A green river one storey below the streets of downtown San Antonio, lined with cypress trees,
stone bridges and cafe terraces. Glide through it on a painted electric barge while the captain tells three
centuries of the city's story.
Boat price, honestlyWhat the booth charges vs a tour
Real guest ratingsLive Viator & Tripadvisor figures
Free cancellationUp to 24 hours before on every tour here
Secure checkout on ViatorMobile ticket, instant confirmation
Cruise tours
Choose your River Walk cruise tour
In the centre, the most booked San Antonio tour with a boat ride: pickup, the Alamo, a mission, the
Tower and the cruise. On the left, a short walk that ends with your boat ticket; on the right, the same city by
night with the river under the lights.
The most reviewed San Antonio tour with a boat ride: Mission San José, the Alamo, the Tower of the Americas deck and the GO RIO cruise, in a small van.
What's included
About four hours with pickup and drop-off in downtown San Antonio
Narrated GO RIO river cruise and the Tower of the Americas deck, both included
Stops at Mission San José and the Alamo with a local guide
Every option here puts you on the same GO RIO boat for the same 35-minute loop. What you pay for
on top is the guide, the transport and the other sights. If the boat is all you want, the first row is the one.
Every Viator tour here cancels for a full refund up to 24 hours before; GO RIO booth tickets
are not refundable. Child rates on the See Sight tours run from 5 to 12; at the booth the child fare covers ages 1 to 5.
The river
A flood channel that became a garden.
In 1921 the San Antonio River flooded downtown and killed about fifty people. The obvious fix was to pave over
the bend and turn it into a storm drain. A young architect, Robert Hugman, argued for the opposite in 1929:
keep the loop, lower the paths to the water and line them with shops and cafes. The WPA built his plan between
1939 and 1941, with the stone stairs and arched bridges you float under today.
It sat half-forgotten until HemisFair '68 brought hotels, the convention centre and the Tower of the
Americas to its banks. Since then the River Walk has grown to 15 miles, north past the museums and the Pearl
and south to the Spanish missions. The boats only cover the busy downtown loop, about five miles of it.
1941
The year the WPA finished Robert Hugman's River Walk, the stone
paths and bridges that still frame the cruise.
About 35 minutes, a loop that returns to the dock you left from.
02
Booth or tour?
The boat alone is $16.78 with tax at a GO RIO booth. Tours add a guide and other sights.
03
See the Alamo?
Not from the water. It is one block up on Alamo Plaza, a short walk from the docks.
04
Who should skip a tour?
Anyone who only wants the boat. Walk up to a booth and ride; no booking needed.
The cruise
How the cruise works
Boats leave every 15 minutes from 10 am to 10 pm, from three docks at river level. On a tour, your
guide brings you to the dock or hands you the ticket; on your own, this is the whole routine.
01
Go down to the river
Take any stairway from Commerce, Market or Houston Street down to the water and head for a GO RIO booth.
A few minutes
02
Queue and board
Tickets are not timed. Join the line, step onto the open barge, and pick an outside seat for photos.
15 to 20 minute wait
03
The narrated loop
Past La Villita, Old Mill Crossing, Selena's Bridge and the Briscoe museum, with the captain's stories.
About 35 minutes
04
Back where you started
Off at the same dock, a short climb from the Alamo, the Tower and dinner on a terrace.
Tickets, what the tours include, what costs extra, and what to bring.
At the booth: adults $15.50 plus tax ($16.78), children 1 to 5 $10.28, seniors 65+ and military $13.53, Bexar County residents $14.61.
Online: the same tickets on goriocruises.com. They are not tied to a date or time, and GO RIO does not refund them.
Combo: the Tower of the Americas sells a Tower and GO RIO combo for $35 plus tax.
City pass: San Antonio CityPASS includes the cruise with the zoo, the Alamo exhibit and one more attraction.
Through a tour: every Viator listing here includes the boat ticket in its price.
Length: 1.5 hours for the walk with cruise, 4 hours for the city and night tours, about 7 from Austin.
Pickup: the See Sight driving tours collect from downtown hotels; the walking tours meet at the Emily Morgan Hotel or the Alamo.
Group size: seven at most on the driving tours, ten on the small-group walks, twenty on the 1.5-hour walk.
The Alamo: a pass-by on the short walk, outside only at night, a full hour on the small-group walking tour.
Prices on this site are Viator from-prices in US dollars and move with the season.
Tips: not included on any tour; guides and boat captains appreciate them.
Drinks: no outside food or drink on the boats. GO RIO's bar by the Rivercenter booth sells frozen margaritas, soda and water.
Seats: the barges are open; sit on the outer edge for photos, in the middle for shade.
Spanish: GO RIO runs Spanish-language cruises on select dates.
Private boat: charters run $180 to $230 an hour for up to 37 guests.
A hat and sunglasses. The boats are open and Texas sun is strong most of the year.
Water in summer, from June to September, when afternoons pass 90°F.
Comfortable shoes for the stairs down to the river and the walking tours.
A light jacket on winter evenings, when the lights are on and it can turn cool.
Your Viator voucher on your phone, and ID if you claim a senior, military or resident fare.
Daily10 am to 10 pmNarrated cruises most of the year, every 15 minutes.
27 Nov 2026Holiday River ParadeThe lights switch on the day after Thanksgiving.
Late Nov to early JanHoliday lightsThe busiest, prettiest weeks on the river.
19 Dec to 4 JanRiver North tourEvening cruises up toward the Pearl, 6 to 9 pm.
Jun to SepSummer heatRide before noon or after 7 pm.
RainWeather stopsStorms or closed floodgates can halt the boats.
Where it is
Where to board
Three docks on the downtown loop
Rivercenter, 809 E River Walk, San Antonio, TX 78205
The River Walk has no single street address; for a car, aim for the Shops at Rivercenter, 849 E Commerce
Street, and use one of the downtown garages. GO RIO sells tickets and boards at three docks: Rivercenter
at the mall's river side, the busiest; Historia at 706 River Walk, under the Market Street bridge near
Alamo Street; and Aztec at 731 River Walk, below the Aztec Theatre, often the shortest line. The Alamo is
a five-minute walk up from Rivercenter, out through the back of the mall.
Boat-only riders: any of the three docks
Walking tours: the Emily Morgan Hotel, 705 E Houston St, or the Alamo
4.8★★★★★ 1,229 reviews · See Sight premium city tour with cruise live Viator & Tripadvisor figure
★★★★★
Nancy was wonderful! She was very nice, professional, polite, and extremely knowledgeable about San Antonio and its history. She explained everything clearly and made the tour both enjoyable and informative.
★★★★★
The tour guide on the walking tour Megan was awesome. She was entertaining, knowledgeable, and very friendly. Also the river cruise was lovely and our guide was humorous and gave great information about the significant sites along the way.
★★★★★
What an amazing tour!! Our guide, Rene, was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. We learned so much from him about the history of San Antonio as a whole, as well as the Alamo, and the Tower of the Americas, and the boat tour at the end was so gorgeous!
★★★★★
Our guide, Warren, was very knowledgeable. It was a great "Sampler" tour of San Antonio. We were able to then go to the places we loved on the tour and spend more time there.
★★★★★
We had never visited San Antonio before, and honestly did not know what to expect. Victor showed us so many beautiful sites and shared so much wonderful history that we were truly amazed.
★★★★★
Rene took us all around San Antonio in the evening! Perfectly timed stops along the way to see so much we never would have found on our own! Super glad we did this on our first night!
★★★★★
We met Nancy in San Antonio for our tour and it was an excellent experience that gave us a lot of knowledge as well as confidence to further explore the Riverwalk and wider San Antonio area.
★★★★★
The trip to San Antonio is absolutely worth it! Alex was an incredible tour guide and made the trip so much fun. Highly recommend! My favorite stop was the San Jose mission. [...] I also enjoyed the San Antonio River Walk boat tour.
★★★★★
Great choice, saved $$ over buying individual tickets. In 2&1/2 days - we were able to see the San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio Zoo, Riverwalk and a 30-35 minute narrated river boat cruise and visited The Alamo.
Beyond the boat
The missions the boats never reach
The cruise covers downtown. San Antonio's other World Heritage sites sit a few miles south, along
the quiet Mission Reach of the same river.
UNESCO Missions Tour: Concepción, San José, San Juan and Espada
★ 4.8 · 67 reviews · 3 hours
The boat stays downtown. The four Spanish missions south of the city, listed by UNESCO with the Alamo in 2015, are what most visitors miss. See Sight Tours picks you up downtown and drives seven guests at most to Concepción, San José, San Juan and Espada, with a stop at the World Heritage Center, in about three hours: a good morning before an evening cruise.
There is one river cruise in downtown San Antonio, and GO RIO runs it. Every tour that promises
a River Walk boat ride puts you on that same barge. Once you know that, choosing is simple.
What the boat ride actually is
The barges are open, electric and quiet, painted in the bright colours of Mexican folk art, and each holds up
to 37 people. The narrated loop takes about 35 minutes. It starts near La Villita, slides under stone
bridges from the 1930s, past Old Mill Crossing, Selena's Bridge, the Hyatt Regency and the Briscoe Western Art
Museum, and brings you back to the dock you left from. The captain mixes history with jokes and restaurant tips.
The river is about three feet deep and barely moves, so nobody gets seasick. You do not see the Alamo, which is
one block up on the plaza, and you do not reach the missions or the Pearl: the narrated loop stays downtown.
An open GO RIO barge on the downtown loop.
Ticket at the booth or a tour?
If the boat is what you came for, walk up to a booth. An adult ticket is $16.78 with tax, tickets are not timed,
and boats leave every 15 minutes. Viator does not sell the cruise on its own, so every listing on this page
wraps it in a tour. That is worth paying for when you want a guide for the Alamo and the history, a ride to Mission
San José, the Tower deck, or a night out that someone else has planned.
It is not worth it if you just want to float. One guest on the cheapest tour wrote that they thought they were
buying a river cruise only and paid for a walking tour too. Do not be that guest.
The Alamo, one block up from the river.
Before you book: check three things in the itinerary. Does the tour go inside the Alamo or
only pass it? Is there hotel pickup? And is the cruise at the end, so you can stay on the River Walk for dinner?
Getting the most out of the ride
Go at dusk, when the light is soft and the terraces switch on halfway round. Try the Aztec dock first if the
Rivercenter line is long. Sit on the outer edge for photos. In summer, ride before noon or after seven. And ride
early in your stay: the captain's tour doubles as a map of the bridges, stairs and restaurants you will use for the
rest of the trip.
The Tower of the Americas, on most tours with a cruise.
Straight answers to what visitors ask most about the San Antonio River Walk cruise.
How much is the San Antonio River Walk boat ride?
At the GO RIO booths the standard rate for the 35-minute narrated cruise is $15.50 for adults, $16.78 with tax. Children 1 to 5, seniors 65+, military and Bexar County residents pay less. Guided tours on Viator that include the cruise start from $69, because you also pay for the guide. See the ticket guide.
Can I book just the boat ride on Viator?
No. Viator does not sell the GO RIO cruise on its own; every listing here bundles it with a walking or driving tour. If the boat is all you want, buy at a GO RIO booth or on goriocruises.com. Several guests on the cheapest tour say they expected a cruise only, so read the itinerary before you book.
How long is the River Walk cruise?
About 35 minutes. The boat runs a loop through the downtown River Walk and drops you where you got on. The tours that include it take 1.5 to 4 hours in all, and the Austin day trip about 7.
Do I need to book the river cruise in advance?
Not for the boat itself. GO RIO tickets are not tied to a date or time, and boats leave about every 15 minutes from 10 am to 10 pm. Lines run 15 to 20 minutes on an ordinary day and longer on weekends and during the holiday lights. Guided tours do need a booking, and the small ones fill up.
Is the River Walk cruise better at night?
For atmosphere, yes. The restaurant terraces glow, the bridges are lit, and from late November into January the cypress trees carry thousands of holiday lights. By day you see the stonework and the landscaping better. Read the night cruise guide.
Where do you board the River Walk boats?
At three GO RIO docks at river level downtown: Rivercenter (809 E River Walk), Historia (706 River Walk, under the Market Street bridge near Alamo Street) and Aztec (731 River Walk, below the Aztec Theatre). The Aztec line is often the shortest.
Can you see the Alamo from the river boat?
No. The Alamo sits on Alamo Plaza, one block up from the river, and you cannot see it from the water. The walking tours listed here pass it or go inside, and the church costs nothing with a timed ticket. See the Alamo and River Walk day.
Is the River Walk boat ride good for kids?
Yes. The river is about three feet deep and the ride is calm and short, which suits small children. Under 1 usually rides at no charge and ages 1 to 5 get a child rate. Pets are not allowed, service animals are. Read the family guide.
Are the boats wheelchair accessible?
Yes. GO RIO says all of its barges are ADA-accessible, with ramps and companion seating. The walking tours are a different story: several mention stairs and a moderate amount of walking, and some are marked not wheelchair accessible.
What happens if it rains?
Rain or unsafe weather can stop the boats, and GO RIO also suspends service when the floodgates are closed. GO RIO does not refund booth tickets. The Viator tours here cancel for a full refund up to 24 hours before, and the operator offers a new date or refund if it calls the tour off.
Which tour with a river cruise is best?
For a first visit, the See Sight premium city tour: pickup, Mission San José, the Alamo, the Tower deck and the cruise in four hours with seven guests at most. On a budget, the 1.5-hour walking tour with cruise from $69. Read the comparison.
When are the River Walk Christmas lights?
They switch on at the Ford Holiday River Parade, the day after Thanksgiving (Friday 27 November 2026), and shine every night into early January. Expect long boat lines in the evening. See the holiday lights guide.
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