Is October a good time to river cruise?

[zebs]

Hello

Have picked out the itinerary Amsterdam to Budapest, but prices pretty high.  Have found October and Nov a bit better price wise.  I think Nov would be too cold, but how about October?  Has anyone done a river cruise at this time?  I would love to hear from you.  I don't mind mild days, but preferably no rain.  

Any advice would be great thanks 

[Peregrina651]

Honestly, if I had my druthers (which I don't), I would do all of my travel in the spring and fall, no matter which hemisphere I was traveling in. That said, October is a good time to travel in Europe because it is much less crowded (the kids are just starting back to school and family vacation time is over) and it isn't hot (which for me is a deal breaker)--but then again "hot" and "cold" are relative terms.

[Laura Macky]

After my trip just a few days ago, I would never plan one in the fall.  Right now most cruises are cancelling due to low water levels.  We had to leave ours six days prior to scheduled completion.   Spring can encounter high water levels which interfere with boats passing under bridges.  Next time I think we will do it in July but there are no guarantees no matter what time you go.  

 

We we did a Danube cruise last year in early September and it was beautiful with no ship swaps or extra bussing.  

[plumie]

We just finished one last week and other than missing the last port (Budapest) it was fine.  But river cruising is always unpredictable.  Our cruise director said he knew we were apprehensive about the low levels, but the year before the water levels on the Danube were too high and people still had to be bused because the cruise ships couldn't pass under the bridges. I know a lot of people's cruises got canceled or modified, but ours (Vilshofen to Budapest) got most of the way through and we still had a good time. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

56 minutes ago, plumie said:

We just finished one last week and other than missing the last port (Budapest) it was fine.  But river cruising is always unpredictable.  Our cruise director said he knew we were apprehensive about the low levels, but the year before the water levels on the Danube were too high and people still had to be bused because the cruise ships couldn't pass under the bridges. I know a lot of people's cruises got canceled or modified, but ours (Vilshofen to Budapest) got most of the way through and we still had a good time. 

 

This is the safest itinerary on the Danube.  The stretch west of Vilshofen has had low-water problems in the past.  The issue between Vienna and Budapest was unprecedented this year, but can be handled fairly easily with a hotel in Budapest and bus to Vienna.  [As an aside: Crystal Mozart's round-trip Vienna itinerary begins to look like a real winner: go upstream and downstream as far as the water allows, but with a reliable docking situation at both ends.]

[CutieKakes]

I think Oct (and Nov/Dec) are great times to cruise and travel in Europe.  We also plan a lot of our trips to Europe in the fall - it's just what we prefer personally, but obviously everyone is different.

 

We did the Nuremberg to Budapest Danube River cruise in the month of November, and it was perfectly fine for us.  We didn't find it cold, but again - it really just depends on the person (and yes, the weather can vary wildly).  What I really liked about our cruise, was that some of the Christmas markets were open.

[Coral]

I also love Europe in the fall! Less crowds, crisp air, beautiful colors.....

 

It is very unfortunate that the rivers are low this year and peoples' vacations are being disruptive. 

[jeb_bud]

In years past October was a fine month for a river cruise. This year the autumn rains never came and the cruising has been bad. Next year, who knows?

 

we are booked Amsterdam to Basel next October. We chose October for the cooler days and the fall colors along the Moselle and upper Rhine. I’m still happy wIth my decision but I will be keeping a close eye on river conditions next year and will be doing some serious contingency planning on how I want to deal with changing to a bus tour. 

[pully8]

We have river cruised twice in October and enjoyed the colours and cooler temperatures.

this year sounds difficult with record low water. we prefer spring and autumn when we travel to avoid really hot weather for relaxing and enjoying the places we visit.