Paris Seine River Cruise with Audio Guide (Bateaux Parisiens)

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Detailed Breakdown — Before the Cruise

Assembly Area

• Bateaux Parisiens is located in the most prominent section of the Seine’s lower embankment, near the Eiffel Tower, which makes it convenient and easy to find.
• The assembly area includes a ticket office, parking spots, restaurants (the Bistro Parisien), and various vendors selling food, drinks, and coffee.

Boarding

• To board, head to Zone 3.1 for a mandatory bag check as part of the security process. After clearing security, you’ll enter a covered waiting area equipped with vending machines.

Getting There

• 🗺️ Meeting point: Port de la Bourdonnais, 75007 Paris, France

Detailed Breakdown — During The Cruise

The Ship

• The ship is a modern and spacious double-decker with a 400-person capacity. For the best views and comfortable seating, head to the upper deck.
• Bateaux Parisiens has 8 sightseeing ships in its fleet, so you’re experience might be slightly different than pictured here.
  

The Lower Deck

• Seating downstairs is divided into two types: window seats and middle seats. The window seats are preferable, as you can’t see much from the middle seats.

• The lower deck also features a toilet (only urinal for men) and vending machines in the back.

The Top Deck

• The upper deck offers 360° panoramic views, which lets you enjoy the city panorama and snap photos.

• The seating arrangement consists of benches oriented to the sides (without backrests), with a standing-only frontal section available for those who prefer to face ahead.

Cruise Itinerary & Views

• The cruise follows a standard itinerary, covering the area between the Eiffel Tower and the Austerlitz Bridge.

• Key landmarks along the route include the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides, the Palais Bourbon, Musée d’Orsay, Institut de France, Notre Dame Cathedral, the City Hall, the Conciergerie, the Louvre, the Obelisk, the Grand Palais.

Audio Guide

• The audio guide on Bateaux Parisiens offers three options.

Smartphone Audio Guide

• The best option is a mobile-friendly website available in 7 languages (French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, Chinese).
• It offers clear audio and high content quality, along with interactive features like photo filters and quizzes for each location.
• Try the fun photo filter. You won’t regret it 😉
• It's accessible through your browser. No app download is required.

Wired "Phone Dial" Audio Guide

• The second option is a wired audio guide that resembles a phone dial available at each window seat. They are literal dials that you could pull out from a hole and put next to your ear like an old phone. One could alternatively use plugged-in earbuds.
• It comes in 14 languages (English, German, Chinese-Mandarin, Korean, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, French, Arabic, Hindi).
• Based on what I saw, not many people were using it. Maybe due to hygiene concerns? It had basic controls (change language, change volume) and subpar audio quality (like on an old phone).

Live Audio Commentary

• A live guide is also onboard, offering narration in multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, and German, which can be heard everywhere on the ship.
• However, his heavy accent in languages other than French made them hard to understand. Personally, I found the smartphone option satisfactory if I wanted audio commentary.