Bustronome Paris: Lunch or Dinner on a Glass-Roofed Bus

The Bustronome Paris is a restaurant on a double-decker bus with a fully glazed roof. You sit at a laid table as it drives past the Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Élysées, the Louvre and the Seine bridges, and a four-course menu arrives course by course. Lunch or dinner, it lasts between 1h45 and 2h45, and it starts at €75. Guests rate it 4.7 out of 5 from 54 reviews.

Bustronome lunch or dinner: which one to book

Lunch is the better value and the easier photo. Dinner is the occasion: an anniversary, a proposal, the last night of the trip. Both have a live guide, in English, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish or Chinese.

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Where the Bustronome leaves from

The bus departs from the Arc de Triomphe, at the corner of avenue Kléber, according to Bustronome. The nearest metro is Charles de Gaulle - Étoile. Give yourself fifteen minutes: the Étoile is a huge roundabout and finding the right corner on foot takes longer than the map suggests.

💡 Pro Tip

Ask for a window on the river side

Not every table gets the same view. A window seat on the side facing the Seine gets the bridges and the Eiffel Tower up close. Mention it when you check in. It costs nothing to ask.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

Who the Bustronome suits

• Couples marking an occasion
• Food lovers who want a proper meal, not a snack
• Visitors short on time who want sightseeing and lunch in one

Who should skip it

• Anyone who wants to get off at stops: it is a closed loop
• Very young children who will not sit for two hours
• Travellers on a tight budget: a bus pass and a café cost less

Bustronome vs a hop-on hop-off bus

Different jobs. A hop-on hop-off pass is transport with commentary: you get off, visit, get back on. The Bustronome is a meal that moves. You see the same landmarks from a glass roof but you do not stop at any of them.

The neat combination is a morning bus loop and a Bustronome dinner the same day. You learn the city from the top deck in the morning, rest in the afternoon, and see the same streets again lit up from a dinner table. The two never compete for the same hours, and both leave from the west of the centre, so the logistics stay simple.

💡 Pro Tip

Book dinner for a clear evening

The glass roof is the whole show, and fog or heavy rain turns it into a blur. Cancellation is free on the options that allow it, so I book a target night and check the forecast the evening before.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

What happens on board the Bustronome

You check in at the stop by the Arc de Triomphe, find your table and the bus pulls away. The courses come one after another as the bus rolls through the city, and a live guide points out what you are passing, in one of eight languages. There is no stop to get off at: the meal and the loop end together, back where you started.

Expect a slow pace. On the dinner run the bus is out for up to 2h45, which is a long time if you are travelling with someone who gets restless. Lunch at about 1h45 is the easier commitment.

Dietary needs and children

If you have an allergy or a dietary requirement, raise it when you book and again at check-in. Bustronome lists a children's menu for kids up to 12, though two hours at a table is a lot to ask of a small child.

Is the Bustronome worth it

As a meal with a moving view, yes. You are paying for a restaurant first and a sightseeing tour second, and the reviews, 4.7 from 54, reflect people who came for both. If what you want is to see Paris and get off at the sights, a bus pass and a lunch in the Latin Quarter will serve you better and cost less.

What the Bustronome passes on its loop

The route is a loop through the west and centre of Paris, out from the Arc de Triomphe and back again. Expect the big set pieces rather than back streets:

• The Champs-Élysées and Place de la Concorde
• The Eiffel Tower and the Trocadéro
• The Seine bridges and the quays
• The Louvre and the Tuileries
• The Grand Palais and the Pont Alexandre III

The glass roof means you look up at the city too: the top of the Arc, the iron lattice of the tower, the gilded statues on the bridges. A window seat on the river side gets the best of it.

Bustronome combos with a Seine cruise or Disneyland

The cruise pairing is the natural one: lunch on the bus, a walk, and a boat in the late afternoon. The Disneyland combo uses two separate days, since the park is outside the city.

Before you book the Bustronome

1. Choose lunch or dinner by the light you want. Lunch for monuments by day, dinner for the tower lit up.
2. Flag allergies at booking. The menu is set; telling them early gives the kitchen time.
3. Arrive fifteen minutes early. The corner of avenue Kléber by the Arc is easy to miss on the huge roundabout.
4. Dress for a restaurant. No dress code is listed, and smart casual fits the setting.
5. Plan the afternoon. After lunch you are by the Arc: climb it, or walk down avenue Kléber to the Trocadéro in about fifteen minutes.

💡 Pro Tip

Use the Bustronome as the last-night dinner

On a short trip there is rarely a good evening for a big meal. I book the Bustronome dinner on the final night. It ends back at the Arc, there is no table to find, and the whole city goes past one more time before you leave.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

Bustronome or a dinner cruise

Pick the Bustronome if you want the Champs-Élysées and the Arc, the cruise if you want the river. Both feel like an occasion, and both work best on a clear evening.

Bustronome with children

Children are welcome and there is a menu for kids up to 12. The real question is patience: lunch takes about 1h45 and dinner up to 2h45, all at the table, with no stops to get off.

Lunch is the safer choice with children: shorter, in daylight, and over before anyone is tired. Mention any allergies when you book, since the menu is set in advance.

Wine pairing on the Bustronome

Each meal can be booked with or without a wine pairing chosen to go with the courses. If you are celebrating, the pairing turns the meal into a proper occasion; if you would rather stay sharp for an afternoon of sightseeing, lunch without wine leaves you free to walk the Champs-Élysées afterwards. The option and its price are shown at checkout.

💡 Pro Tip

Book the earliest lunch sitting in summer

In the heat of a July afternoon a glass roof warms up. I pick the earliest lunch departure on summer dates, when the sun is still behind the buildings, and keep the dinner run for the cooler months.

Pro tip by: Alesia Vakula

Travel expert and itinerary planning specialist

Prices are "from" prices in euros and vary by date and option; the price at checkout is the one that applies. Independent guide, not affiliated with Big Bus, Tootbus, Batobus or Bustronome.