026Read time: 6 min14 sources

Bookable here: the tour Paris: Seine River Panoramic Views Dinner Cruise 4.3 (11,893 reviews) 105 min from$75per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Quick answer, before you reserve

01Most booked: 105 minutes from Port de Javel Haut, cocotte dishes, from $75.
02Longest evening: 2.5 hours with live music from the Eiffel Tower, from $133.
03Champagne to start: A Champagne dinner cruise with a singer and a welcome glass, from $127.
04Dress: From casual with no shorts to formal clothes, depending on the sailing.¹ ²
05Late sailings: 8:30 pm sailings are back at 10:45 pm or 23:00, depending on the boat.³

What a dinner on the Seine is like

A Paris dinner cruise is a restaurant that moves. You board at a quay, sit at a table set by a large window, and the courses arrive while the Louvre, the Musée d'Orsay, Notre-Dame and the bridges slide past. As the evening goes on, the stone of the quays turns gold under the floodlights, and if your boat is near the Eiffel Tower at the start of an hour after dusk you see it sparkle for 5 minutes.⁴

The details vary a lot from boat to boat, which is why reading the listing matters more than the photo. Some boats sail for well under 2 hours and keep the menu simple; others make an evening of it with live music, several courses and a set dress code. Some seat everyone in one long glass room, others say plainly that not every table has a window unless you book a higher tier.

A Seine river dinner cruise also means sharing the experience. The big boats carry many tables, and service runs to a timetable that has to match the departure. If you want quiet, the smaller boats and the early sailings tend to feel calmer, and our page on the private Seine cruise covers the option of an evening with no other guests at all, Champagne in hand but without a full dinner.

A late dinner sailing

How the evening runs

From 7 pm

Welcome

Staff greet guests at the Pont de l'Alma hall.
From 7:30 pm

Boarding

Find your table; most are by the windows.
8:30 pm

Departure

The boat leaves as the monuments light up.
On the hour

The sparkle

The Eiffel Tower sparkles for 5 minutes after dusk.⁴
10:45 pm

Back at the quay

Time for a walk along the river.

Early or late: choosing your sailing time

Dinner boats usually offer an early and a late sailing, and the two feel different. The most booked Paris dinner cruise on GetYourGuide lists departures including 6:45 pm and 9:30 pm, boarding 10 minutes before. A Champagne dinner cruise with a live singer sails at 6:45 pm and 9:15 pm. The early boat suits families and anyone who wants daylight on the first course; the late one belongs to the lights.

The tourist office lists a Bateaux Parisiens dinner at 6.15 pm, timed so you see the landmarks at sunset, back at the dock at 7.30 pm.⁵ ⁶ The same company's full dinner leaves at 20:30 and returns at 23:00, with registration closing at 20:00.³ Bateaux Mouches also leaves at 8:30 pm, from the Pont de l'Alma, and asks you to come 30 minutes early.⁷

Light depends on the month. In mid-June Paris has about 16.1 hours of daylight, so a 9:30 pm sailing still starts in a long dusk, while in December daylight falls to about 8.3 hours and even the early boat sails in darkness.⁸ If seeing the city lit up is the point, any sailing works in winter; in summer, the later one is the safer bet.

Reviews

How many guests have reviewed each dinner cruise

reviews

Review counts as each GetYourGuide listing shows them.

Side by side

Paris dinner cruises at a glance

Dinner	Length	Boards at	Price
Cocotte dishes, terrace	105 min	Port de Javel Haut	from $75
3 courses, live music	2.5 hrs	Eiffel Tower, pontoons 5/7	from $133
Dinner, Pont de l'Alma	2.5 hrs	Pont de l'Alma	from $132
Champagne & singer	1.5 to 2 hrs	Port de Solférino	from $127

Starting prices per guest from each listing; menus, drinks and seating tiers change the final sum.

Three dinners

Short and simple, long with music, or late from the Alma

Most reviewed

Cocotte dinner

Terrace, small groups

Length: 105 min
Sailings: 6:45 / 9:30 pm
Price: from $75

See the menus

Paris: 3-Course-Dinner Cruise on the Seine with live music

Rated 4.68

Dinner with live music

Smart casual

Length: 2.5 hrs
Check-in: Ends 15 min before
Price: from $133

See the menus

Paris: Bateaux Mouches® Dinner Cruise on the Seine River

Back 10:45 pm

Late dinner from the Alma

Departs 8:30 pm

Length: 2.5 hrs
Children: 4 to 12 reduced
Price: from $132

See the menus

Decision helper

Which dinner boat suits your evening?

Pick the line closest to your plan.

We want good value and a shorter night We want music and a long evening We want Champagne from the start We want the lights, very late We have a baby with us

The cocotte dinner

105 minutes from Port de Javel Haut.

The live music dinner

2.5 hours from the Eiffel Tower, smart casual.

The Champagne dinner

A complimentary glass and a live singer.

The 8:30 pm sailing

Back at the quay at 10:45 pm.

The Alma dinner

Under 4s are free on that boat.

Casual dress is required (no shorts, flip-flops or sportswear).

Paris je t'aime - Office de Tourisme de ParisSource 1

Menus, drinks and Champagne on board

Menus range from homely to formal. The 105-minute cruise from Port de Javel Haut serves traditional French dishes in cocotte style, with an outdoor terrace for photos between courses. The 2.5-hour cruise from the Eiffel Tower serves 3 courses with live music, and a vegetarian menu is available on request. The Champagne dinner cruise starts with a complimentary glass of Champagne and says its menu is a sample that may vary.

On the Bateaux Parisiens 8.30 pm dinner described by the tourist office, some menus include a glass of Champagne as an aperitif along with a bottle of white and a bottle of red wine for every 4 guests, and vegetarian options exist for each course.⁹ ¹⁰ On its early 6.15 pm sailing, the Premier service pours a glass of champagne for the aperitif and again with dessert.⁵ ¹¹

If Champagne is what draws you, check whether the listing names it and how much is included. A welcome glass is not a bottle, and a service tier that includes Champagne may cost more than the basic table. Champagne is a protected appellation from a region about 150 km north-east of Paris, so a menu that says Champagne should mean exactly that.¹² ¹³

Checklist

Before your dinner on the Seine

Wear and bring

Smart clothes: no shorts, flip-flops or sportswear
A jacket for the deck between courses
A small bag: bags may be checked

Book and check

Arrive 30 minutes before on the big boats⁷
Whether Champagne is in your menu tier
The child price rule
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before

Price check

What dinner on the river costs your table

Choose a dinner cruise and the number of guests.

Cocotte dinner105 minfrom $75 Live music2.5 hrsfrom $133 Alma dinner2.5 hrsfrom $132 Champagne & singer1.5 to 2 hrsfrom $127

People 2

Total from$150

per traveler from $75

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Totals take each cruise's lowest starting fare on GetYourGuide or Viator times your head count, turned into your currency with the ECB daily rate; a boat priced per boat costs the same however many sail, so trust its checkout.

Video

An evening aboard a Paris dinner boat

The player loads on your tap, not before.

What to wear on a dinner cruise

What to wear on a dinner cruise depends on the boat, and the listings are specific. The Bateaux Parisiens early dinner asks for casual dress with no shorts, flip-flops or sportswear.¹ Its 8.30 pm dinner requires formal clothes, with the same exclusions.² The 2.5-hour cruise with live music from the Eiffel Tower sets the dress code at smart casual. When in doubt, dress as you would for a good restaurant in town.

Think about the temperature too. Inside the glass rooms it is warm, but you will want to step onto the deck or terrace for photos, and the river is cooler than the street. Average lows in Paris run from 3.2 °C in January to 16.2 °C in July, so a jacket earns its place for most of the year.⁸ Flat shoes help on gangways and ramps down to the quays.

Leave room in your plans for security too. One dinner listing notes that bags may be opened before boarding and that check-in ends 15 minutes before departure. A small bag and an arrival with time to spare make the start of the evening much calmer than rushing down the ramp as the gangway is pulled in.

Which is the best dinner cruise in Paris?

There is no single best dinner cruise in Paris, but there are clear best fits. For value and a shorter evening, the 105-minute cocotte cruise from Port de Javel Haut is the most reviewed, with 11,893 reviews and a rating of 4.31, from $75. For the highest score among the big dinners, the 2.5-hour cruise with live music from the Eiffel Tower holds 4.68 from 8,505 reviews, from $133.

The Bateaux Mouches dinner from the Pont de l'Alma lasts 2.5 hours, welcomes guests from 7 pm, boards from 7:30 pm, departs at 8:30 pm and is back at 10:45 pm, from $132. It notes that most tables, though not all, are by the windows, with a higher option for priority seating. If a window matters, book the tier that promises it.

Families should read the child rules. The Bateaux Mouches dinner gives a reduced rate to children aged 4 to 12 and lets under 4s in free. On the Bateaux Parisiens 8.30 pm dinner, by contrast, the menu is paid for every child from 0 to 11, babies included.¹⁴ A shorter early sailing is usually the gentler choice with young children.

Dinner cruise or dinner ashore?

A dinner cruise costs more than a bistro, and the food is rarely the main reason to book one. You pay for the setting: an evening of Paris unfolding beside your table, the floodlit facades, the bridges passing overhead. If that is the evening you want, the price buys something no restaurant on land can offer, and for a celebration it is easy to plan.

If you care most about the food, eat ashore and take a shorter river hour instead. A 1-hour evening cruise with music from the Eiffel Tower starts from $29, and you can be back on land in time for a late table. A private boat with Champagne included for 1.5 hours is another way to keep the river and the meal separate.

Whichever you choose, book early for weekends and the summer, keep the cancellation cut-off in mind, and pick the sailing by the light you want. Each dinner listing on this page lets you cancel for your money back until a day before you sail.

Your own boat