Paris and back again

A week out of Paris The Seine

Most Seine weeks begin and end at the same Paris quay. In between sit Monet's garden and Rouen, and a coach day to the D-Day beaches the ship never reaches itself.

Plan my Seine cruise See the five itineraries

6 lockson the 203 km from Paris to Amfreville, by Canalplan's count
124 gueststhe maximum on Tauck's 2026 Seine ship, ms Serene
15 daysGrand France: the Seine and the Rhône, a TGV between
from $2,899Viking Paris & the Heart of Normandy 2027, cruise-only, Fall Sale to 31 Oct 2026

Independent · no paid placementFacts checked October 21, 2026Sources listed belowCLIA-affiliated advisors

The verdict

Pick the Seine for Paris and Normandy

Paris round trip
Monet's Giverny
D-Day beaches
Gothic Rouen

Choose it if

Travellers who want Paris at both ends and no onward flight
Impressionist admirers planning a morning in Monet's garden at Giverny
Anyone with a family or historic reason to stand on Omaha Beach

Look elsewhere if

Christmas-market travellers: Seine holiday departures are few; the Danube has more
March or November travellers set on Giverny; the garden is shut
Anyone hoping to sail to the beaches; they're a coach day

A Seine week starts and ends in Paris — the river is the thread, Rouen and Giverny are the reason.

Seabound Journeys on the Seine

Overview

What a Seine week is for

A Seine cruise is a Paris round trip, seven nights out to Normandy and back. You fly into the city you sail from, and home from the same quay.

The river is the lesser part of it. Rouen's cathedral and Monet's house at Giverny are the calls people remember — and the landing beaches are a coach day, not a landing.

The engineering is light. Canalplan counts six locks between Paris and Amfreville, and below Amfreville the Seine is tidal all the way to the Channel.

Season matters more than direction here. Monet's garden keeps its own calendar, and at least one line swaps in a castle when it's shut.

The reaches below run downstream from Paris. Itineraries, season, water and fares follow; the Paris berths and hotels have their own pages.

The river

Downstream from Paris, in five reaches

01
Paris: the 15th-arrondissement quays and Le Pecq
Most ships moor at Port de Grenelle or Port de Javel Bas on the Left Bank, close to the Eiffel Tower. Ships too large for the city quays use Le Pecq instead — Viking's 2027 Paris & the Heart of Normandy lists 'Paris (Le Pecq)' on Day 7, then closes with an evening illumination sail past Pont Alexandre III. Two Paris days are standard. Viking gives Day 1 to the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe or the Louvre, and Uniworld adds Versailles from Mantes-la-Jolie on Day 6. Suresnes, the first lock, comes almost as soon as you leave the city.
02
The Vexin: La Roche-Guyon, Vernon and Giverny, Les Andelys
The Impressionist reach. Viking and Uniworld pair La Roche-Guyon's hilltop castle with Vernon on the same day, and Vernon is the landing for Monet's house and gardens at Giverny — by coach, or on Viking's 3.5-hour 'Monet's Garden by Bicycle'. Avalon offers Giverny or Bizy Castle; Tauck books an early opening. Viking (Day 6) and AmaWaterways (Day 2) call at Les Andelys for Château Gaillard, the 12th-century castle above the town.
03
Rouen, below the tidal limit
The Poses-Amfreville lock marks where the Seine turns tidal, and Rouen lies downstream of it. Every line stops. Viking comes for the Gothic cathedral and the Gros-Horloge astronomical clock, AmaWaterways for Joan of Arc, and Uniworld holds a private evening concert inside the cathedral. Tauck hosts a château dinner. Avalon points guests to the summer light show on the cathedral front. Rouen is also where Uniworld starts its full-day beaches tours.
04
The estuary: Caudebec, Honfleur, Étretat and Le Havre
The river widens toward the Channel. Uniworld moors at Caudebec-en-Caux for a day trip to Honfleur or golf at Étretat, with St. Wandrille monastery as a $70 add-on — of the lines we track, it's the only one to confirm Caudebec. AmaWaterways sails on to Le Havre and stays two days. Tauck gives free time in Honfleur and Étretat. Arriving on an ocean ship instead? Our Le Havre guide covers that port.
05
The D-Day beaches, by coach
An excursion, not a call — the ship stays on the river. Viking gives Day 5 to the D-Day coast and the American Cemetery. Avalon's optional excursion names Omaha Beach and Pointe du Hoc, and Uniworld lets guests choose American, British/Commonwealth or Canadian sites on a full day out of Rouen. AmaWaterways runs its 'Normandy shores and remembrance sites' day from Le Havre.

All 6 Seine places on our atlas, embarkation cities named. Open the Seine on the river map.

Itineraries

Five ways the Seine is sold

Nearly every Seine product is the Paris round trip, dressed differently. Some add London, one adds the Rhône, and a few add a theme.

Paris round trip to Normandy, 7 nights

The core week, sailed in both directions out of Paris. Viking's 8-day Paris & the Heart of Normandy covers La Roche-Guyon and Vernon, Rouen, the beaches and Les Andelys. AmaWaterways' 7-night Paris & Normandy, on AmaDante and AmaLyra, spends two days in Le Havre and stops at Malmaison. Uniworld's 8-day version on S.S. Joie de Vivre adds the Rouen concert, Caudebec and Versailles, and Avalon's Paris to Normandy calls at Conflans for Auvers-sur-Oise. Scenic sells Normandy & Gems of the Seine and Highlights of Normandy & the Seine; Emerald Lumi joins the river in March 2027.

Viking AmaWaterways Uniworld Avalon Scenic Emerald

London, Paris and the Seine, 11–12 days

The river week with hotel nights in front. Tauck's 12-day Cruising the Seine, plus London & Paris spends two nights at The Langham, London, with an after-hours visit to the Churchill War Rooms, before nine nights aboard ms Serene or ms Reverie. Viking sells a 12-day London, Paris & D-Day. Avalon lists Paris to Normandy with 3 Nights in London, and Scenic a London version of its Highlights week.

Tauck Viking Avalon Scenic

The Seine and the Rhône together, 15 days

One trip, two ships, a train in between. Uniworld's Grand France sails Paris & Normandy on S.S. Joie de Vivre, then takes guests by TGV to Lyon on Day 8 to board S.S. Catherine for Mâcon, Tain-l'Hermitage, Viviers, Avignon and Arles. Viking's France's Finest runs Paris to Avignon. Avalon lists Grand France Southbound and a France Unveiled Seine & Rhône WWII Remembrance cruise.

Uniworld Viking Avalon

Christmastime on the Seine

A short list. Viking sells a new 8-day Christmastime in Paris & Normandy, round trip from Paris, and Uniworld has Paris departures on 2 and 9 December 2026. AmaWaterways' Paris & Normandy calendar shows no December dates — only October–November 2026 and March–May 2027.

Viking

Themed Seine weeks

The same round trip, built around a subject. Avalon sells a Paris to Normandy WWII Remembrance & History Cruise. AmaWaterways has Celebration of Wine departures on 25 March, 1 April and 15 April 2027, and Smithsonian Journeys departures on 22 April and 13 May 2027. Tauck runs a Seine Family River Cruise.

Avalon AmaWaterways Tauck

Which line?

7 lines sail this river. Find your two.

Four quick questions, answered as fully as you like. The shortlist only includes lines with published sailings here, and it updates as you tap.

01What matters most on this trip?

02Who is coming?

03How do you like to spend a port day?

04Have you been on a river cruise before?

Scores come from the same checked facts as our line reviews. It shortlists; an advisor confirms the fit for your dates.

Season

When to sail the Seine

Where else sails in January →

Prime monthsSailingFew or no sailings

March–December · Giverny open April–October. Tap a month for what a sailing then is like.

Seine ships sail from March to November, with a Christmas week on top. AmaWaterways lists departures from 22 October to 7 November 2026, then 11 March to 13 May 2027; Tauck sails April–May and July–October.

No line names a peak. For most people Giverny sets it: Uniworld runs Monet's gardens only on April–October departures and goes to Château Gaillard in March, late October and November.

Spring brings what Avalon calls Paris in bloom. Summer brings the light show on Rouen Cathedral.

The Seine's water risk runs the other way from the Rhine's. It's high water, not low, that has moved ships here — and the precedent is the June 2016 flood.

What happened when the Seine flooded

AmaWaterwaysIn June 2016 it said the problem was 'the accessibility to dock in Paris', and moved its ships to Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, about 32 km away.Source
VikingDuring the same flood it warned two Paris & the Heart of Normandy departures of changed embarkation ports, shorter sailing and motorcoach legs.Source
ScenicSaid its Seine cruises were operating as scheduled that June.Source
UniworldIts Paris & Normandy itinerary 'is subject to modification due to water levels'. No line sets out a current flood policy for the Seine.Source

Ship size on a small river

Seine ships run mid-sized. AmaDante and AmaLyra carry 140 guests in 71 staterooms, and Tauck's ms Serene is 125 m with 20 suites of 300 sq ft — Tauck says other lines' 135 m ships carry 46% more people. Neither side of the ship is sold as the better one, so we wouldn't pay extra for either.

What it costs

What the Seine costs, as published

Each fare below is the line's own lead price on 21 October 2026, per person, as published. AmaWaterways and Uniworld showed no fare for their Paris & Normandy weeks that day, and Scenic and Emerald had none to confirm. Price your own departure before comparing.

Sort

VikingParis & the Heart of Normandy 2027, 8 days Paris round trip
$2,899≈ $414 a night
$2,899 pp cruise-only, US residents, Fall Sale for bookings 1–31 Oct 2026, as published 21 Oct 2026
VikingChristmastime in Paris & Normandy, 8 days Paris round trip
$2,999≈ $428 a night
$2,999 pp, as published 21 Oct 2026
Avalon WaterwaysParis to Normandy, 8 days Paris round trip
$4,076≈ $582 a night
$4,076 pp for the 2 Nov 2027 departure, as published 21 Oct 2026
VikingLondon, Paris & D-Day, 12 days London–Paris
$5,299≈ $482 a night
$5,299 pp, as published 21 Oct 2026
VikingFrance's Finest, 15 days Paris–Avignon
$5,599≈ $400 a night
$5,599 pp, as published 21 Oct 2026
UniworldGrand France, 15 days Paris–Arles (two ships)
$8,399≈ $600 a night
$8,399 pp offer price (regular $9,399), based on the 27 June 2026 itinerary, which has sailed — ask us for 2027 Grand France pricing, as published 21 Oct 2026
TauckCruising the Seine, plus London & Paris, 12 days
$8,990≈ $817 a night
$8,990 pp, as published 21 Oct 2026

Lead fares per person as each line published them; the line under each bar keeps the line’s own wording. “A night” is our arithmetic: the lead fare divided by the trip’s nights (days minus one, hotel nights included where the package has them), before taxes and port charges. Your dates will price differently. That’s the job we do for free.

Seven rivers, side by side

Is this the right river? Compare before you choose.

The seven rivers we cover in full, five in Europe and two in Africa and Asia. Each name opens its guide; the fare row is the lowest lead fare in each guide’s fare table, as the lines published them in October 2026.

	Danube	Rhine	You are hereSeine	Rhône & Saône	Douro	Nile	Mekong
Best for	First-timers and capital-city travellers	Scenery, castles and wine towns	Paris lovers and D-Day history	Wine lovers and Roman history	Port wine and small-ship intimacy	Temple lovers and ancient history	Angkor, delta villages and tiny ships
The feel	Big cities, music, one vineyard valley in daylight	One dramatic gorge morning, then vineyards and cathedrals	Gentle river, Impressionist villages, Gothic Rouen	Vineyard valleys, big locks, papal and Roman towns	Terraced vineyards, deep dam locks, quiet quintas	Early temple mornings, Cairo hotels, few nights aboard	Sampan landings, markets, temples, a border crossed by river
Season	Mar–Dec	Mar–Dec	Mar–Dec	Mar–Dec	Mar–Nov	Jan–Dec	Jan–Dec
Start cities we cover	Budapest, Vienna, Passau, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Bucharest	Amsterdam, Basel, Frankfurt am Main, Trier & Remich	Paris	Lyon, Avignon	Porto	Cairo, Luxor	Ho Chi Minh City, Siem Reap
Lowest published lead fare	$1,999	$2,599	$2,899	$2,899	$4,426	$5,099	$3,279
The catch	Late-summer low water and overnight lock bumps	August shallows at Kaub; Moselle single-chamber locks	Giverny's season and high water at Paris	The March lock closure below Lyon	Summer heat and a shorter season	Summer heat above 40 °C; flights inside Egypt	Two visas, year-round heat, the lake's low water

Start cities

Boarding in Paris

Paris is the Seine's one turnaround, so its quays deserve an evening's reading. Our Paris guide covers the Left Bank berths, both airports and the day before, and the hotel hub sits beside it.

Embarkation cityParisIn Paris the ship usually ties up within sight of the Eiffel Tower, on a Left Bank quay in the 15th. Usually is the word to watch: berths move by date, and a few departures board outside the city.The embarkation guide

The night-before hotels, city by city: Paris

Ports of call

The call to read up on

Giverny, landed from Vernon on the opposite bank. Our stop page covers the garden's season, the bicycle-or-coach choice and the rest of that day on the river.

Port of callGiverny & VernonYou won't dock at Giverny. The ship ties up at Vernon, and Monet's garden is about 5 km away across the Seine — a coach ride or a bike ride, not a stroll.The port day

Before you book

Five questions worth asking about the Seine

The answers separate two sailings that look the same in a brochure. Tick the ones you care about and we’ll answer them for your dates.

Does our ship berth in central Paris or at Le Pecq?Larger ships can't use the city quays, which changes your first and last evenings.
Is Giverny included on our departure date?Monet's garden keeps its own season; outside it, Uniworld swaps in Château Gaillard.
Which landing-beach sites does the D-Day day cover?Some lines let you choose American, British/Commonwealth or Canadian sites; others set one route.
What happens if high water closes the Paris quays?In 2016 ships docked about 32 km out and some legs went by coach.
Do we get two full Paris days, and which tours?Paris time is half the point, and each line splits it differently.

Why trust this page

The Seabound standard

Sources, read at the source

Every fare, berth and timetable here was checked on October 21, 2026, at the line, port or hotel wherever they publish it. Where they don’t, we name the source we used, or say nothing is published.

Paid placements

No line or hotel pays to appear here or to rank higher. Affiliate links are labelled, and they never decide what we recommend.

1:1

Advisors, not a booking engine

A Seabound Journeys advisor reads your brief, compares the lines for your dates and answers you personally. CLIA-affiliated, Florida Seller of Travel ST15578.

Have us plan it

Find the Seine sailing built for you

Tell us the month, who is sailing and what you want from the week. We price the lines against each other, hotel nights and transfers included.

Usually the same fare as booking direct, and our advice costs you nothing.
We compare the lines on the Seine for your dates, not one brochure.
Hotel nights, flights and transfers can go into the same plan.

Your river brief

Tell us the trip. We’ll find the sailing.

Prefer to browse fares yourself? Compare river cruise fares Via CruiseDirect · Affiliate link

Quick answers

Seine river cruise questions

Do Seine cruises always start in Paris?

The core week does, as a round trip. Exceptions exist: Uniworld boards a 2026 departure at Courbevoie and another in Rouen, Tauck and Viking sell versions that begin in London, and the 15-day Grand France and France's Finest carry on south to Provence.

Which months give you Monet's garden?

April to October, on Uniworld's published schedule. In March, late October and November it visits Château Gaillard at Les Andelys instead. Ask your own line which week its Giverny visits stop.

How do the D-Day beaches fit into a river cruise?

As a full day by coach — the river doesn't reach the coast. Uniworld goes from Rouen, AmaWaterways from Le Havre, and Viking gives the beaches and the American Cemetery a day of their own. For a whole week on the subject, Avalon sells a WWII Remembrance & History cruise.

Is low water a worry on the Seine in 2026?

Not on the record so far. Uniworld's 2026 low-water notice names the Rhine, Main and Danube, and no line has posted one for the Seine. Flooding is the documented risk here, and no line publishes what it does now when the river runs high.

Where will the ship tie up in Paris?

Usually at Port de Grenelle or Port de Javel Bas, on the Left Bank in the 15th. Larger ships use Le Pecq in the western suburbs. Avalon doesn't announce its berth ahead of time, so read your cruise documents closely.

Is there a Christmas cruise on the Seine?

Viking sells one: an 8-day Christmastime in Paris & Normandy, round trip from Paris. Uniworld also has Paris departures on 2 and 9 December 2026 (the first boarding at Courbevoie), while AmaWaterways' calendar has no December Seine dates. Book early if Paris at Christmas is the point.

How we checked this page 15 sources

Every fact above comes from a source listed here, checked on October 21, 2026: port and city authorities, the lines’ own pages, the hotels and the rating guides. Where nothing official is published, the page says so rather than filling the gap.

Keep comparing

The lines and the map

River cruising, decodedEvery line and every river, compared in one place The Seine on the river map6 places with seasons, lines and hotel picks