Is it possible to board a boat from the 4th to take it to the tower? or just a metro or bus?
Thanks!

You could take the Batobus from the Quai de l'Hôtel de Ville to the Port de la Bourdonnais. I wouldn't pay Batobus prices just for that one ride, though.

Don't know about a boat, but you can get the 69 bus on the rue de Rivoli to get to the Tower. I think the Batobus only runs in the summer, but you might catch it at Notre Dame which is a pretty easy walk.

You can grab the Batobus from the Jardin des Plantes or from Notre Dame, both of which are just across the river from the 4th.

http://www.batobus.com/english/index.htm

Taxi.

Hi cc,

You can buy a daypass for www.batobus.com and get on and off.

Thanks Ira...
I was looking into the batobus and interested in getting the 2 day pass but it wasn't available. the 1 day pass didn't seem to make sense since i will be going to the eiffel tower around 6 PM or so.

Just cross the river and take the RER C from Saint Michel. Direct. 1 metro ticket.

Metro, and I'll tell you why
First, cheap. Why take cab? And if you are going to be in paris for any period of time, you will end up using the Metro anyways...
But that's not the main reason If you have not been before, or even if you have, if you get off at Trocadero Metro stop and cross over street and walk between the two large buildings (Palais de Chaillot) you will get a memorable (breathtaking even) view of the Tower from across the river. Then you cross over and go up.

If you are a walker, it is a lovely way to go. I have walked it several times with stops for a coffee etc. Very enjoyable.

The original post is somewhat confusing. The title asks for the "best" way to get to the Eiffel tower from the 4th, yet the post asks specifically about a boat. "Best" is a rather subjective term. If the OP is looking for the best way on a boat to get from the 4th to the ET, then yes batobus is undoubtedly the best.However, depending on the location in the 4th a metro/rer/bus option is probably A) more cost effective and B) quicker.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions!
I think I'll be going my metro - it's quicker.
I'd love to go by boat but I think I'll save that for another day.

The on/off day pass on batobus is a lot of fun. We used it to get us to most of the sites we saw (due to weather and other factors, we only had one full day of sigthseeing. Boat took us to Notre Dame (from there we walked up to Pantheon.) And Eiffel Tower. It stops also at Louvre - that is where we got on, but Louvre for us was a full day - not part of a sightseeing day.

You really should try the bus. It's the same cost as the metro, and shouldn't take too much longer. Plus the 69 bus is famous for passing all sorts of other great landmarks.

However, I do agree that the approach to the tower from Trocadero is quite beautiful.