Batobuses on the Seine, Paris

   Photo: Chuck Kuhn

Batobuses aren't really sightseeing boats, but they travel much of the same route as the bigger boats with the added advantage you can hop on and hop off at the various stops along the way. The stubby, glass-enclosed trimarans operate a river boat shuttle service on a circular route along the Seine, stopping at eight points along the way, five on the Left bank and three on the Right. There's no zig-zagging across the river, and the boats travel in an anti-clockwise direction.

Batobus stops on the Seine:

• Tour Eiffel
  Port de la Bourdonnais. At the foot of the 1,710 steps of the Eiffel Tower.
  Port de la Bourdonnais, Paris 7th arrondissement: at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, opposite the Trocadéro, cross the street and walk down the stairs at the right hand corner of Pont de Iéna.
• Musée d'Orsay
  Quai de Solférino. Next to the museum.
  Quai de Solférino, 7th arrondissement: leaving Musée d'Orsay, cross the street along the quays and go down the steps to the river bank.
• St-Germain-des-Prés
  Quai Malaquais. Near the Institut de France.
  Quai de Malaquais, 6th arrondissement: take rue Bonaparte from Saint-Germain's Church. When you reach the quay, cross the road and go down the steps to the bank.
• Notre-Dame
  Quai de Montebello. Latin Quarter.
  Quai de Montebello, Paris 5th arrondissement: go upstream along the quay for about a hundred metres from the Pont au Double, and take the stairs down to the river.
• Jardin des Plantes
  Close to Pont d'Austerlitz.
  Quai Saint-Bernard, Paris 5th arrondissement. Take rue des Fossés-Saint-Bernard towards the Seine, cross Quai Saint-Bernard in front of the Institut du Monde Arabe and go down to the river by the ramp or the stairs. Then walk upstream (towards Pont d'Austerlitz) through the open-air sculpture garden (Jardin Tino Rossi). The Batobus puts in between Pont Sully and Pont d'Austerlitz.
• Hôtel de Ville
  Close to Pont d'Arcole. The City Hall stop. Marais district and Pompidou Centre.
  Quai de l'Hôtel de Ville, Paris 4th arrondissement. In Place de l'Hôtel de Ville take the pedestrian underpass to Quai de l'Hôtel de Ville, walk upstream along the quay for 100 metres. The stop is on the right in the square.
• The Louvre
  Between Pont Royal and Pont du Carrousel.
  Quai du Louvre, Paris 1st arrondissement. Go from the Pyramid forming the entry to the Louvre towards the quays and then turn right without crossing Pont du Carrousel. Walk for 100 metres along the quay and go down the steps to the river.
• Champs-Elysées
  Close to Pont Alexandre III. Grand Palais, the Petit Palais and Avenue Montaigne.