The only way to see Paris (Batobus)

Member Name: tommy7

Product:	Batobus
Date:	13/10/09 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Breathtaking views

Disadvantages: Time Consuming

During a recent trip to Paris I was struck by the number of ways a tourist can get around the city. Each obviously has their positive and negative points:

Underground: is quick, convenient and cheap but you see nothing and the heat is stifling, even in October.

Tourist Bus: lets you see the sites but gets caught in congestion and is reasonably expensive.

The normal bus: is cheap but as a non-resident I wouldn't have a clue to begin.

Which leaves the Batobus, the riverboat, which takes you up and down the Seine, stopping at eight different locations, all within walking distance of the main tourist attractions in Paris. The stops are

Eiffel Tower
Museum D'Orsay
Saint Germain des Pres
Notre Dame
Jardin des Plantes
Hotel de Ville
Champs Elysees

When we were there, the boat starts just before 10am at the Louvre and runs until 7pm, finishing at the Champs Elysee. Be aware that there are three seasons though and at other times of the year the boat stops both earlier and later. Full details can be obtained at the Dates & Timetables section of

http://www.batobus.com/english/index.htm#

The cost of the boat is 12 euro for one day pass, 16 euro for a two day pass and 19 euro for a five day pass with an annual pass available for a bargain 55 euro. These tickets give unlimited access to the Batobus for the period they are valid for, allowing you to hop on and hop off as much as you like. Sadly, these euro prices can more or less be converted to pounds on a 1:1 basis now.

To be honest the main benefit of the Batobus is the pleasure of the journey. If you are in a hurry use any other transport. You could easily wait up to 15 minutes on a boat arriving and the speed of the boat is quite sedate; you could probably jog at a similar pace but speed isn't the point of this. There cannot be a more relaxing way to travel through one of Europe's most picturesque cities than onboard one of these vessels.

The bus is enclosed to protect you from the elements if there is adverse weather. However, you can easily view (and take photographs) of a lot of the sites through the perspex windows/walls and there is an open gallery at the end of the boat which holds around twenty people if you do want to experience it in the fresh air.

There is about a ten minute gap between each stop which means that you can be on the boat for a long time depending on your trip. For example, from the Louvre we crossed the Seine to buy tickets to get on the bus at St Germain des Pres. Our personal next destination was Champs Elysees which meant four stops (and 40 minutes) to get us back to the Louvre, which we could have achieved in 5 minutes on foot. As we were doing it for pleasure this wasn't a problem. However, if you are using the bus as a genuine mode of transport then a bit of planning is needed to avoid this type of scenario.

You can pay by card at the offices or you can pay in cash onboard the actual buses.

The bus probably seats around 200 people in total. A lot of the seats are in the middle aisle which isn't ideal in terms of sightseeing. If you can try and get a seat at the side, to maximise viewing and photo opportunities. Ideally this should be on the right of the bus as the bus travels on the right of the Seine so most of the attractions are best viewed from this side.

The only slight drawback from the bus is that on departure it isn't always obvious how you get to the attractions. In particular, how to get to the Champs Elysees was far from obvious, from the boat departure point. This isn't the boat's fault, they drop you where they say they will, just be prepared to have to ask a few Parisians for directions. (I had to do this numerous times in my quite dreadful French, to a person they could have not been more helpful and usually laughed when I spoke and then replied in perfect English). I was really impressed by just how helpful the people were, especially in a city.

A further (small) benefit from the Batobus is that there is a tour guide on each bus. The information provided is little more than telling you what the next stop will be but at least it stops you missing a stop if you get caught up in the sites. The guide spoke fluent French, English and Spanish.

There are so many sites to see in Paris that it is a bit of a luxury to spend over an hour on a mode of transport where the underground could do it a lot quicker. Having said that one of the most positive memories I will retain of this trip was sitting on this waterbus. If you have the time to spare I would totally recommend it.

Summary: Incredible