Boat rental in Paris

Boat rental in Paris starts from €150 a day for a 6-metre cabin boat, and the middle of 45 day-priced models sits at €450. Below: how hourly and per-trip prices compare with day rates, what length and guest numbers do to the price, which licence the river asks for, and where the boats leave from.

How a Seine boat is priced: day, hour or trip

Motorboats around Paris are priced in three units — by the day, by the hour and per trip — and the same budget buys very different time on the water depending on which unit a boat uses.

What you book: the whole boat for your group

Boat hire in Paris means the whole boat for your group, not a seat on a sightseeing cruise. The Rent-Trip section on this page brings together 47 motorboat models, from a 4.3-metre open boat for five to a 17.4-metre motor yacht, and the market offers them in three working modes: by the hour, with a captain at the helm, and self-drive for those who hold the right licence. Of the 47, 45 carry a day rate, one is priced by the hour and one per trip. All prices are starting prices: the figure on a card is the lowest the boat has been offered at, not a quote for your date.

Day rates: the default unit on the river

The day rate is the unit that dominates, and it makes comparison easy: €150 for the Four Winns Sundowner 195, €450 for a Bella 700 BR, €2,500 for a Sunseeker Portofino 53. Ask what a "day" covers before you compare two boats — some owners count a fixed number of hours, others a window between morning and evening return — because a day of six hours and a day of nine hours are not the same price even when the figure matches.

Hourly prices and the per-trip format

Only the larger motor yachts move away from the day rate. The Seamaster 45, a 13.7-metre boat for up to 10 guests, starts at €660 an hour. The Bénéteau Monte-Carlo 37, 12 metres long and licensed for 9, is sold as a two-hour trip from €990, which works out at €495 an hour or €110 per guest if all nine seats are used. In my view, the cleanest way to compare these formats is to bring everything to one unit: multiply an hourly price by the hours you actually want, and divide a trip price by its length, before setting either against a day rate.

Day rates from €150 to €8,700

Across the 45 models with a day rate, starting prices run from €150 to €8,700 — and length explains much of that spread, but not all of it.

Length and price

Where most daily prices fall

The middle of the market is €450 a day: half of the 45 day-priced boats start below that figure and half above it. Nine models start under €300, 19 fall between €300 and €499, 10 sit between €500 and €999, and 7 start at €1,000 or more. Boat rental in Paris is therefore mostly a €300–500 decision for a group of six to eight people; the four-figure prices belong to a small set of long boats and motor yachts.

Why two boats of the same length differ

Length is a guide, not a rule. The 6–7 metre band alone runs from €150 to €900: the cheap end is a 6.1-metre cabin boat, the top is the Correct Craft Super Air Nautique G21, a 6.4-metre wake boat with a 410 hp engine and 12 seats. Among boats around 8 metres, the Axopar 25 Cross Top starts at €1,250 while the Sunwave S4 pontoon, slightly longer at 8.3 metres, starts at €396. Engine power, finish and purpose — watersports, lounging, cruising — move the price as much as hull length does. At the top, three motor yachts of 16.5 to 17.4 metres start at €2,500, €5,900 and €8,700, so even within one class the spread is more than threefold.

Guests, seats and price per head

The number on a card is the boat's authorised capacity, and for a group it often matters more than length, because it decides whether one boat is enough.

How many people the boats take

Capacity is known for 46 of the 47 models. Most boats take seven or eight people; 13 take ten or more. The limit is a hard one — it is the figure the boat is authorised for — so on a skippered boat ask whether the captain takes one of the seats before you settle the guest list.

Boats for twelve

Eight models are authorised for 12 people, and they show how wide the choice is at the same capacity. The Smoker Craft Sun Chaser 7522 pontoon starts at €350 a day, the Sunwave S4 at €396 and the Swiss Boat Starlounger 8,5 at €450; the Antaris Seventy7 starts at €710, the Correct Craft wake boat at €900 and the Victoriasloep Open 11m at €1,500. At the top sit the 12-metre Chantier naval du Cap-Ferret Seaweed at €3,900 and the Prestige 590 at €8,700. For a group of twelve that simply wants an afternoon on the water, the pontoons are the obvious match; the others are chosen for style, speed or a particular kind of day.

Price per seat

Dividing the day rate by the seats gives a figure that is easier to share within a group. Across the 44 day-priced boats with known capacity, the median is €52.90 per seat per day. The lowest are the Four Winns Sundowner 195 at €21.40, the Smoker Craft Sun Chaser 7522 at €29.20 and the Sunchaser Traverse 750 at €30.90. The highest are the motor yachts: €725 per seat on the Prestige 590 and €737.50 on the Sichtermann 54. A full boat is always cheaper per head than a half-empty one, so if your group is six, a six- or seven-seat boat will usually beat a twelve-seater on cost.

Two common group sizes

For six people, six day-priced boats are authorised for exactly six, and they start between €250 and €490, with a median of €299.50 — roughly €50 a head at the middle. For eight people the choice is wider: 11 day-priced models take exactly eight, from €300 for the Sea Ray 185 to €5,900 for the Sichtermann 54, with a median of €600. Six of those eleven start at €600 or less, which puts a group of eight at about €38 to €75 a head on most boats. The jump comes only when the group wants a cabin, a wake set-up or a motor yacht rather than a seat on deck, so decide what kind of day you want before comparing totals.

Open boats, cabin cruisers, pontoons and motor yachts

The 47 models fall into eight groups, and each group answers a different idea of a day on the Seine.

Open boats and bowriders

Open boats are the largest group: 13 models from 4.3 to 7.7 metres, five to ten guests, €165 to €600 a day. The Jeanneau Cap Camarat range alone appears four times, from the 545 WA at €250 to the 6.5 WA Série 3 at €450, and there are two retro-styled Rocca boats at €250 and €320. Bowriders seat guests in the bow as well as the stern and suit groups who want to sit together: five models from €300 for the Sea Ray 185 to €600 for the Bayliner 185, taking seven to ten people.

Cabin boats and pontoons

Six boats have a cabin or wheelhouse — shelter from rain or sun, and a place to leave bags. They range from the Four Winns Sundowner 195 at €150 to the Axopar 25 Cross Top at €1,250, with the Quicksilver Activ 645 pair at €350 and €490 in between. Pontoons are the opposite idea: a flat, wide deck for 11 or 12 people at a relaxed pace. All four start between €340 and €450, which makes them the cheapest way to put a dozen people on one boat.

Electric boats, sloeps and a houseboat

Three models are described as electric: the Antaris Seventy7 at €710, the Tullio Abbate Black Swan at €770 and the 12-metre Seaweed at €3,900. Next to them stand the Dutch-built boats — the Brandaris Barkas 1100 at €900 and the Rapsody 29 at €890 — the 11-metre Victoriasloep Open at €1,500 and the Altena 126 Family, a 13-metre houseboat for 10, at €1,000. These are boats for a slow, social day rather than for speed.

Wake boats and motor yachts

Three boats are built for watersports: the Malibu Response at €300, the Sanger DLX 20 at €450 and the Correct Craft Super Air Nautique G21 at €900. Five are motor yachts of 12 to 17.4 metres — the Monte-Carlo 37 trip, the Seamaster 45 by the hour, and the Sunseeker Portofino 53, Sichtermann 54 and Prestige 590 by the day. They carry eight to twelve guests, so they are bought for comfort and space per person, not for headcount.

Licence, skipper and the rules on the river in Paris

The licence question decides more than the price: it decides whether you drive yourself or book a captain, and the rules inside Paris are stricter than many visitors expect.

Which licence the Seine asks for

To helm a boat with more than 4.5 kW (6 hp) on the Seine, you need a river licence, the permis fluvial. A coastal licence, the permis côtier, is not enough on its own: boating schools in the city state plainly that it does not allow you to navigate the Seine within Paris. Every model on this page with a stated engine power — 43 of the 47 — has at least 30 hp, from the Elan 450 GT and SBPEM Archipel S/430 at 30 hp up to the Sunseeker Portofino 53 at 1,600 hp. In practice that means every self-drive booking here calls for a river licence.

Low-powered boats and the radio rule

Recent traffic rules for Paris and the Val-de-Marne have tightened the stretch through the city further. Boats with 4.5 kW or less are no longer allowed in Paris, and a VHF radio is mandatory on motorboats above 4.5 kW. For a renter this matters in two ways: the familiar small licence-free boat is not an option for a cruise past the city's bridges, and a boat that sails through Paris must carry the right equipment, which is something to confirm when you book.

Captain or self-drive

On most offers in Paris a captain is mandatory, so a private boat in Paris usually comes with someone at the helm. Self-drive exists, but it is the smaller part of the market, and some of those boats still require a river licence before handing over the helm. The Jeanneau Merry Fisher 895 is one example of a boat offered without a captain, from Quai d'Austerlitz at €670 a day. If nobody in your group holds a permis fluvial, plan for a skippered boat from the start and ask whether the captain is inside the rate or billed on top — that single line can change a quote noticeably.

Departure points and a request that gets comparable quotes

For Seine boat rental, where a boat is based changes what your day looks like: a city mooring gives you the bridges and monuments within minutes, while a base up- or downstream gives you quieter water and, often, a lower price.

Moorings in Paris and on its edge

Several models name a base in or beside the city. The Jeanneau Cap Camarat 625 and the Antaris Seventy7 leave from the Port de l'Arsenal near Bastille, the Tullio Abbate Black Swan from the Port de Grenelle, the Jeanneau Merry Fisher 895 from Quai d'Austerlitz and the Sunchaser Traverse 750 from Boulogne. These five start between €340 and €770 a day.

Along the Seine, Marne and Oise

Other boats are based outside Paris: the Jeanneau Cap Camarat 7.5 CC at Asnières-sur-Seine, the Four Winns Sundowner 195 at Conflans-Sainte-Honorine where the Oise meets the Seine, the Elan 450 GT at Villennes-sur-Seine, the Jeanneau Leader 605 at Boissettes near Melun, the Eolo 590 Open at Nogent-sur-Marne, the Quicksilver Activ 645 Cabin at Meaux on the Marne and the Glastron Ria 727 at L'Isle-Adam on the Oise. Among boats with a named base, the four cheapest — from €150 to €290 — all sail from these towns outside the city.

What to put in a request

• Date and hours: give the exact date and how long you want on board, so a day rate, an hourly price or a trip can be turned into one total.
• Guests: state the full headcount, children included, and check whether the captain counts against the boat's capacity.
• Licence: say whether anyone holds a permis fluvial; if not, ask only for skippered boats.
• Route: say whether you want to pass through central Paris or are happy with a quieter stretch up- or downstream.
• Base: name the departure point you prefer, or ask where the boat is moored.
• Exact boat: name the model from the cards on this page and ask whether the quote is for that boat or a similar one.

Reading two quotes side by side

Two quotes are comparable only when four things match: the unit and number of hours, the base, whether a captain is included and the date. If one quote is hourly and the other daily, convert the hourly one to the hours you need first; if one is a trip, ask how long it lasts. A quote that leaves out one of the four is not yet a price, whatever the figure on it says.

Key points before you book a boat

Five figures to keep in mind

• Day rate: the 45 day-priced boats start between €150 and €8,700, with the middle at €450.
• Hour and trip: the Seamaster 45 starts at €660 an hour; the Monte-Carlo 37 trip at €990 for two hours, or €495 an hour.
• Per seat: the median is €52.90 per seat per day, and a full boat is always cheaper per head.
• Twelve guests: eight models take 12 people, from €350 for a pontoon to €8,700 for a motor yacht.
• Licence: every model with a stated engine has at least 30 hp, so self-drive in Paris needs a permis fluvial; without it, book a captain.