Danube water levels 2024 and similar topics - plus tips and info

[notamermaid]

36 minutes ago, sboh said:

notamermaid thank-you for your excellent information! I’ve never even seen the Danube so it’s nice to have your insights.

My pleasure. After all my comments about "the bridge", perhaps I should post a photo I think. Wikipedia actually mentions that the bridge has comparatively little headroom. In German that is "Durchfahrtshöhe": https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luitpoldbrücke_(Passau)

 

Absolutely annoying scenario if you sail Amsterdam to Budapest: river levels are fine all the way until you get close to Passau, suddenly there is too much rain and all that stands between your ship and Budapest is that bridge...

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

I mentioned Hainburg in post #45 and the Roman town nearby. That place is called Carnuntum: https://www.carnuntum.at/en

The frontiers of the Roman Empire are joined together in a major UNESCO project, the Danube "Limes" is the third part of it: https://www.carnuntum.at/en/worldheritage

 

If you want to get away from the Habsburgs and the coffeehouses, go and look for the much older history of Vienna when it was called Vindobona: https://www.visitingvienna.com/culture/vindobona/

 

notamermaid

 

[RDVIK2016]

On 2/20/2024 at 3:52 PM, notamermaid said:

My pleasure. After all my comments about "the bridge", perhaps I should post a photo I think. Wikipedia actually mentions that the bridge has comparatively little headroom. In German that is "Durchfahrtshöhe": https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luitpoldbrücke_(Passau)

 

Absolutely annoying scenario if you sail Amsterdam to Budapest: river levels are fine all the way until you get close to Passau, suddenly there is too much rain and all that stands between your ship and Budapest is that bridge...

 

notamermaid

 

The railroad bridge at Bogen seems to have slightly less headroom/Durchfarhtshöhe at 5.00 meters with the Luitpoldbrücke at 5.15m. It does not matter for all of the cruises that terminate or start at Passau or Vilshofen. When we were on a Viking cruise from Budapest to Nürnberg in late May 2016 the rail bridge at Bogen seemed to be the one bridge the captain and his pilots/mates were concerned about.

 

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenbahnbrücke_Bogen

 

Heavy rain continued and a few days after we got through this was the situation in Passau: 

https://youtu.be/6-czSUPHGz0

 

[loriva]

On 1/14/2024 at 5:27 PM, notamermaid said:

Hello everyone,

 

here is the thread on the Danube for 2024.

 

We will look again at the weather and most importantly the river levels. Join us again this year with your comments and tips and share your excitement about cruising on this European river that flows through many countries on its long journey East.

 

Safe travels.

 

notamermaid

 

 

@notamermaid -- Thank you for another year of following the Danube.  We'll be setting off for our second sailing on the river--this time downstream from Budapest to Bucharest to complement our previous Budapest to Vilshofen sailing--in May.  While I realize your report focuses on the German parts of the river, I always learn so much from your posts.

 

Thanks again,

 

[notamermaid]

My pleasure.

5 hours ago, loriva said:

this time downstream from Budapest to Bucharest to complement our previous Budapest to Vilshofen sailing--in May

Good to read that you will be on the river again. You venture into what is indeed for me unexplored territory. More and more people are going that far down the river these days, hopefully we will hear comments and perhaps the odd report from on board a river cruise ship as the year progresses. Writing about Carnuntum the other day, I looked at the expanse of the Roman Empire again. It is enormous. When you sail from Amsterdam to Budapest, shortly after leaving Amsterdam you enter the Roman Empire, sail out of it on the Main river, re-enter it at Regensburg on the Danube and sail along the border into Budapest - Buda being within the old Empire and Pest not. But it does not stop there. The Empire spanned much further, on the river you go past the ruins of (Emperor) Trajan's bridge in Serbia and when you disembark at Russe to get to Bucharest you do so at "Sexaginta Prista", which means town of 60 ships. Apparently, some companies use Giurgiu on the left bank of the Danube. That town is in marshland and outside of the Roman Empire, but just across the bridge from Russe these days. And if you happened to fly into Budapest from London you left Londinium in the Roman Empire. I find it fascinating.

 

By the way, not quite so charming, but the region being so far away from Germany and it being called Walachia (that is in Romania), in German language we call a rural place with little population "far away" (it may only be 50 kilometres), especially when sending a person there, "die Walachei" or "jemanden in die Walachei schicken".

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

On 2/25/2024 at 2:32 AM, RDVIK2016 said:

The railroad bridge at Bogen seems to have slightly less headroom/Durchfarhtshöhe at 5.00 meters with the Luitpoldbrücke at 5.15m. It does not matter for all of the cruises that terminate or start at Passau or Vilshofen.

Indeed, that is why it is so practical to end cruises in those two towns. Vilshofen has profited so much from realizing this and - whether it was for that reason or not - investing a lot of money into the river embankment and facilities. Straubing upstream from Bogen lost out a bit despite investing (I do not know how much) and trying to attract river cruise ships.

 

About flooding. The terrible year of 1784 was bad along the Danube as well but it is not as remarkable as on the Rhine. You can see that it is not marked on the tower in Passau and does not rank among the top ten of all time, whereas on the Main and Rhine it is among the top five usually. In Passau the ice caused damage as well though, the Danube bridge and part of the bridge over the river Inn were destroyed. https://www.niederbayern-wiki.de/wiki/Hochwasser_(Passau)

 

To the present: The situation along the Danube is very agreeable and there is a high chance for a good start to the river cruising season.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

[Findingmywings]

Thanks for the reassurance Notamermaid! We sail on March 11 from Budapest to Bucharest-one of the earliest cruises of the season and are hoping the water levels cooperate.

[notamermaid]

On 2/29/2024 at 6:42 PM, Findingmywings said:

We sail on March 11 from Budapest to Bucharest

Oh that really is early. A bit on the cold side but a fantastic experience, I am sure. Of course it is too early to say in detail what the river will do in a week's time and I have no idea what the weather is like past Vienna. Still, weather patterns are often similar further downstream. And there is little rain forecast in Germany, so not much water coming to Hungary.

 

Recap of February coming up.

 

notamermaid

 

[Cruise NH]

Just found this site, very interesting!  Thanks for posting.

 

We'll be on our first river cruise this year, May 15th leaving from Budapest on Amawaterways.  We're hoping for nice weather and normal water levels!

[Rebel54]

Finally my cruise is within reach.  5 months to go.  First time on the Danube so I'm very excited.  Praying August will be kind to the water levels.

 

[Canal archive]

Don’t wish your  days away it will be here before you know it.

[Rebel54]

20 hours ago, Canal archive said:

Don’t wish your  days away it will be here before you know it.

Thankfully I have some good stuff happening between now and then so time will fly :).  Final payment due in exactly 2 months 🙂   

[GasPowered]

On 2/29/2024 at 9:42 AM, Findingmywings said:

Thanks for the reassurance Notamermaid! We sail on March 11 from Budapest to Bucharest-one of the earliest cruises of the season and are hoping the water levels cooperate.

 

Please share any brief updates you can. We are heading up river on March 29, 2024 from Bucharest to Vienna with Viking. 

 

Enjoy your trip!

[Findingmywings]

I’ll try to post some highlights as well as any issues as we travel, internet permitting.

[goksucats]

On 2/24/2024 at 7:32 PM, RDVIK2016 said:

The railroad bridge at Bogen seems to have slightly less headroom/Durchfarhtshöhe at 5.00 meters with the Luitpoldbrücke at 5.15m. It does not matter for all of the cruises that terminate or start at Passau or Vilshofen. When we were on a Viking cruise from Budapest to Nürnberg in late May 2016 the rail bridge at Bogen seemed to be the one bridge the captain and his pilots/mates were concerned about.

 

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eisenbahnbrücke_Bogen

 

Heavy rain continued and a few days after we got through this was the situation in Passau: 

https://youtu.be/6-czSUPHGz0

 

Oh my goodness.  That is a LOT of water. 

[notamermaid]

Let us have a quick look at what the Danube did in Germany in February. This is Pfelling:

 

At Pfelling we are normally concerned with low water. In winter and sometimes during other months we do see high water and the authorities issue a river traffic ban at 620cm. The river was high in February, starting above 500cm and showing two more spikes due to heavy rain. Thankfully, dry days allowed the river to recover in between them so that flooding did not become severe. No river traffic ban was necessary.

 

At Passau we have that problem with the low bridge and of course the high water coming through Pfelling. That is what the reaction at Passau looked like:

 

The highs did not reach a level that would have impeded sailing under the low bridge. The authorities have put this (as a guideline) at 630cm.

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

There are many docking locations on the Danube in Germany and Austria. And many of those are managed by "Donau Schiffsstationen GmbH". I missed this at the time, the Melk one got revamped in 2022. This is what it looks like: https://www.donaustationen.at/en/current-information/hafenspitz-melk-has-opened-62/

The view of Melk Abbey is stunning.

 

More or less opposite Melk is the place called Emmersdorf an der Donau. River cruise ships can dock there, too. We will have a look at that in more detail.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

Good to see a little competition helps keep everyone on their toes re-expectations.

[notamermaid]

Emmersdorf an der Donau is a small town and has a docking area for river cruise ships but do passengers actually explore the town? I have no idea. This is the page of the mooring at Emmerich: https://www.donaustationen.at/en/moorings/Emmersdorf-12/

 

It looks to be a pleasant place that has, from what I read, become popular with cyclists.

 

So which company stops there? Amadeus Flusskreuzfahrten regularly does, at least two dates each month show Emmersdorf. For that I checked an online booking website. One of the ships is the Amadeus Sliver III so I looked for this ship on the Amadeus Flusskreuzfahrten website. The itinerary is Donau Rhapsody and Emmersdorf is marked on the map and appears in the list for day 2. It clearly says (translated) "At the river bank at Emmersdorf..." but goes on to say that you will visit Melk Abbey. https://www.amadeus-flusskreuzfahrten.de/kreuzfahrten/detail/2024/donau-rhapsody-8-tage.html

Amadeus River Cruises shows the same map and the description for the day says Emmersdorf in the header, though not in the text. https://www.amadeus-rivercruises.com/river-cruises/detail/2024/danube-rhapsody-8-days.html

Clearly, this is just a port alternative for Melk.

 

But there is another company. Uniworld! On the "Delightful Danube" itinerary Budapest to Nuremberg,  Emmersdorf is mentioned for day 5. Interestingly, this is not for Melk Abbey but visiting the town of Spitz: https://www.uniworld.com/us/river-cruise/central-europe/danube/delightful-danube/2024-budapest-to-nuremberg

 

The reason Emmerich is convenient for Melk is the fact that a bridge over the Danube is close by. Spitz is on the same river bank as Emmersdorf.

 

Have you been on a river cruise that docked in Emmersdorf and where did you go from there?

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

The river cruising season has started on the Danube, excursion boat companies have got their ships ready for day trippers and are preparing for the Easter weekend.

 

It is cold this weekend though, with snow apparently returning to the high hills. Even places close the river may see frost overnight. It is also really windy. There are storm warnings of level 1 or 2 for Bavaria. 1 is just really windy, 2 is stormy. Temperature at Vilshofen at 11am was only 4.7 Celsius for example.

 

A quick look at the water levels reveals pleasant levels that will not change much during the next 48 hours. It has not rained that much.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Over on the Rhine we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of the publication of the Lorelei poem by Heinrich Heine. So let us have a look at her sister nymph, Isa. She lives in the Danube according to legend, at a rock called Jochenstein. That is here:

 

Isa does not comb her hair, instead she turns up in bright dress adorned with a green wreath of reed in her hair to warn skippers. But she may take them to her palace underwater at the treacherous rock in the river if they cannot resist her singing. A mother whose son withstood the allure of Isa had a depiction of the Madonna erected on Jochenstein rock. Since then Isa has not shown herself to skippers anymore.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jochenstein#/media/Datei:Jochenstein_Donau,_2012.JPG

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[greydog]

Just returned from Viking Var Buda-to-Regensberg with mostly medium-cool weather, little rain and no water level concerns.  Was told Viking is expecting to add some Jan-Feb sailings in the future.

I was surprised how light the other Danube river traffic was.  The all-day Bratislava optional tour, with 1 hr coach transfer, was less than exciting.  CHEERS

[Mike R 2018]

Greydog-  Please expound on the Bratislava tour was less than exciting, if possible.

 

My wife and I are signed up for that excursion in July...

 

-Notamermaid-  Your observations and comments were appreciated on Cruise Critic prior to our 2019 Viking Rhine Getaway cruise.  Thank you once again!

[greydog]

3 hours ago, Mike R 2018 said:

Greydog-  Please expound on the Bratislava tour was less than exciting, if possible.

We wish we had chosen to tour Vienna for 2d day vs +$ for bus trip (which had +20min traffic bottleneck on return).  You drive around seeing res embassy buildings and walk around a couple large govt buildings without going inside.  After a family style lunch, you have an hour free time for shopping in relatively small city center.  Basically, there are no major attractions.

Here's someone's review with pictures showing the exteriors of visit points.  I think the review itself exudes 'mild enthusiasm'.

https://www.tammileetips.com/bratislava-walking-tour-with-viking-river-cruises/

[Canal archive]

Greydog I absolutely love your expression - exudes mild enthusiasm- brilliant, with your permission may I use it in the future?