Can You Take A St. Lawrence River Cruise From Montreal?

Yes. Three guided cruises depart from the Old Port area of Montreal: a 1 hour 30 minute history sightseeing cruise, a 45 minute electric boat ride and a 1 hour sunset boat tour. A jet boat ride on the Lachine Rapids also leaves from the Old Port. Cruises are a warm-season product, so check the booking page for dates before you plan around one.

Montreal sits on an island, and the St. Lawrence River is the reason the city exists at all. The Old Port, the quays that line it and the river itself frame most of the classic postcard views of downtown, and boat operators run from those docks through the warm months. The three sightseeing options cover a wide spread of styles: a large guided commentary cruise run by Croisieres AML, a small-group electric boat operated by Le Petit Navire, and a one-hour sunset run by Aventures Wet Set. Saute-Moutons Jet Boating adds a fourth, wetter choice with a ride into the Lachine Rapids.

The differences between them matter more than the shared departure area. Group caps range from 30 to 300 passengers, durations run from 45 minutes to two hours, and the experience ranges from a dry, seated commentary cruise to a soak-everything rapids run where ponchos and sandals are lent to every rider. The full guide to Montreal river cruise options breaks the category down further; this page answers the core question and compares the boats directly.

One planning note before the detail: all four are warm-season products. None of the operators publish their season dates in a way that guarantees a given week, and several of these listings pause outside the warmer months. Treat every price below as a last-listed from-price and check dates at booking for the day you want.

Which Montreal River Cruises Can You Book?

Four boat experiences leave from the Montreal riverfront. Croisieres AML runs a 1 hour 30 minute guided history cruise for up to 300 guests. Le Petit Navire runs a 45 minute electric boat for groups capped at 30. Aventures Wet Set runs a 1 hour sunset tour, also capped at 30. Saute-Moutons runs a jet boat into the Lachine Rapids for up to 140 riders.

The Croisieres AML history cruise is the big-boat option. It carries up to 300 passengers, runs with a bilingual guide and also offers an audioguide in eight languages, and its route passes the Old Port waterfront sights including the Biosphere, Olympic Stadium and Jacques Cartier Bridge. One practical detail from the operator: you collect a physical ticket at the AML ticket office on the dock at 200 Rue de la Commune Ouest, 30 minutes before departure. Food and drinks are not included, though the 4 pm Happy Hour departure includes one drink per guest aged 13 and over. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start is stated.

The Le Petit Navire electric boat is the quiet opposite: a 45 minute small-group ride from the Jacques Cartier Pier ramp, capped at 30 guests, from $28.95 per person. Alcoholic drinks can be bought onboard by guests 18 and over and are not included. It is a short, gentle loop, and it suits travellers who want the skyline from the water without committing an afternoon.

The Aventures Wet Set sunset tour is a 1 hour guided run from the ferry dock, from $28.95 per person, with live commentary on board. The operator advises a windbreaker in September and October, which tells you something about the breeze on the open river late in the season. The cruises sit in the site's river category alongside the Lachine Rapids jet boat tour, which is covered further down this page.

What Do The Old Port Cruises Cost?

The two small-boat cruises start from $28.95 per person each, and the jet boat starts from $62.41. The history sightseeing cruise shows its price at booking. Every figure here is a last-listed from-price, per person, and none of these boats is guaranteed to be running on any given week, so check dates before you build an itinerary around one.

Price alone does not tell you much across this category, because you are buying very different things. The $28.95 electric boat buys 45 quiet minutes on a small vessel; the $28.95 sunset run buys a full hour with commentary; the $62.41 jet boat buys a soaked hour inside the Lachine Rapids plus loaner gear. Compare on cost per experience, not per minute.

For context across the whole site, the median from-price for a Montreal tour is $70.74, so even the jet boat sits below the middle of the market. The cheapest guided tours in the city are two Old Montreal walks at $25.33 each, which is a useful benchmark: a short river cruise costs barely more than a walking tour, and the sunset boat is in the same bracket. The guide to Montreal tour prices puts the full 36-tour range in one table if you want to place a cruise inside a bigger budget.

A few cost details are worth checking before you book. Food is not included on the AML and sunset cruises, and the alcoholic drinks sold onboard the electric boat are not included either; only the AML Happy Hour departure bundles a drink. On the jet boat, life jackets, changing rooms, lockers, ponchos and sandals are all included, so there is nothing extra to rent. Quebec adds GST at 5 percent and QST at 9.975 percent to purchases, and whether a tour price already includes tax is shown at checkout, so read the checkout total rather than computing it yourself. Tipping guides is customary and optional, and no operator here states an amount.

How Long Is Each St. Lawrence Cruise From Montreal?

Durations run from 45 minutes to 2 hours. The electric boat is 45 minutes, the sunset boat is 1 hour, the history cruise is 1 hour 30 minutes, and the jet boat is listed at 2 hours, though the boat ride itself lasts about one hour with roughly 30 minutes in the rapids.

The jet boat's two-hour listing deserves the clearest explanation, because it is not two hours of rapids. The operator's own FAQ describes a one hour boat tour with about 30 minutes spent in the rapids themselves, a round trip from the Old Port, with the rapids about 15 minutes from the departure point. The wider listing window exists because you arrive 45 minutes early for orientation and allow about 15 minutes to change afterwards. Budget the full two hours in your day, but expect an hour on the water.

The sightseeing cruises are simpler to plan around. The AML history cruise keeps you out for an hour and a half, which is long enough for a full circuit of the waterfront commentary route, and the operator asks you at the dock 30 minutes early for ticket collection, so add that to your timing too. The sunset boat is a single hour from the ferry dock, with arrival 15 minutes before departure. The electric boat is the shortest commitment at 45 minutes, useful if you are fitting a cruise between other Old Port plans.

None of these durations include travel to the Old Port, food stops or wandering the quays afterwards, and the Old Port area rewards an extra hour on its own. If you are pairing a cruise with a walk through the district, the Old Montreal walking tour guide covers the land side of the same neighbourhood, with guided walks from $25.33 and group caps as small as 10.

What Sights Pass By On A Montreal River Cruise?

The AML history cruise route takes in the Old Port, the Biosphere, Olympic Stadium and Jacques Cartier Bridge, with bilingual commentary and an audioguide in eight languages. The smaller boats cover the nearer waterfront around the Old Port and the river skyline, and the jet boat heads upstream to the Lachine Rapids rather than sightseeing at all.

What you see depends heavily on which boat you pick. The big cruise is built for the panorama: the named sights include the Biosphere on Sainte-Helene Island, the Olympic Stadium tower and the Jacques Cartier Bridge, and a guide narrates the city's history as the shoreline slides past. Guests who prefer another language can switch to the audioguide, which the operator offers in eight languages.

The electric boat and the sunset run stay closer to home. Both leave from the central Old Port piers, so the near skyline, the quays and the bridges around the harbour are the core views, with the sunset departure timing its hour around evening light over the river. No clock times are published here, and the sun sets at a different hour every week, so treat the departure time at booking as the source of truth.

The jet boat shows you almost nothing and everything at once: the ride is about the rapids, the spray and the physics of the Lachine channel, not the skyline. The river around Montreal is also a working stretch of the St. Lawrence with a long engineering history. Just upstream, the Lachine Canal is a national historic site, a 13.5 km waterway between the Old Port and Lake Saint-Louis with five locks, used for walking, cycling and boating, as Parks Canada documents. Bridge works are planned or under way on parts of the corridor, so check Parks Canada for works if you plan to cycle the canal path on the same day.

Do You Get Wet On The Lachine Rapids Jet Boat?

Yes, thoroughly. It is a wet trip: a one hour ride with about 30 minutes in the rapids, ponchos and sandals lent to every rider, free lockers, and 45 minutes of arrival time for orientation. Minimum age is 6, and riders must be at least 44 inches tall.

The jet boat is the one product in this category that is really a ride rather than a cruise, and the distinction matters for what you wear and who comes along. The operator's FAQ sets the physical bar plainly: minimum age 6 and 44 inches (about 112 cm), anyone under 16 accompanied by a parent or guardian, and anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian to sign waivers. Riders should be in good health, free of heart, neck or back problems and not pregnant. There is no upper age limit and no stated weight limit.

Bring a swimsuit and a towel, and expect to use the changing rooms afterwards; the schedule allows about 15 minutes to change once the boat docks. Everything protective is included: life jacket, ponchos, sandals, lockers and changing rooms, so the only gear you need to think about is your own dry clothes for the walk home.

It also earns its rating honestly: 4.9 across 245 reviews, the strongest review profile of the four boats. If you are weighing it against the paddled alternative, the Lachine Rapids rafting trip run by Rafting Montreal covers similar water from a base in LaSalle, with a minimum age of 6, guided paddling and equipment included. The jet boat versus rafting comparison walks through that choice in detail.

When Do St. Lawrence Cruises Run In Montreal?

Cruises on the St. Lawrence from Montreal are a warm-season product, and none of the operators here publishes season dates that guarantee any given week. Check the specific date you want before you build a day around a departure.

Montreal's river season follows the climate: cold snowy winters and warm humid summers, in those general words. Boats run when the river and the weather cooperate, and several of these products pause outside the warmer months while still showing a from-price. That is why every price in the table above is described as a last-listed from-price rather than a promise of a running departure.

Two weather policies are worth knowing. The jet boat's operator FAQ and its booking page describe weather differently, so confirm the rule for your date; the Rafting Montreal trip runs rain or shine. The electric boat and the sunset boat need good weather, and on both, if the operator cancels for poor weather you are offered another date or a full refund. The AML cruise operates rain or shine unless conditions pose a safety risk. All four state free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start for a full refund, which is the standard wording across 35 of the 36 tours on this site.

Planning around the shoulder of the season is mostly a matter of layers and timing. The sunset operator's advice to bring a windbreaker in September and October is a fair template for any late-season river outing in this city. If your dates fall outside the boating window, the land-based options keep running through colder weather: the Guidatour Original Old Montreal walk is one of the few tours that state year-round operation.

Which Montreal Cruise Should You Choose?

Pick the AML history cruise for commentary and the fullest route, the electric boat for a short, quiet small-group ride at from $28.95, the sunset boat for an evening hour on the water at the same from-price, and the jet boat for a wet, loud hour in the Lachine Rapids at from $62.41. Group size, dryness and time budget decide it.

Start with how you want to feel at the end. If the goal is to have learned something about Montreal, the AML cruise is the only one built around a guided history commentary, with the audioguide fallback and the biggest sight list, and its 300-passenger capacity means space is rarely the constraint. If the goal is a calm half hour of skyline with a partner or small group, the 30-person electric boat is the better shape of experience, and it is the cheapest timed ticket in the category at 45 minutes for from $28.95.

If the goal is atmosphere, the sunset run times a guided hour against the evening river, which pairs naturally with dinner afterwards in Old Montreal. And if the goal is a story to tell, the jet boat at from $62.41 delivers 4.9-across-245-reviews worth of soaking, splashing and spray, with all the gear included. Families should note the age and height rules on the rapids ride, minimum age 6 and 44 inches, while the small cruises publish no minimum ages at all, so check with each operator for young children.

A final pairing thought: boats and walks cover different Montreals, and the two fit in one day easily because the cruise docks sit at the edge of Old Montreal. Montreal Canada Tours exists to make exactly these pairings simple, with the full river category, the walking category and the food category all compared in one place. Whichever boat you choose, book the date first, confirm the season at booking, and let the rest of the day fill in around the river.

Common Questions About St. Lawrence River Cruises From Montreal

Can You Take A St. Lawrence River Cruise From Montreal?

Yes. Three cruises leave from the Old Port area, a 1 hour 30 minute guided history cruise, a 45 minute electric boat and a 1 hour sunset tour, plus a jet boat ride into the Lachine Rapids. All are warm-season products, so check dates before booking.

How Much Does A Montreal River Cruise Cost?

The electric boat and the sunset boat each start from $28.95 per person, and the jet boat starts from $62.41. The history sightseeing cruise shows its price at booking. All figures are last-listed from-prices per person.

How Long Is The Cruise On The St. Lawrence From Montreal?

Durations range from 45 minutes for the electric boat to 2 hours for the jet boat listing, with the sunset boat at 1 hour and the history cruise at 1 hour 30 minutes. The jet boat ride itself is about one hour, with arrival 45 minutes early for orientation.

Do You Get Wet On The Montreal River Cruises?

Not on the three sightseeing cruises, which are dry, seated boat trips. The jet boat into the Lachine Rapids is a different product: the operator calls it a wet trip, lends ponchos, life jackets and sandals, and provides changing rooms and free lockers.

Where Do The St. Lawrence Cruises Depart From In Montreal?

All four depart from the Old Port area. The AML cruise collects physical tickets at its dock office on Rue de la Commune Ouest, the electric boat leaves from the Jacques Cartier Pier ramp, the sunset boat from the ferry dock, and the jet boat from near the Clock Tower.

Can Children Ride The Montreal River Cruises And Jet Boat?

The jet boat sets a minimum age of 6 and a height of 44 inches, with under-16s accompanied and under-18s needing a guardian to sign waivers. The three sightseeing cruises publish no minimum ages, so check with the operator before booking with young children.