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What month is best for water levels on the Rhine?


travelnut4
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We are booked on Uniworld Castles Along the Rhine for September 2019. I’ve been reading about the low water levels this year and I’m second guessing my booking! Would June be a better month for this cruise? Or what other time of year, or itinerary? This is our first river cruise and I don’t want to be disappointed! Any advice is appreciated!

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Hello travelnut4,

 

normally I would say that September is fine as low water tends to happen more in October. This year has been exceptional. Overall the first half of September is still a good time statistically. If you prefer more peace of mind I suggest you consider the time frame 20 June to 10 August. This year the drought started around 10 July. Next year could well be not as low as this year but with the weather becoming more extreme who am I to advise at all!?

 

For a different itinerary you could look at the Moselle or the Seine but the Rhine is unbeatable for castles.

 

The beginning of December is a good time too. Spring can be lovely but I need to mention that river closure is possible when the river floods after the snow melt. That can happen from January till May but is most likely only on a few days during that timeframe and this Spring hardly impacted river cruising at all.

 

Another way to get out of the problem is choosing a smaller ship. A two-level, 110m ship of CroisiEurope is more likely to be able to sail than the large ones. Only a few centimetres less draft can make all the difference in the current situation. I cannot say what would happen in conditions worse than these, though. Sadly, it can actually still get worse.

 

The itinerary you have chosen is a great one. I hope everything will work out for you.

 

notamermaid

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Maybe it was an unusual year but we travelled Amsterdam to Budapest, Rhine Main Danube, on Avalon June 23 - July 7, 2013. It was extremely high water and two weeks before friends on a similar Viking cruise had to change ships, took buses to connect and missed Passau completely. We just made it under several bridges but were able to visit Passau which had just broken a flood record from 1501. If we did it again I'd avoid June totally and look at later in July.

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Thank you bobandjo,

for pointing out your cruise in 2013. I am not too familiar with the patterns on the Danube so I cannot say which month would be best avoided. The Danube has slightly different patterns and intensities from the Rhine which is what also happened in 2013. I have had a look at my data from a local publication and noticed that on the Rhine around Koblenz since 1945 there have only been three years when we have had flooding incidents in the month of June. One of those years was 2013. But while the flooding on the Danube was classified as a "one in a hundred years incident" the flooding on the Rhine was at maximum a "one in ten years" incident, or even less than that (I could not find the official statistics from the authorities).

 

 

Flooding has one advantage over drought when planning a river cruise: it is officially declared being such and monitored by the authorities with strict adherence to figures and subsequently closure or river sections. It is usually over within a few days. Drought can drag on and there is no official "cut-off point", i.e. from which onwards sailing is not possible.

 

 

notamermaid

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