Seine River Cruise: Bateaux Mouches or Bateaux Vedettes?
 

I'm just asking for personal opinions here. I want to do a Seine river cruise one evening while in Paris, and I'm wondering which you all prefer and why.

Is there a big difference between the two?

Do you want a dinner cruise?
If not, the very inexpensive Batobus is a hop-on-hop-off boat. It doesn't serve food or drink. It stops at the 8 big tourist sites, but you can just stay on and do the entire loop.

However you do it, be sure to see Paris after dark from the Seine. A must do thing!

I would chose which ever one is docked closer to your hotel. I have gone on both of them several times and that is how I made my decisions. They seemed similar to me. Check their websites to make sure they both do the exact same route. One time I felt we didn't didn't go as far past the Eiffel Tower as I had on an earlier cruise.

Tabernash2: I was definitely planning to go after dark! Thanks for the Batobus tip!

Happytrvlr: Our hostel is in the 9th arrondissement, and it looks like Vedettes is closer, but not by a whole lot.

The Batobus is TRANSPORT, not a cruise - two totally different animals. Take the Vedettes du Pont Neuf - smaller boats and better narration. You can go to their website and get a discount coupon, too.

What St Cirq said. Also, time the cruise so when you make the turnaround by the Eiffel Tower it will be lit up. We really enjoyed the cruise, even the 'mooners' we encountered near Notre Dame. Those darn kids!

Ditto

Batobus is just what it says---a bus! no commentary, people pushing to get on and off. IMO, a terrible experience.

Our favorite is Vedettes
http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/

Thanks for the input about the difference between the Batobus and the cruises! Very good to know.

StCirq: I'll be checking for that coupon, thanks!

Michele: nothing like a little local colour to keep your trip interesting (re. the mooners)! :) Around what time should we go to see the tower lit up on the way back, would you say? Do you know what time they turn it on in June?

Looks like vedettes is getting all the votes!

You need to take the Vedettes du Pont Neuf on the half hour, e.g., the 9:30 cruise to be at the ET when it twinkles on the hour.

The coupon is good for any time, any date; you just have to pay for your ticket with credit card online and use the voucher when you show up for the cruise.

www.vedettesdupontneuf.com

Merci, grandmere! ;)

Ahiddenbird,

Agree that Vedettes is the best option. Night cruising is lovely. My only problem was that I was there in early summer and it really didn’t get dark until well after ten o’clock if I recall. Too late for Gram. :)

Not to beat a dead horse, but this was not our experience at all:
"Batobus is just what it says---a bus! no commentary, people pushing to get on and off. IMO, a terrible experience."

We certainly did not see overcrowding on the Batobus. It runs rather frequently, and each one we took was less than half full. I am sure it depends on the season, but we found it to be a great way to get around Paris when we wanted to sit down awhile. And a great way to see Paris from the Seine. No, it's not a "cruise", but you can stay on it for the entire loop and take your own mini-cruise.

It is a fabulous option for a family, or budget-conscious travelers.

At 15E per person per day, I would hardly call the Batobus a good option for the budget-conscious. For 13.30E you can get 10 métro/bus tickets.

You can get a multi-day pass on the Batobus, and it rides on the SEINE, not city streets.

I'm quite aware of where it rides. I still think it's a poor choice for transport. The multi-day passes, at 18E for 2 days and 21E for 5 days, are still not a bargain compared to other possibilities, and I can't imagine anyone wanting to move slowly down the river 5 days in a row, waiting up to 20 minutes for a boat to come along each time. If it suits you, fine. I like to get places more quickly than that, and can do so even by walking.

ahiddenbird,
Here is the Vendettes du Pont Neuf website.

http://www.vedettesdupontneuf.com/departs.htm

The tower is illuminated after dark. The boat ride is 1 hr long. If you leave on the half hour for the ride you will be at the Eiffel Tower when it is twinkling on the hour.

Here is the page on the website that has the discount price and also the coupon. A couple bucks off.

Have fun!

I've taken a couple and IMO, there isn't that much difference. It is a boat ride on the Seine, for an hour, really, how different can it be.

OH, I've taken others than you name, but I did do Bateaux Mouches, but did that one in the day time. It was fine, it's just a bigger boat. I don't really expect that much, as I said, it's just a boat ride for an hour. I don't care at all about commentary and never listen to it, anyway.

I just read this thread as am going to Provence and Paris in a week (can't believe the trip is finally this close) and had been wondering whether I needed to buy tix ahead for an evening cruise on the Seine.

Looks like we'll save money to do so and won't be tied to any one particular evening, so am planning to go ahead and do that. I now have a question for once we're there...we'd like to try to take a 9:30 pm cruise, how much ahead would you think we'd want to get there? None of us have ever been, so have no idea about the lines to expect.

Oh and one other q along this line, has anyone taken the dinner cruise Le Calife and if so was it a good experience, did it feel worth the money to you? Thanks.