City Sights by Sea: Historic Narrated Boat Tours of Providence
Description
We're thrilled to kick off our 35th season of boat tours along the shores of Downtown Providence, Rhode Island in May 2026! Join us for an award-winning, historic journey through the heart of Rhode Island's capital city, and learn about Providence’s rich history, stunning architecture, and fascinating landmarks from our USCG licensed Captains and expert guides. Whether you’re a first-time visitor or a lifelong local, Providence River Boat Company delivers an exceptional on-the-water experience, and the perfect way to experience Providence from a whole new perspective. Book your spots in advance, as we often sell out, and discover why we have led Providence tourism for over three decades!
Tour Options
Itinerary
Narrated tour of the Providence waterways!
Narrated tour of the Providence waterways!
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Minimum drinking age is 21 years
- We do not operate in severe or unsafe weather conditions. In the case of cancellation due to weather, you will be offered an alternative or full refund.
Reviews(353)
Friendly and very knowledgeable Captain and a small boat so you’re right there. Providence is a beautiful and historic city and this ride is a great introduction.
Captain Mike and Guide Forest were really good. He crammed the river tour into an hour and a half, which was just the right amount of time. Forest also recommended some restaurants. His stories were entertaining. Overall worth the price and we got a quick run down of the city history.
Obtain a different perspective from the river of the places of interest Providence has to offer. The 50 minute tour provides historical information about the city. Overall, a relaxing and informative tour.
Tour is a little over an hour. Great history of Providence, fun insights from tour guide who has lived there for decades.
Wonderful experience. Very informative and fun!
Super informative and well worth the cost. Guide and boat captain were great. Highly recommend! The meeting spot is at a little shop with local arts and gifts — get there early and grab a drink or ice cream for the boat ride.
Excellent tour with knowledgeable tour guide who was also entertaining. Learned a lot about Providence. Would highly recommend. The length of tour was perfect.
Well worth the cost. There were a lot of interesting facts conveyed! The guide attended RISD and had a lot of cool stories as well.
This former Ohio native did a great job in describing the history and sites of Providence while casually motoring down the river. A tour that should not be missed when visiting the city. Finding it on Google maps was challenging when walking but he was patient in waiting for us being a little late.
The guide showed up 30 minutes late to our tour. The owner didn't offer any kind of discount for the group having to wait 30 minutes to leave. The tour was neat overall but a little disappointed in the wait.
Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback. We truly appreciate it, and we’re very sorry for the inconvenience you experienced. A delayed start is not reflective of our standards. Beginning a tour 30 minutes late is unprecedented for us, and in this case, a staff member made an honest scheduling mistake that we addressed immediately. We understand how frustrating that can be, especially when you’ve planned your day around a specific departure time. Out of respect for our guests, we offered full refunds to anyone who did not wish to wait, and we did our best to get the tour underway as quickly and safely as possible. Providing exceptional experiences is something we take great pride in. Thank you again for joining us for a tour this week! Kristin
