pittsburgh river cruise

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Gateway Clipper Tours & Cruises

In pittsburgh, pa.

CHOOSE YOUR CRUISE

Enjoy our Pittsburgh tours aboard our riverboat cruises! Explore the beauty of the city along the Three Rivers. There’s so much history and sightseeing to take in as you have an easy, breezy Pittsburgh city tour. Choose your experience below and book online today!

Sightseeing Cruises

Private events & weddings, holiday cruises, dining cruises, kids cruises, shuttle services, dance & music cruises.

Explorer Riverboat

Offering sightseeing tours, public and student programs, private events, and corporate charters, Explorer is the world’s first green passenger riverboat.

Docked on Pittsburgh’s North Shore near the headwaters of the Ohio River, the Explorer was designed and built to LEED standards to host the award-winning STEM student education programs now led by Rivers of Steel. An excursion on Explorer offers unparalleled opportunities to become immersed in Pittsburgh’s rich history while being surrounded by its natural beauty. All proceeds from sightseeing tours and from private charters help to underwrite Rivers of Steel’s STEM-based education programs for students throughout southwestern Pennsylvania.

Uniquely Pittsburgh Sightseeing Tour

Hop on board the Explorer riverboat for the Uniquely Pittsburgh Sightseeing Tour— a 90-minute excursion on Pittsburgh’s three rivers!

The Hardest Working River Tour

Education programs.

Rivers of Steel Education programs offer unique, inquiry-based opportunities for K–12 and university-level students to discover how southwestern Pennsylvania’s natural resources have shaped our industrial past and cultural heritage—and how our environment today impacts our region’s future.

Meetings & Events

Private and corporate charters can choose a custom route for their event or simply host a private sightseeing tour, led by a Rivers of Steel tour guide, along all three of Pittsburgh’s rivers.

Group Tours

Rivers of Steel offers a variety of ways for groups to experience our attractions – and locations throughout the eight-county National Heritage Area.

See our group tours page for more information on how to incorporate your specific interests and customize your group’s visit.

Location & Directions

Explorer docks docks on Pittsburgh’s North Shore at the Rivers of Steel Dock, near the headwaters of the Ohio River and adjacent to the Carnegie Science Center.

One of five Rivers of Steel attractions

Rivers of Steel The Bost Building 623 E. Eighth Avenue Homestead, PA 15120

Tel: 412.464.4020 Fax: 412.464.4417

[email protected]

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Join us for the free Hammer-In Festival this Saturday at the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop! It's a celebration of blacksmithing, with tours of this National Historic Landmark and a makers market! Read the event preview. Link in bio.

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October 4, 2024

Three rivers sightseeing cruise.

The only way to see the City and truly learn about her past, present, and future is aboard one of our Pittsburgh river cruises. Your tour begins on the Monongahela River and continues on both the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, all while our captain and narrator relay the interesting facts, tales, and river lore that make Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania so special! Classic Sightseeing Tour: Our classic tour provides an overview of the city, highlighting significant buildings, landmarks, bridges, and lush landscape visible from the Three Rivers. Enjoy learning about these amazing sites as our captain and on-board narrator share fun and historic stories about life in Pittsburgh and on the rivers! October: Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays 2:00 p.m. 3:30 p.m. 5:00 p.m. November & December: Saturdays & Sundays 12:30 p.m. 2:00 p.m. 3:30 p.m.

Three Rivers Sightseeing Cruise 350 West Station Square Drive Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

Mapped location of Three Rivers Sightseeing Cruise

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Upcoming dates.

Friday, October 4
Saturday, October 5
Sunday, October 6
Friday, October 11
Saturday, October 12
Sunday, October 13
Friday, October 18
Saturday, October 19
Sunday, October 20
Friday, October 25
Saturday, October 26
Sunday, October 27

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Gateway Clipper Fleet 350 W. Station Square Dr. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219

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Gateway Clipper Fleet - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2024)

Discover the Burgh

Gateway Clipper Cruises – A Tour Perfect for Visitors

Published by Jeremy . Last Updated on February 8, 2023.

Disclaimer : Our site uses demographic data, email opt-ins, display advertising, and affiliate links. Please check out our Terms and Conditions . Pricing, operating hours, or menus may have changed since our initial visit and may not be reflected in subsequent updates. Please confirm these directly with any business or attraction prior to visiting.

The Gateway Clipper is an iconic Pittsburgh attraction. No matter the time of day, odds are good you can look to the rivers near downtown Pittsburgh and see these iconic blue, gold, and red riverboats ferrying passengers or giving a water-level city tour.

As Pittsburgh residents, we've seen these boats for many years but oddly enough had never taken one. Naturally, since founding this site we wanted to change that and finally made the trip down to Station Square to take a sightseeing cruise at the end of peak season.

But in being honest, I have to say that there are two very different experiences you can have on the Gateway Clipper fleet- one as a resident and one as a visitor. Depending on what category you fall into, this may change your approach to this tour significantly.

The Gateway Clipper Fleet – For Visitors

For visitors to Pittsburgh, a trip on the Gateway Clipper is one of the top attractions you can do in the city. This 60-minute tour traverses the three rivers and is narrated to highlight the city's unique history, beautiful architecture, and other facts you may not hear anywhere else (excluding this blog, of course).

During each tour the guides ask who is a visitor and who is a local, and we were some of the only residents who were out for the day- something the guide suggested was fairly common.

The tour plays out much like you'd expect a 60-minute boat cruise to do. You do a quick loop around the rivers, learn a few facts about the city (some of which were sadly, incorrect), receive a few bad restaurant recommendations, and go on about your day. A typical tourist boat cruise , and in Pittsburgh one that has a fairly incredible backdrop to enjoy.

If we were from out of town and took the trip, we would have enjoyed it immensely; however, in being locals to Pittsburgh and making it our mission to go explore as much as possible, we were a bit let down as the tour fell short of what we think is its full potential.

Gateway Clipper Cruises – For Residents

The reason for our lackluster response to the hour-long sightseeing cruise on the Gateway Clipper stems from the fact that it offer residents little to no new experiences or knowledge other than enjoying the view of the city from the water.

At some point, listening to the narrator talk is not so much a treat, but a distraction from why you're taking the tour in the first place (which for us was to simply experience the views).

This disconnect is where the problem of the Gateway Clipper comes into play. If you sign up for their standard sightseeing cruise, you're going to have a fairly typical sightseeing experience. As a visitor, 60 minutes out on the water is a pretty great tourist activity. But as a local who knows the waterways around Pittsburgh inside and out, we simply wanted more.

That being said, those who live in the city may want to take a trip out on the longer dinner cruises instead (many at sunset, for an added bonus) to appreciate the city we all know and love the way it should be enjoyed- for a very long time .

Looks like another Gateway Clipper cruise is in our future to try it out!

The Gateway Clipper fleet is docked at 350 W Station Square Drive right next to the Sheraton Station Square hotel . Cruises are offered multiple times per day; however, starting in late October the frequency of departures decreases for the winter.

For more scenic viewpoints of Pittsburgh , check out our Pittsburgh skyline views guide which has an assortment you may never have seen before, or sign up for a Pittsburgh helicopter tour ! Or if you'd rather see the city from the water, check out all the great ways to experience the Pittsburgh rivers here!

For frequently asked questions about the Gateway Clipper, check out the following.

What is a Gateway Clipper tour?

The Gateway Clipper is a historic riverboat cruise on Pittsburgh's three rivers. A general sightseeing tour lasts approximately one hour.

Are reservations required for the Gateway Clipper?

Reservations are highly recommended as popular sailing times do sell out.

Where does the Gateway Clipper dock?

The Gateway Clipper fleet docks in Station Square in Pittsburgh's South Side. Their address is 350 W Station Square Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15219.

What is parking like at the Gateway Clipper dock?

A surface lot is available as well as a parking garage that is used by the Sheraton Hotel and charges an hourly rate. Note that most of the parking lots nearby may have surge pricing during events at Highmark Stadium.