Viking Danube River Cruise, Fall or Spring?

[philbob84]

Which one of these is the better time to go? We are trying to travel when it is less expensive but I am a bit concerned it will be too cold.

[TravelerThom]

Spring has longer days which is a plus in my book. I can deal with cool weather via layers much better than I deal with hot weather. Water level problems are always possible, with perhaps more high water in Spring and more low water in the Summer and Fall. I have done over 20 river cruises, most in Spring and Fall due to lower prices and cooler weather. And i have been fortunate enough to have only miss a single day of river cruising during all those trips.

[teriandgunny]

I love Fall over spring myself. It's not really too cold and the season is very nice. Light layers if you are worried. The crowds in the areas are always less too which I love.

[Catchum]

The weather in both Spring and fall (Autumn) will be reliably unreliable - but then it is in summer too. You will almost certainly get lovely warm sunshine, cold winds and rain, sometimes all on the same day. In October on the Danube it was t-shirts in the morning and hats, gloves and scarves in the afternoon of the same day.

 

Seriously don't let the temperature worry you; a city tour is not necessarily better in hot weather, which most of the excursions tend to be, and if the cold forces you to retreat to a bar for a glass of wine or hot chocolate then that is not necessarily a bad thing. Enjoy it being a quieter time of year and enjoy the savings.

[Roz]

I would rather be a little on the cool side than too hot when touring. I did an early November Danube cruise and wore a fleece jacket and layered underneath it according to the temperature.

 

Roz

[CutieKakes]

What would be 'too cold'?

 

We did the Viking Danube Cruise in November and the weather was lovely. We did have some colder days (high 30's/low 40's) but most of our days were in the 50's. We didn't pack a lot of extra clothing for the cold - we just watched the weather before we cruised. We didn't find it to be cold. We come from the midwest...so 50's is practically bikini weather when it shows up in April. :)

[Host Jazzbeau]

What would be 'too cold'?

 

We did the Viking Danube Cruise in November and the weather was lovely. We did have some colder days (high 30's/low 40's) but most of our days were in the 50's. We didn't pack a lot of extra clothing for the cold - we just watched the weather before we cruised. We didn't find it to be cold. We come from the midwest...so 50's is practically bikini weather when it shows up in April. :)

 

That's an important point. 50's feels much warmer in the spring than it does in the fall.

[gnome12]

Spring has longer days which is a plus in my book. I can deal with cool weather via layers much better than I deal with hot weather. Water level problems are always possible, with perhaps more high water in Spring and more low water in the Summer and Fall. I have done over 20 river cruises, most in Spring and Fall due to lower prices and cooler weather. And i have been fortunate enough to have only miss a single day of river cruising during all those trips.

Be careful of your definitions. While I might go in October I would never go in November (unless you are doing a Christmad Markets tour but those begin in late November).

 

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[philbob84]

Thank you all! :D

[Cyber Kat]

I consider mid-September fall. I’m not so where everyone else is drawing that line. We did the Rhine Getaway with a start in the last week of August last year and it was HOT! I took warm clothes for our Mt Pilatus excursion in Lucerne and didn’t need them.

 

We are doing the Grand European Tour in mid-September next year Budapest to Amsterdam (south to north for the directionally challenged [emoji12]). I’m wondering what sort of weather we might encounter then.

 

I know I can check online weather sites but I’d love to hear personal experiences so I know what packing to plan for.

 

 

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