Elbe River --> Which direction? Time of year?

[franski]

Hi everyone -

 

Looking for some advice on cruising the Elbe.

 

We are planning to book with Viking, but still undecided on direction and time of year.

 

We are leaning towards starting in Prague - just because we have been there before, so may spend one extra day, but then 2 or 3 after the cruise ends in Berlin. If anyone has any thoughts on why we should travel in the other direction (ie: start in Berlin) then I would love to hear your reasons why.

 

Also - any thought on time of year?

 

I know that the river flooded in early June --> if we are going to run into flooding issues, is that the "usual" time? Or, is it traditionally a bit earlier than that?

 

We are leaning towards late May/Early June - or Mid/late September. Any thoughts??

 

I am thinking we have a better chance of having temperate weather - without paying a price for air fare if we travel in one of those times.

 

If anyone here is from Germany, can you comment on average temperatures (I am good with celsius) and rain fall?? I will be looking on Weather Underground, but would really like to hear from someone who lives in the area. (I am good with anecdotal comments....) :D

 

Thanks so much.

 

Fran

[steamboats]

Fran,

 

I don´t think it matters which direction. Let´s say "upriver" the scenery is turning from flat country side to a more mountain type area. So it´s vice versa "downriver". I don´t think it really matters.

 

As for the weather... I´m using weather.com :D (as they provide both Fahrenheit and Celsius). Both times of the year can be pretty nice. And as you know floods can´t be predicted. We had this really bad flooding in August 2012 and the following year it was "as usual" extreme low river in August. Maybe with a dry and hot summer you might get problems in September as the Elbe river has no lock and dam system on the German side.

 

steamboats

[H2Otstr]

Fran, we went with Grand Circle a couple years ago in late May/early June and we had LOW water. We started in Hamburg (pretrip) and ended in Prague. We lost our last stop because we were stuck on a sandbar. It was a wonderful trip, though.

[jacksonnh]

We sailed the Elbe with VRC in Sept 2008 and if anything, the river is not deep and often has low levels. The ship could not make it to Magdeburg and we were bussed to Dessau to board. Last stop was going to be Litomerice but water was low and we left the ship in Decin and bussed to Praha. The morning in Decin the ship had a list as it was sitting on the bottom. The weather was good back then and looking at a few notes I made the temps were in the 60's. In 08 the cruise was longer as there were extra days in Berlin and Prague as part of the cruise. Out of seven trips the experience of seeing this part of Germany and meeting people who lived through the occupation made it our most enjoyable.

[beesKate]

One thing to consider with traveling to Germany in mid/late September is it's Oktoberfest time. The festivals generally start 2 weekends before the 1st weekend in October when it ends. Although this mainly affect Munich, there are festivals in other towns too. You can expect slightly higher prices during that time for air.

[steamboats]

The Oktoberfest definitely does not affect the part of Germany where the Elbe river cruises are. That´s way too far away from Munich ;)!

 

steamboats

[franski]

Thanks everyone....

 

I am thinking we will book in late May. DH and I and prepared for low water, or floods, or whatever. If we have a reasonable chance of good weather than we are happy.

 

Biggest issue for me is the single beds - but we know that going in, so will just deal with it....

 

I am very interested in the history of the area - especially that surrounding Martin Luther and the Reformation.

 

We are actually booking WAY out, as are planning this for 2015.... We already have our 2014 trip booked.

 

I REALLY appreciate the thoughts and comments.

 

Fran

[katie scarlette]

Fran, Which way did you decide to go? How w as your trip? My husband and I are thinking of this cruise and are thinking of starting in Berlin. KS

[Host Jazzbeau]

Fran, Which way did you decide to go? How w as your trip? My husband and I are thinking of this cruise and are thinking of starting in Berlin. KS

 

Last year Viking had a terrible time with the low water on the Elbe. You might want to consider the new CroiseEurope paddlewheel ship that was specially designed for this river:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6955

[franski]

Fran, Which way did you decide to go? How w as your trip? My husband and I are thinking of this cruise and are thinking of starting in Berlin. KS

 

Hi - We loved the trip. We started in Prague. We did have some challenges with low water, but it just meant we boarded in Dechin instead. Actually this was great - as we then got to walk up to Dechin Castle and explore the grounds.

 

We went in a day early, and extended 2 days in Berlin at the end.

 

We stayed in the host hotel in Prague - booked through Viking. Just easier... Hotel was a bit further out, but across the street from the tram station. However - we didn't need to use it - as Viking arranged for regular shuttles into the downtown area.

 

In Berlin, we tried to stay at the same hotel, but we had to commit to the entire extension package. And, it was too expensive. So - we stayed the one night, and then moved to another hotel for the last 2 nights. LOVED Berlin... and would love to go back. We pre-booked a tour of the Reischtag and were so glad we did. We also booked a Trabi Safari tour - so my husband got to drive a Trabant through Berlin. We walked +++. Weather was great for our trip.

 

Fran

[katie scarlette]

Hi Fran,

 

Thank you for your response.

 

Do you think that going downstream (Berlin - Prague) would be a disadvantage (less time for the scheduled stops?) in any way? We can fit a extra day in for Berlin if we go this route.

 

Thanks again for your reply.

 

Kate Scarlette

[franski]

Hi Kate -

 

I don't think it really makes much difference. Can't think of why we decided to start in Prague - other than the fact that we were able to be on the boat on our wedding anniversary... If starting in Berlin works well for you, then book it that way.

 

Fran

[azmimi]

We just returned from the Viking Astrid last week. We went from Prague to Berlin. We got very lucky the weather was great. No problem with the water level. Sprinkled one or two days. We even sat on the sun deck. The ship, cruise director, ports, staff and food were all A+. I have never been on a River Cruise with such a wonderful staff.

I would think April, May is a good time to go.