Guide · Tickets

Seine river cruise tickets, explained before you buy

Seine river cruise tickets are not all alike: some are open-dated for weeks, some are timed to the minute, and a pass lets you hop on and off. Here is what each kind gives you.

Check availabilityfrom $21 · free cancellation possible

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

Bookable here: the tour Paris: 1-Hour Seine Cruise departing from the Eiffel Tower 4.4 (88,509 reviews) 1 hour from$21per person Check availabilityFree cancellation up to 24 hrs before

Quick answer, before you pay

01Cheapest hour: Shared sightseeing tickets start from $20 to $21 on the big fleets.
02Most flexible: A Bateaux Mouches ticket is valid 365 days; the busiest Eiffel Tower loop lets you use it up to 30 days later.
03Timed tickets: Champagne and apéro boats run on timed tickets: board 20 minutes before.¹
04Children: Under 4 travel free on the Eiffel Tower loop; the Batobus child fare covers 3 to 15.²
05Cancelling: Cancel free until a day ahead on the tickets compared here.

What a cruise ticket actually buys

Seine river cruise tickets look interchangeable on a booking page, but they buy different things. A sightseeing ticket buys a seat on a shared loop of about an hour. A Champagne or apéro ticket adds a drink and often fixes your departure time. A hop-on pass buys a day or two of boat rides between stops. A dinner or lunch ticket buys a table and a menu. And a private cruise buys the whole boat, priced per boat rather than per person.¹

The first question is therefore not where to buy but which ticket logic suits your trip. If your days in Paris are loose, an open-dated sightseeing ticket removes all pressure: you walk to the pier when the sky looks good. If you want a particular moment, the first sparkle of the Eiffel Tower or a table by the window at dinner, a timed ticket is what secures it, and you plan the rest of the day around it.³

Booking a Seine river cruise online settles the date and the price; it does not shorten the boarding line. On the shared boats you still queue to board with everyone else, and in peak season that line can be long. One day-or-sunset listing warns that waits at busy times can reach 2 hours, which is a strong argument for avoiding the most popular summer evening slots.

From booking to boarding

How a cruise ticket works, step by step

When you book

Pick the ticket type

Open-dated for flexibility, timed for a Champagne slot or a meal.⁴ ¹
Right after

Check the pier

Port de la Bourdonnais, Port de Suffren or the Pont de l'Alma are different quays.⁵ ⁶
Before you leave

Note the cut-off

Free cancellation ends 24 hours before on these listings.
On the day

Arrive early

20 minutes for timed boats, 30 for meal cruises.¹ ⁷
At the pier

Show your ticket

The private cruise accepts a mobile or paper ticket, one per booking.

Open-dated tickets: the flexible choice

The most booked sightseeing hour from the Eiffel Tower sells tickets you can use up to 30 days after the date you picked, on a boat that leaves every 30 minutes from 10 am to 10 pm between April and September. The Paris tourist office describes the same fleet's tickets as not time-stamped, so you can take any departure of the day.⁴ That combination is ideal when you are not sure which evening will be clear.

Bateaux Mouches stretches flexibility furthest. Its sightseeing ticket on GetYourGuide is valid 365 days and boards at Port de la Conférence by the Pont de l'Alma, with departures through the day from 10:00 am to 9:30 pm, from $20. The tourist office gives the trip as about 1 hour 10 minutes with departures every 30 minutes.⁶ ⁸

Open-dated does not mean unlimited. You still need to arrive within the operating hours, and the tickets cover one ride, not a return trip later. Keep the confirmation on your phone, check the pier name before you set off, and remember that the Eiffel Tower piers and the Pont de l'Alma quay are different places, so a ticket for one fleet will not get you onto the other.

Flexibility

How long after the booked date a ticket still works

days

Days a ticket can still be used after the date chosen, as each listing states.

Ticket types

Which ticket does what

Ticket	Valid	Time	Price
Sightseeing, Eiffel Tower	Up to 30 days later	Any departure	from $21
Sightseeing, Pont de l'Alma	365 days	Any departure	from $20
Hop-on pass, 9 stops	1 or 2 days	Starts at first ride	from $27
Champagne glass, shared	Booked date	Timed	from $37
Dinner, 105 min	Booked date	Timed	from $75
Private boat & Champagne	Booked date	Timed, per boat	from $457

Starting prices from each listing; only the booking page gives the exact sum for your date and group.

Three tickets

Open-dated, long-valid or hop-on

Most booked

Eiffel Tower hour

Use within 30 days

Length: 1 hr
Departures: Every 30 min in summer
Price: from $21

Check dates

Paris: Bateaux Mouches® Sightseeing Cruise on the Seine

Longest validity

Pont de l'Alma hour

Valid 365 days

Hours: 10 am to 9:30 pm
Parking: Free, 20 m away
Price: from $20

Check dates

Paris: Hop-On Hop-Off Seine Cruise Pass with 9 Stops

Transport

Hop-on boat pass

9 stops on the river

Valid: 1 or 2 days
Strollers: Fold-up allowed
Price: from $27

Check dates

Decision helper

Which ticket fits your days in Paris?

Start from how fixed your plans are.

My days are loose I might come back next year I want to get around by boat I want a toast at a set time We want our own boat

An open-dated sightseeing ticket

Usable up to 30 days after the booked date.

The long-valid ticket

Valid 365 days from the Pont de l'Alma.

A hop-on pass

9 stops, 1 or 2 days.

A timed Champagne ticket

Board 20 minutes before departure.

The private cruise

Priced per boat for up to 8.

Tickets are not time-stamped, so the cruise can be taken at any time of day, depending on the various departure times.

Paris je t'aime - Office de Tourisme de ParisSource 4

Timed tickets: Champagne, apéro and meals

Once a drink or a meal is involved, tickets usually carry a fixed time. The Vedettes de Paris apéro cruise sells a timed ticket and asks you to arrive 20 minutes before the time printed on it.¹ A shared Champagne cruise from the Eiffel Tower boards 20 minutes before departure and sails roughly every 45 minutes, from $37. Miss the slot and the boat goes without you.

Meal cruises are stricter still. One Bateaux Parisiens dinner closes registration at 20:00 for a 20:30 departure, and the lunch cruise of the same company asks guests to arrive 30 minutes early.⁹ ⁷ The Bateaux Mouches dinner leaves at 8:30 pm from the Pont de l'Alma with a request to arrive 30 minutes before.¹⁰ Treat these like restaurant bookings with a departure board attached.

A private boat sits in between. The Champagne cruise this site books asks you to arrive 15 minutes early and waits up to 60 minutes for latecomers, though any delay comes out of your 1.5 hours, and a no-show gets no refund. Bookings close 2 hours before the start, so it suits a plan made the same morning as long as a boat is free.

Checklist

Before you pay for a cruise ticket

Check on the listing

Open-dated or timed
Mobile ticket or voucher to exchange
The free cancellation cut-off
Child ages and infant rules

Plan around it

Arrival time before departure
Which bank and which pier
A rain layer for a damp day

Price check

Tickets for your whole group

Choose a ticket and the number of guests.

Eiffel Tower hour1 hrfrom $21 Pont de l'Alma hour365 daysfrom $20 Hop-on pass1 or 2 daysfrom $27 Evening, music1 hrfrom $29

People 2

Total from$42

per traveler from $21

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

Choosing and booking a cruise on the Seine

The player loads on your tap, not before.

What a Seine river cruise costs

What a Seine river cruise costs depends almost entirely on what is added to the hour. Shared sightseeing starts from $20 on the Bateaux Mouches ticket and from $21 on the Eiffel Tower loop. An evening cruise with music starts from $29, and a sunset or day ticket with an ice cream or dessert ashore from $26.

Add a glass of Champagne at the bar and the starting price rises to $37; a sommelier tasting of three Champagnes starts from $91. Meals sit higher: the 105-minute dinner from Port de Javel Haut from $75, the 2-hour lunch from the Eiffel Tower from $91 and the 2.5-hour dinner with live music from $133.

The private Champagne boat is priced per boat, from $457 for the standard boat of up to 4; the larger boats take 8. Every figure here is a from price that the booking page converts into your currency and confirms with the date, so treat them as a way to compare, not as a quote. Children change the sum too: the Eiffel Tower loop lets under 4s ride free, and the tourist office lists a child fare for ages 4 to 11.¹¹

Hop-on passes and combined tickets

If you want the river as transport rather than a show, the Batobus pass is the ticket to look at. It is valid for 1 or 2 days and stops at the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d'Orsay, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Notre-Dame, the Jardin des Plantes, the Hôtel de Ville, the Louvre, the Champs-Élysées and Les Invalides. The pass starts when you first board, fold-up strollers are allowed, and it starts from $27.

The tourist office sells 24-hour and 48-hour Batobus passes and sets its child fare at ages 3 to 15 inclusive.¹² ² Its listing for the summer of 2026 gives first and last departures from the Eiffel Tower stop of 10:00 to 19:00 from Sunday to Wednesday and 10:00 to 20:00 from Thursday to Saturday, so it suits daytime sightseeing rather than a night out.

Combined tickets bundle a cruise with something on land, from museum entries to cabaret evenings. One evening pairs the first show at the Moulin Rouge with Champagne and a Seine cruise ticket valid from the next day for up to 6 months, from $300. Bundles can save a step, but check the cruise part: often it is the standard sightseeing hour, used on another day.

When to book, and how to cancel

For a shared sightseeing hour, booking a Seine river cruise a day or two ahead is usually plenty, and an open-dated ticket can be bought the morning you go. For a timed Champagne slot near sunset, a dinner table at the window or a private boat on a weekend evening, book as soon as your dates are firm, then keep the flexibility the listings allow.

Drop any GetYourGuide ticket on this page more than 24 hours out and it costs you nothing; most can also be held today and paid for nearer the date. On Viator, the private boat returns your whole payment if you call it off 24 hours or more ahead and nothing later, and its operator can scrap a sailing in bad weather. Write the cut-off time in your calendar the day you book.

Weather is the usual reason to move a cruise. Through most of the year Paris counts about 8 to 10 rainy days a month (1 mm or more), so a wet hour is always possible.¹³ Glassed shared boats cope well with rain; a small open private boat does not, which is one more reason to keep that 24-hour window in mind.

Your own boat

A boat, a glass and the lights of Paris.

Private for up to 8, Champagne included, priced per boat, free cancellation up to 24 hours.

Check datesfrom $457 · free cancellation possible 5.0 · 1,838 reviews, verified

You ask,we answer.

Where can I buy Seine river cruise tickets?

Online, from the operators' resellers or the tourist office. The listings on this page sell tickets online with free cancellation, and the Paris tourist office also sells cruise tickets in its online shop.¹⁴

Do I need to book a sightseeing cruise in advance?

Not always. Open-dated tickets can be used on any departure, and the Eiffel Tower loop accepts them up to 30 days after the booked date.⁴

What does the cheapest shared cruise cost?

From about $20 for a shared hour. Champagne, meals or a private boat raise the price; the private cruise starts from $457 per boat.

Are children free on Seine cruises?

Under 4 often are. The Eiffel Tower loop carries under 4s free; the Batobus child fare covers ages 3 to 15.²

Can I cancel a cruise ticket?

Usually up to 24 hours before. Each ticket here can be cancelled for your money back until 24 hours before you sail.

How early should I arrive with a timed ticket?

About 20 to 30 minutes. Apéro boats ask for 20 minutes, the lunch and dinner boats for 30.¹ ⁷ ¹⁰

Is a hop-on hop-off boat pass worth it?

If you use the river to get around. The pass covers 9 stops for 1 or 2 days and starts when you first board.