Seine River Cruise and Paris Illuminations Tour

Paris, France

Paris is especially enchanting when the lights go on in the evening, so take this short 2.5-hour tour to sample the city's magic first-hand. Start your evening with a lamp-lit cruise along the Seine River, then see more of Paris' brilliant city lights by taking a Paris illuminations tour around the capital. Your evening in Paris is then free for you to enjoy.

You'll quickly understand why Paris is known as the "City of Light". You'll cruise along the Seine River and see the illuminated buildings and bridges of Paris, then tour tree-lined boulevards flanked by animated cafes. You'll see the famous sights of Paris on your nocturnal tour, including Place de la Concorde Square, Place Vendome, Opera, Champs-Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, Trocadero, Invalides, Notre Dame Cathedral and Place du Chatelet.

USD $45.97

Traveler Reviews

Review by: susan s	April 2012
A good trip

Review by: Debra N	March 2012
This is a good tour to do when you first arrive in Paris. It gives the opportunity to get somewhat familiar with the location of the various sites. Being able to see the various buildings/sites illuminated in a single tour, as compared to having to wander around and find them myself, was definitely an advantage.

Review by: Nezza	March 2012
A great way to see the night lights from the river

Review by: Brian D	March 2012
The crew was very nice, professional and helpful. The tour itself was just OK. The boat portion was overbooked and not pleasant. Very disappointing. There were no seats inside the covered area for my wife and 2 small children (10 and 8). Outside there were no audio stations, so even if we wanted to be out in the rain, we were unable to listen to the tour. Other boats had lights on the exterior to light Paris from the night. Our boat did not. Look elsewhere for the boat tour.

Review by: Robert A	February 2012
This was so beautiful and informative! Definitely worth it!

Review by: Matthew M	February 2012
Excellent tour of Paris illuminations by bus and boat. Audio guides provided in both cases. Would recommend to anyone visiting Paris.

Review by: Barbara E	February 2012
Overall, just a convenient way of having a mean of transportation to get you from one to the other. Tour narrative were ok only but most time was spent navigating through traffic.

Review by: William L	February 2012
Great tour if you have not taken the night cruises before and had a chance to drive through the streets of Paris at night. Made more special with the snow falling.

Review by: Lily L	January 2012
What a way to see Paris!

Review by: Jennifer M	January 2012
We were disappointed with this particular tour- but only part of it. The river cruise portion was simply a big cattle drive of squeezing as many people as possible onto a boat. My husband and I did not get to sit together and it was not particulary comfortable. As for the second part of this tour, the illuminations drive was excellent. The driver was very knowledgable and friendly. We saw some beautiful lights and learned interesting facts about the city. I would rather have just done this portion of the tour.

Review by: The Queen	January 2012
We were very disappointed with the illuminations portion of the tour. It was Christmas and the prerecorded narration made no reference to the decorations or to the lights. The river cruise was enjoyable.

Review by: Launny	December 2011
Learned quite a bit about Paris and its world-famous bridges. Cruise was pleasant and relaxing. The night tour was interesting and calming after a long travel day.

Review by: John M	November 2011
The river cruise is a must do!

Review by: Mimi N	November 2011
I enjoyed my tour and was more than grateful that Viator were able to book us on such short notice. I had a lot of expectations, so I was left a little disappointed. The tours did provide you with audio information in your choice of language but never gave us time to capture any pictures or moments for keepsake and that was my utmost importance. But overall my fiance and I did enjoy our tour.

Review by: Lois Ann	November 2011
More than met expectations! Even in the rain.

Review by: Behr904	November 2011
This was the perfect way to start our adventure in Paris. The river cruise at night was awesome. Our driver was friendly and fun and a great host. Can't go wrong here!

Review by: Ray C	November 2011
For this tour we choose the "Standard Tour" which clearly states "a maximum of 50 people". As we got off our bus to board the boat we were left on our own (no tour guide) and were immediately faced with a huge crowd of tourists (which I would estimate at approximately 500 people) all pushing and shoving to board the same boat for our "enchanting" river cruise (as the tour description states). This was by far the worst tour experience I have ever had. The hordes of people trying to make their way onto the boat without any direction was pure chaos. Once we survived the stressful ordeal of all the pushing and shoving and being hoarded like cattle we finally made our way onto the boat only to discover that all the better viewing seats were taken. We had no choice but to sit inside the lower tier of the boat squished into the middle section which you could only catch a glimpse of a view every now and then. After having a nice dinner we expected this tour to be a relaxing romantic way to end a pleasant evening in Paris, oh how wrong we were.

Review by: Hal & Lynn	November 2011
Cutting out the background music would make it much easier other the commentary on the boat ride. The audio equipment worked very well on both the boat and the bus. The tour was a little longer than we expected; you might not want to book this for the same day you fly into Paris. We thought it was very well organized.

Review by: liz	November 2011
it was ok but if u have a paris pass which i recommend it is included in this for free except the bus bit of it which u go round the streets of paris at night thru the streets which was ok but think i wud of been js happy with the boat...but great to see the sights and get your bearings...

Review by: Traveller	November 2011
Great tour, great commentary, wonderful views of beautiful Paris by night

Review by: Shelley and Markie	October 2011
I didn't particularly like this cruise, there were far too many people, we were crammed in like sardines.

Review by: azlane	October 2011
Cruise was great but the Paris tour was a little too much time in the bus. It was great if you didn't want good pics and wanted to orientate yourself with t he city.

Review by: Lawrence H	October 2011
Wonderful informative overview tour especially convenient for long layover airline travelers

Review by: Kym B	October 2011
Tour on the Seine was adequate, not spectacular. Boat was crowded and so not everyone got a good clear view._br/_ Illuminations was good as we had not seen much of Paris at night. I was surprised the Grande Arch was not included. Guide was really good, on time, entertaining and gave a good commentary. Loved his driving especially around the Arche.

Review by: ANDRE L	October 2011
The Seine River cruise was nice but the Paris Illuminations tour was way longer then the 2 hours. Guide was ok.

Review by: ANN H	October 2011
River cruise was a total rabble. hundreds on boat, split apart from partner, herded on like cattle. Bus tour boring, better to go on open top bus during day. Biggest disappointment in Paris!!!

Review by: Louis P R	October 2011
river cruise was fine. bus ride not enjoyable

Review by: MICHAEL M	October 2011
Great way to see Paris at night.

Review by: evammac	October 2011
Not so good of an experience. Directions to get to the sight did not mention that you were to meet a bus, we went to the river thinking we were getting right on the boat. We missed our evening river cruise. Lots of running around and hectic. However the next day the river cruise was totally awesome.

Review by: Gisele C	October 2011
This is a nice way to see Paris, but you cannot take very many pictures of the city because you are always moving. Very enjoyable.

Review by: Angela C	October 2011
The cruise was nice but the bus tour seemed like it was randomly crisscrossing the city.

Review by: Carol B	October 2011
Nice bus ride, but way too crowded on the cruise. We would not do this one again!

Review by: Mary Jo S	October 2011
We expected the group size for this tour to be a maximum of 50, but for the Seine River Cruise, we joined 12 other groups of 50 for a large 'cattle-car' type of experience. Very disappointing. We didn't stay for the bus tour.

Review by: Carlo S	October 2011
It would have been better if there weren't so many people on the boat. It was very hectic and noisy. The bus tour would have been better if we were able to stop at some of the nicer attractions to take a few shots instead of just driving straight through.

Review by: ruchita v	October 2011
The river cruise for not with a group of 50 as mentioned in the booking. it was a big cruise of 200 people where we did not get a place to sit._br/_ We could have booked this directly by going to the venue for a lower cost. Never take this tour._br/_ The illumination tour is overrated. See the eiffel tower and thats it...maybe arc the triomph...everything else they tried to show was harldly illuminated. The cruise and the bus tour followed the same route describing about same monuments.

Review by: Patricia Anne S	October 2011
Very interesting, jsut make sure to take a jacket if it is cold!!!

Review by: Victor S, United States of America	June 2010
The tour was excellent, with all the great, beautiful buildings of Paris on display with backround information from knowledgeable guides.

Review by: Ida P, United States of America	May 2010
Informative tour.

Review by: Ira D, United States of America	May 2010
Very nice and romantic place to be.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	January 2010
The illuminations tours and the Seine River Cruise were amazing. A definite must-see and must-do while in Paris.

Review by: Patrick S, United Kingdom	November 2009
As we only booked this two days before we traveled, we were unsure if everything would go to plan but it couldn't have been easier. We found the pickup point really easy and got on the coach straight away. The boat trip was lovely. Even my teenage children loved it. To see the beautiful buildings lit up at night was wonderful.The tour afterward was equally good. We would thoroughly recommend it.

Review by: Melissa D, United States of America	November 2009
Very nice tour. Beautiful lights and an amazing way to see the monuments all lit up. The commentary was great as well to explain what everything was. The timing was planned so perfect for the take off of the boat. The Eiffel Tower lit up and sparkled for us as we left and then as we returned it was glowing again in all the different colors. A BEAUTIFUL tour.

Review by: Ramon P, United States of America	November 2009
It is a must do!

Review by: Calum M, United Kingdom	October 2009
I really enjoyed this little trip, it was a great way to start the holiday and see the sights from a different perspective, the only downside was people continually standing up in front of you spoiling the view for many others. The illuminations tour by bus after the boat trip was quite interesting too.

Review by: Carol T, United States of America	September 2009
This made our first night in Paris a great memory!

Review by: Andrew P, United States of America	September 2009
We arrived in Paris on Saturday afternoon and after checking in to our hotel we freshened up and walked the few blocks to the tour office. The boat ride on the Seine was great. The weather was clear and not too hot. The cruise began at 800PM while there is still sunlight and lasted for about two hours. We returned to the pier near the Eiffel tower and boarded a bus for the illumination tour. The Illumination tour was excellent! Paris is a completely different city by night. Would recommend this tour combination to anyone who wants to get an overall Paris experience.

Review by: Keith P, United Kingdom	August 2009
Well organized and very friendly from beginning to end. Enjoyed every minute of the evening.

Review by: Kathryn M, United States of America	August 2009
I was so impressed by how the trip was so carefully organized. With the long summer days, I didn't know what would be "illuminated" at such an early hour. The tour is perfectly planned. You take a cruise along the Seine at dusk. You are let off at the Eiffel Tower where we had about 40 minutes to gaze at the tower and grab a quick bite. By sundown we were jumping on a comfy bus right by the Eiffel Tower and treated to a twinkling tour and auditory history and information of the major sites. The driver and guide were so careful to stop at the perfect angles for photo opportunities - so bring your camera! They would even turn twice to make sure both sides of the bus got good views. My friend joined me and he is from Amsterdam. I listened to the English audio as he listened to the Dutch version! This trip is worth the small price. It was raining on my trip, yet it was still breathtaking!!

Review by: Barbara L, Canada	July 2009
My nieces and I went on the Seine River Cruise and paris Illuminations Tour on July 5, 2009 and we all enjoyed it. It was well run and we saw most of the major sights in Paris and I recommended it 2 friends who are going to Paris this summer. Thank you very much.

Review by: Sanna T, United States of America	May 2009
Beautiful!