Seine River Cruise with 3-Course Italian Dinner Paris

Port de Ranelagh and the western Seine

The boat moors at the Port de Ranelagh, a quiet quay on the Right Bank at the foot of Rue du Ranelagh in the 16th arrondissement, beside the round tower of the Maison de la Radio. It is a residential part of Paris far from the crowded piers at the Eiffel Tower, which is why boarding is calm and the first minutes of the Seine dinner cruise feel like a private departure. The RER C station Avenue du Président Kennedy is at the top of the street, and the port entrance is marked with Italian flags on the bridge.

Leaving the quay the boat passes the Île aux Cygnes, the narrow artificial island with its tree-lined walkway and the quarter-size Statue of Liberty at its downstream tip, a gift from the American community in Paris in 1889. The first course is served as the lights of the western bridges slide by, and most guests go up to the rooftop terrace as the Eiffel Tower comes into view.

The Eiffel Tower by night from the water

The tower was completed in 1889 for the World's Fair and stands 330 metres tall with its antennas; after dark it is lit in gold from dusk, and for five minutes at the top of every hour its 20,000 white lights sparkle. The dinner cruise passes it twice, outbound shortly after departure and again on the return, so with departure at 21:15 you are usually near the tower for the sparkle at 22:00 or 23:00.

The boat passes under the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, with its iron arcade carrying the metro, and the Pont d'Iéna in front of the Trocadéro. From the rooftop terrace the full height of the tower reflects on the river, a view that is impossible from the esplanades on either bank. Keep your phone ready between the starter and the main course; the crew usually announces the approach.

Les Invalides, the Musée d'Orsay and the Louvre

Continuing east, the gold dome of Les Invalides rises on the Left Bank, built in the 17th century as a residence for wounded soldiers, followed by the columned front of the Assemblée Nationale facing Place de la Concorde and the ornate Pont Alexandre III with its gilded statues. The Musée d'Orsay, a railway station of 1900 turned museum of 19th-century art, shows its two huge clocks to the river.

Opposite stretches the Louvre, whose riverside wing runs for almost 700 metres; a former fortress and royal palace, it has been a museum since 1793 and its floodlit facade is the longest single view of the evening. This is the stretch where the main course arrives, and the enclosed saloon with its large windows means you miss nothing while you eat; the terrace is a staircase away for a photo of the Pont des Arts and the domed Institut de France.

Notre-Dame and Île de la Cité

The eastern turning point of the Seine dinner cruise is Île de la Cité, the island where Paris began. The boat passes the Conciergerie, a 14th-century royal palace later used as a prison, with the oldest public clock in the city on its corner tower, and slips under the Pont Neuf, the oldest standing bridge in Paris, completed in 1607. Then Notre-Dame Cathedral appears, begun in 1163 and restored after the fire of 2019, with its rebuilt spire floodlit above the flying buttresses.

Seeing Notre-Dame from the water at night is for many guests the best part of the evening; the boat turns near Île Saint-Louis and gives the opposite side of the cathedral on the way back. Dessert, the signature tiramisu, is usually served on this return leg, and the musical ambience on board suits the slower pace of the last half hour.

The Italian menu on board

The menu is entirely Italian and changes with the season. Dinner opens with eggplant parmigiana, layers of aubergine baked with tomato and basil. The main course is a choice of pasta: linguine with a slow-cooked meat and mushroom sauce, rigatoni with truffle cream and caramelised onions, ravioli filled with spinach, fig and parmesan in a four-cheese sauce for vegetarians, or tagliatelle with salmon in a lemon sauce. The meal ends with the signature tiramisu, and half a bottle of water is served for every two guests.

Alternatives for dietary restrictions are available on request: tell us when you book and we pass your needs to the kitchen. Extra drinks can be ordered on board. Tables are allocated by the crew and a window seat is not guaranteed in this option, but the rooftop terrace is open to everyone, so the views do not depend on where you sit.