Seine Dinner Cruise in Paris with a Private Chauffeur

A Seine dinner cruise is the evening most visitors remember: the boat slips under the bridges while the Eiffel Tower lights up on one side and Notre-Dame on the other. The part nobody remembers fondly is the walk down to the quay in evening shoes, or the taxi queue on the Pont de l'Alma at 22:45. Reservation Chauffeur is a transport partner of Bateaux Mouches: we already bring their guests to the pier and collect them when the boat docks. This page explains how to plan the evening, which cruise to choose and what a chauffeur costs for it.

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Where the Bateaux Mouches boats leave from

All Bateaux Mouches cruises board at the Port de la Conférence, on the Right Bank at the foot of the Pont de l'Alma, in the 8th arrondissement. It is five minutes by car from the Champs-Élysées, ten from the Opéra or Saint-Germain, and about the same from the Trocadéro. By public transport the stops are Alma-Marceau (metro 9), Franklin D. Roosevelt (metro 1) and Pont de l'Alma (RER C); the official site also mentions free parking for the length of the cruise if you come in your own car.

What a chauffeur changes is the last hundred metres. The car sets you down at the pier entrance on the quay rather than up on the bridge, you are not reading a map in the dark on the Place de l'Alma, and when the boat is back the same car is waiting where it left you. For a dinner that ends at 22:45, that is the difference between a soft landing and a long wait beside the river for a taxi that is already taken.

Which cruise: boat tour, brunch, lunch or dinner

The cruise itself is booked directly with Bateaux Mouches, on their website; we do not sell tickets, we take you there and back. The figures below are those shown on the official Bateaux Mouches site on 25 October 2026 and can change, so check their pages before you book.

The commented boat tour

The classic sightseeing cruise runs all day: from April to October a departure every 30 minutes from 10:00 to 22:00, from October to March roughly every 45 minutes from 10:00 to 16:00 and then every 30 minutes until 21:30. An adult ticket is 20 € at the pier or 17 € online, a child ticket 10 € or 8 € online, and children under 4 travel free. The ticket is valid for any departure that day, remains valid for a year and is not refundable. The late departures are the ones to aim for if you want a Seine river cruise at night without the dinner: an hour on the water after dark, then the car for the rest of the evening.

Brunch and lunch

For daytime, Bateaux Mouches run a brunch cruise and a lunch cruise, the latter from 90 € per person. They fit neatly into a sightseeing day: your chauffeur drops you at the pier, waits, and continues the afternoon with you towards the Louvre, Montmartre or Versailles. All the restaurant cruises are listed on their restaurant page.

The dinner cruise

The Bateaux Mouches dinner cruise sails every evening in two sittings. The early sitting boards at 17:30, departs at 18:00 and is back at 19:15, from 90 € per person. The main sitting boards at 19:30, departs at 20:30 and docks at 22:45, with menus from 135 € to 480 € (Prestige from 135 €, Excellence from 170 €, and a Découverte menu from 99 €). Dinner is accompanied by live music, and vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free menus are available if you ask when booking. On the water you pass the Eiffel Tower, the Pont Alexandre III, the Invalides, the Musée d'Orsay, the Pont-Neuf, Notre-Dame, the Conciergerie, the Hôtel de Ville and the Louvre. For a proposal, Bateaux Mouches offer a “Paris pour un Oui” package from 360 €; tell us too, and your chauffeur will know to keep the ring a secret and the champagne cold.

Private boats and groups

Companies and large families can privatise a boat. On our side, a Business Van seats up to 7, and we run several vehicles in convoy for larger parties, with one contact for the whole group. Tickets for any cruise are on the Bateaux Mouches booking page.

Your evening, hour by hour (20:30 sitting)

This is the evening we run most often for Bateaux Mouches guests, from a hotel in central Paris. Adjust the pick-up time if you are staying further out or arriving from the airport.

19:00 — Pick-up at the hotel. Your chauffeur is at the door a few minutes early. Half an hour is comfortable for most of Paris at that time of day, including the slow stretch around the Champs-Élysées.
19:30 — Boarding at the Port de la Conférence. The car drops you at the pier entrance. You check in, find your table and watch the quay fill up while the light goes.
20:30 — Departure. Two hours and a quarter on the water, dinner, music and the monuments lit from the river. If you are on hourly hire, your chauffeur stays nearby; if you booked two transfers, he leaves and a car comes back for the return time.
22:45 — Back at the quay. You walk off the boat and into the car. No app, no queue, no explaining the address to a driver who has never heard of your hotel.
22:50 — Paris lit up, or straight home. Straight home is fifteen minutes. The better option, if you have the hour, is a loop through the city while it is still lit: the Trocadéro for the Eiffel Tower, which sparkles for a few minutes at the top of each hour after dark, the Champs-Élysées up to the Arc de Triomphe, the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre pyramid. Your chauffeur stops where a photo is worth it.
Around 23:00 to 23:30 — Hotel. Four hours door to door for the full version, three if you go straight back.

For the 18:00 sitting, the same plan shifts earlier: pick-up around 17:00, boarding at 17:30, back on the quay at 19:15, and the rest of the evening is yours. Many guests use it as a first course: the car takes them on to a restaurant, a show or a late visit to the Eiffel Tower afterwards. If you want the night drive without the dinner, our Paris by night tour is a three-hour circuit at a fixed price.

Two ways to book the chauffeur, and what it costs

Option 1: two transfers

An outbound transfer from your hotel to the Port de la Conférence, and a return transfer from the pier at 22:45 (or 19:15 for the early sitting). Each leg is priced by our online simulator before you confirm, and the price is per vehicle, not per person. This is the right choice if you do not need the car in between and want the lowest total for a straightforward there-and-back.

Option 2: chauffeur by the hour

Hourly hire keeps the car and chauffeur with you for the whole evening: 79 €/hour in Business Class, 109 €/hour in a Business Van (up to 7 passengers) and 150 €/hour in First Class, with a 2-hour minimum and 25 km included per hour. Three hours in Business Class, from the hotel to the pier, the wait, and the ride home, come to 237 €. The full evening from 19:00 to 23:00 with the drive through Paris lit up after dinner is 4 hours, 316 € in Business Class. Waiting, fuel and the night loop are included; there is nothing to add at the end. An hourly booking can be cancelled free of charge up to 24 hours before the pick-up, which matters when a dinner is booked weeks ahead.

Our rule of thumb: two transfers for a couple going straight back to a nearby hotel; hourly hire the moment you want the car to wait, plan a stop afterwards, travel with more than three people or celebrate something. Either way, send us your boarding time and the name of your hotel, and we set the pick-up for you.

From the airport, for a group, for an occasion

Straight from the airport. If the dinner cruise is on the evening you land, we track the flight and your chauffeur waits in the arrivals hall with a name board. From Charles de Gaulle or Orly the car goes to the hotel first for a quick change, or directly to the pier if time is short, with the luggage safe in the boot until later. Tell us the flight number and the sitting, and we work out the timing.

For a company evening. A client dinner on the Seine is a good use of a Paris trip: no restaurant to choose, the city does the entertaining. We collect guests from several hotels, deliver everyone to the pier for the same boarding time and take them home afterwards, one invoice for the evening. Companies with a business account book it in two minutes with monthly billing.

For an anniversary or a proposal. Say so when you book. A chauffeur who knows the evening matters will time the Trocadéro for the sparkle, and make the ride home as quiet as you want it. This evening also slots into a longer stay: it is the natural end of day 1 in our two-day Paris itinerary and of the three-day version.

Frequently asked questions

Where do the Bateaux Mouches cruises leave from?

From the Port de la Conférence, at the foot of the Pont de l'Alma on the Right Bank, in the 8th arrondissement. Your chauffeur sets you down at the pier entrance on the quay. By public transport the nearest stops are Alma-Marceau (line 9), Franklin D. Roosevelt (line 1) and Pont de l'Alma (RER C).

Do I need to book the cruise myself?

Yes. The cruise, the sitting and the menu are booked directly with Bateaux Mouches on their website; we are their transport partner and take care of getting you there and back. Send us your boarding time and we build the chauffeur booking around it.

Does the chauffeur wait during the dinner cruise?

Yes, if you book by the hour. The chauffeur drops you at 19:30 for the 20:30 sitting, waits nearby while you dine and is at the pier when the boat is back at 22:45. With two separate transfers, the car leaves after the drop-off and a chauffeur returns for the pick-up time you give us.

How much does a chauffeur cost for a dinner cruise evening?

Hourly hire is 79 €/hour in Business Class, 109 €/hour in a Business Van and 150 €/hour in First Class, with a 2-hour minimum and 25 km included per hour. Three hours in Business Class come to 237 €; a 19:00 to 23:00 evening with a night drive after dinner comes to 316 €. Two separate transfers are priced by our online simulator.

Can we combine the cruise with a Paris by night drive?

Yes, and it is the best use of the hour after the boat docks. With the chauffeur on hourly hire, you leave the pier at 22:45 and loop past the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Élysées, the Place de la Concorde and the Louvre pyramid while the city is lit, then back to your hotel. For a fuller circuit, our Paris night tour runs about three hours.

What time should the chauffeur collect us for the 20:30 dinner?

Around 19:00 from a central Paris hotel: boarding opens at 19:30, departure is at 20:30 and the boat is back at 22:45, according to the official Bateaux Mouches website. For the 18:00 sitting, boarding is at 17:30 and the cruise returns at 19:15. Times can change, so check them on their site when you book.

Dinner on the Seine, a chauffeur on the quay

Tell us your sitting, your hotel and whether you want the car to wait. We confirm the pick-up time and the price before you pay anything.