Port - to - Port Distances?

My wife and I are booked on a Budapest - Amsterdam cruise in July. I have been trying to find information regarding river distances from one port to another. It is easy to find straight-line distances and driving distances, but finding information regarding the distance by river route has been elusive.

I have tried contacting Viking River Cruises directly but they have been unable to help. I have found information regarding river levels, bridge clearances, dams, locks, etc. but nothing that gives distances.

Any ideas on how to obtain this information?

That is a tricky one. The rivers are numbered with kilometre signs but I fear it will take some time finding good websites. The Rhine I am familiar with and if you cannot find anything in english you can google for "Rheinkilometer" or "Rheinkilometrierung". Try the wikipedia pages of the respective rivers and the Main Danube Canal. For navigational purposes - mainly - the rivers do have these markings both virtually and actual signage along them.

For water related information there is the website of the "German federal waterboards" and some ports and river level gauge stations are given. Not an easy one to navigate around, possibly: https://www.elwis.de/gewaesserkunde/index.html

Alternatively you can use an old-fashioned little device that you run along a map and that, after have set it to the scale you need, will measure the distance for you. I think it is called an opisometer. I have got an inexpensive one for something like 15 euros.

I think google maps has a feature that could help you with your question. On google maps, as an alternative, you could use a thread and follow along the river, sort of counting by hand. Timeconsuming, I know.

Hope this helps.

notamermaid

Thanks notamermaid! You suggestions were quite useful. I now envision the rivers much like our highways with mileage signs. I see the rivers are marked from 0 to however long the river is. I have been able to find the km location of most of our river ports (all but Vienna and Melk). I still have work to do to piece it all together: For example, where does the Main river intersect with the Rhine (at what Rhine km), and how to work in the Rhine-Main-Danube canal. At any rate you have given me a fast start on this and your assistance is very much appreciated!

OBCtraveler

OBCtraveler,

You will see signs onshore showing the kilometers (on US rivers they are called mile markers - so I should call them kilometer markers).

Here´s an interactive map of the German Bundeswasserstraßen (federal waterways) including the kilometers. When you zoom in it goes down to 100 m. So by km 2,411.2 of the Danube river the Canal sets in with km 171.1. The Canal goes down to km 0 to Bamber where the Main river starts with km 384. At km 0 of the Main river the Main river merges into the Rhine river at km 496.7.

I don´t know whether you can get a similar map for the Netherlands, Austria, Slowakia and Hungary online.

steamboats

Thank you steamboats,

had not come across the map yet during my travels around the official river people sites. A great tool. Have bookmarked it for further reference.

:):)

notamermaid

Really KOOL map. Will help with identifying photo locations. Thanks!

If you get this all sorted out I'd be very interested in reading your results - interesting info to have with on a cruise. Thanks for your efforts to find the answers.

OBCtraveler,

glad to have been of help. Perhaps you need this piece for your puzzle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amsterdam%E2%80%93Rhine_Canal

notamermaid

Steamboats:

That map is really great! Another big advancement towards my project. I will try to find similar maps for other rivers, but now I have hope and know what I am looking for.

The nerd in me is making me to this. At a minimum I will produce a table for the Budapest to Amsterdam cruise showing, for each port on the Viking Grand European Tour, the port, river, km marker, latitude and longitude, and the river distance to the next port (either direction). I may throw in other ports as well. Also I am tinkering with an android app that would show the ship's current location on Google maps (that part is easy), along with the nearest km marker (if I can get all the data) and distance to the next port.

All are welcome to the table and/or app as they are finished. The table will happen regardless. The app - maybe.

OBC Traveler

OBCtraveler:

As a fellow nerd who hopes to make this same journey in the fall of 2021, I came across this thread when starting to develop the very same - a table with the distances via river between the ports.  Were you able to complete this table?

Thank you,

dbacker8

After visiting Kinderdijk before lunch on our Rhine cruise, we spent the afternoon cruising.  While sitting in the lounge watching the Netherlands go by and checking email, it was fun to have Google maps open on my tablet and watching the pin representing our position slowly creep upriver.

16 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

it was fun to have Google maps open on my tablet and watching the pin representing our position slowly creep upriver.

Other companies probably do this too but I've only cruised with Scenic. They offer a phone app called "Tailormade" that tracks your progress on a map as you sail along the river and offers audio descriptions of the sights and history you're passing on the banks. When on shore you can use it for self-guided touring if you choose not to follow the crowd.