Seine River in Paris. Sights. Cruises
The Seine river in Paris has shaped the history and the look of the city for centuries. Paris has developped itself for 2000 years on the banks of the Seine river. The result is an urban lansdscape unique in the world. Places to visit in Paris
The Seine river in Paris
The Seine is a 776 kilometre long river flowing through Paris into the English Channel at Le Havre harbour (France map). The banks of the Seine River in Paris are by all means one of the greatest urban landscapes in the world.
Discover this landcape on a Seine River cruise or walking on the romantic Seine left bank quays from Jardin des Plantes and Paris Natural History Museum upstream to Pont Alexandre III downstream. Seine river map.
Passerelle des Arts crosses the Seine River
Sights along the river in Paris
The river and the quays are an enchantment. Many top sights can be seen from Seine river, Paris. From east to west:
BNF: the large 1995 French National Library
AccorHotels Arena: the top sports and concert arena
Museum Paris: the Jardin des Plantes, its museum of natural history: dinosaurs, giant cristals, precious stones
Ile Saint Louis: the 18th century island near Notre Dame
Ile de la Cité: this island is the heart of the city since the Middle Ages with Notre-Dame, La Conciergerie and Sainte-Chapelle
Notre-Dame: 800 years of Christian faith and architecture
La Conciergerie: the famous prison of Marie-Antoinette
Hotel de Ville: the historical City Hall
The Louvre: the largest art museum in the world
Musée d'Orsay: the impressionist museum
Place de la Concorde: the largest square in the city
Palais de Chaillot: the imposing 1937 building facing the Eiffel Tower on the opposite Seine river bank
Eiffel Tower: the icon of the city is on the river left bank
Statue of Liberty: the scale model of New-York City statue
Notre-Dame is in Ile de la Cité
Seine river facts
The third longest river in France with 776km, the Seine emerges in a remote spot called Source-Seine, in the Burgundy region of northeastern France. The river flows northwesterly, through Paris, to the Normandy coast, where it empties into the English Channel at Le Havre sea harbour.
The most important river in Northern France, and with modern canals linking it to the Loire, RhĂ´ne and Rhine, the Seine has been the hub of Paris and France since the Middle Ages.
Due to its strong connection to the city, this gently flowing waterway has captured the world’s imagination as one of Europe’s most inspiring rivers. The Celts in iron age used the Seine river to transport tin from Brittany and Cornwall to present day Europe. Ancient Romans greatly increased trade along the waterway. Eventually, the Vikings sailed south on the Seine and made the section of the Seine north of the city an integral part of their trade routes, a network connecting Northern Europe and the British Isles.
Pont de Normandy is the last bridge on the Seine
Cruises on river in Paris
With many first class sights to see from the Seine River, the river cruise is a must of every visit to the city. As a starter, you can do the classical one hour Seine cruise with Bateaux Parisiens boarding near the Eiffel Tower or Vedettes du Pont-Neuf boarding near Notre-Dame. For a memorable Paris stay, choose the romantic dinner cruise or the royal Seine night cruise with dinner at Eiffel Tower and Moulin Rouge cabaret. Book cruise.
The top Seine river cruises
A dinner cruise is a romantic evening in Paris
Seine River pedestrian quays
2.3 kilometers of Seine River left bank quays in between Musée d'Orsay and Pont Alexandre III have been turned into one of the most pleasant pedestrian districts of the city. Splendid views, open air restaurants and playgrounds are relaxing, entertaining and so beautiful. Rosa Bonheur, Flow, two open-air restaurants on these quays are affordable places to relax, eat or have a drink. These quays are now the place to go to day and night. Paris map.
Quai Saint Bernard on the eastern side of the left bank quays is another hot spot. Here, summer evenings come alive with hundreds of people from all over the world dancing Salsa, tango, rock 'n' roll and even French Celtic dance through the night in Jardin Tino Rossi. Paris map.
The right bank quays from Quai des CĂ©lestins to the Louvre with views of Ile Saint-Louis are great picnicking spots too.
Evening tango takes place on Quai Saint-Bernard
Statue of Liberty on the Seine River
The Statue of Liberty is an amazing monument you can see along the Seine river . The original Statue of Liberty in New-York City was a gift from France to America in 1886, designed by Auguste Bartholdi and moulded in Paris.
The main replica of the Statue of Liberty is located on the Ile aux Cygnes, an island within the River Seine, right by the Pont de Grenelle bridge. This bronze statue was inaugurated in 1889, yet its creator absolutely hated the fact that it was facing to the east, and therefore turning her back on America, which was not the purpose of the statue, and definitely not the intentions to keep relations between France and America. However, it was only for the Universal exhibition of 1937 when places such as Palais de Chaillot were constructed, that the statue was actually moved to its current position as though it is facing towards America, just as it was first intented.
The Statue of Liberty is on the Seine River
Stay in top Paris hotel
Residence on the the Seine River banks
There are few hotels and service residences on the Seine river banks. In between Notre-Dame and the Louvre Museum, right at the angle of rue des Grands Augustins and its amazing gastronomic restaurants, Citadines Saint-Germain-des-Pres is one of the very few left bank hotels with a river view.
Paris75006 France
Citadines left bank serviced residence hotel
Paris bridges
Thirty seven bridges cross the Seine River in Paris. At the time of Gauls and Romans, and until the ninth century, there were only two, which linked Ile de la Cité to the two banks of the River. They occupied the site of Petit Pont on the left bank and Pont Notre-Dame on the right bank. In the ninth century, another bridge was built going from Ile de la Cité to the right bank and defended at its end by the fortress of Châtelet; Pont au Change was rebuilt in the place it occupied. In 1378, what is now Pont Saint-Michel was thrown over the small arm of the Seine River, between the Palace of Justice and Place Saint-Michel. It has been rebuilt several times. The four bridges of Ile de la Cité were sufficient for Paris until the sixteenth century; it was only under Henry III that Pont Neuf rose, which brought the two banks into direct contact. The bridges of Paris from east to west:
Pont Amont, used by the Périphérique motorway around the city, Pont National, built under the Second Empire, which serves as a passage for pedestrians and the railway, Pont de Tolbiac, the pedestrian Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir, built in 2006, Pont de Bercy, Pont Charles de Gaulle, built in 1996, Viaduc d'Austerlitz, used by metro line 5 and built in 1905, Pont d'Austerlitz, built two years after the battle of this name, in 1807.
This is where Ile Saint-Louis begins, dividing the Seine River into two arms. Pont Sully links the left bank to Bastille on the right bank. On the right arm are Pont Marie, built in 1635, and Pont Louis-Philippe, built in 1834. The left arm is crossed by Pont de la Tournelle, whose masonry dates from the seventeenth century. 1970 pedestrian Pont Saint-Louis brings together Ile Saint-Louis and Ile de la Cité. The Seine is again divided into two arms by Ile de la Cité. Over the right arm pass Pont d'Arcole, completed in 1866, Pont Notre-Dame, Pont au Change, built under Charles-le-Chauve, rebuilt several times since. This bridge takes its name from the merchants, money changers and goldsmiths who settled there in the middle ages.
On the left bank are Pont de l'Archevêché, built in 1836, whose name recalls the old Archbishopric, destroyed in the riot of 1831, Pont au Double, le Petit Pont, the smallest in the city rebuilt many times since the Gauls, last in 1853, Pont Saint-Michel, which already existed in 1380 and was rebuilt several times. Pont-Neuf, was built in 1607. During the last two centuries of the old regime, the Pont-Neuf was, so to speak, the center of Paris: it was there that riots started and the crowd was harangued; there were always a lot of charlatans and fairground merchants who attracted a large audience and clever thieves to profit from it.
Then come the pedestrian Pont des Arts, which connects the Louvre to the left bank, dating back from 1801, Pont du Carrousel, built in 1832, Pont Royal, dating from 1685, the 1999 pedestrian Passerelle Léopold Senghor, connecting the Tuileries Gardens with Musée d'Orsay, Pont de la Concorde, started in 1786 and completed four years later with materials from the demolition of the Bastille Prison, Pont Alexandre III, inaugurated in 1900, Pont des Invalides, built in 1855, Pont de l'Alma, built in 1856, which bears the name of a Crimean War battle (September 14, 1854), pedestrian Passerelle Debilly, built in 1900, Pont d'Iéna, completed in 1813, connecting the Eiffel Tower to Palais de Chaillot, whose name recalls a victory of the first Empire. A little further away is Pont de Bir-Hakeim, built in 1905, Pont Rouelle, Pont de Grenelle, all three divided into two parts by Ile aux Cygnes, Pont Mirabeau, completed in 1896, Pont du Garigliano, completed in 1966, Pont aval, used by the Périphérique motorway around the city.
1910 centennial Seine flood
The Seine river regularly floods the lower quays in January.
The 1910 flood, referred to as the centennial flood, was the largest known surge of the Seine in Paris after the 1658 flood. It touched most of its valley and caused significant damage to the economy in and around the city.
The Seine reached its maximum level of 8.62 meters at the Austerlitz bridge on January 28th. The flood affected 12 arrondissements of the capital and many other towns along the river for several weeks. The rise of the waters occurred in about ten days, and the decrease in 35 days approximately.
The tributaries and confluents of the Seine knew the same fate to different degrees, due to the interdependence of the different hydrological systems. Some suburban cities suffered significant damage. During the flood, the deputies went to the National Assembly by boat. The Zouave bridge Alma, on which the Parisians are used to measure the height of the floods of the Seine, had water to the shoulders.
Seine river flood in 1910 was the highest
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
Paris Olympics opening ceremony on July 26 was on the Seine River. It was be the first opening ceremony ever to take place in a city and not in a stadium. Some 160 boats set off from Pont d’Austerlitz for a six-kilometre journey to Pont d’Iéna in an event Tony Estanguet, the head of the organising committee, described as "unique and spectacular".
During the 3 hours 15 minutes show, 10,500 athletes inaugurated the ceremony and lighted it up from start to finish during their stroll. Crossing the center of Paris, from east to west, they had a breathtaking view of the capital, and a glimpse of the exceptional playground which will host their performances.
Activities, installations, artistic performances celebrating sport and the city took place in the heart of this river setting. In total, 12 artistic paintings showcased French heritage, Paris, its monuments and bridges which line the route. The last act, at the Trocadéro and in the Eiffel Tower area, was devoted to the final protocol and artistic sequences.