Rhine water levels 2022 and similar topics

[notamermaid]

News in brief. Kaub gauge risen to 127cm. Further good rise forecast for tonight and tomorrow. All good. ☺️

 

notamermaid

 

[Gopherpharm]

Last morning in Amsterdam. We have had a great time despite the rain and cold…didn’t do the kinds of self-guided walking tours we normally do but still walked a lot and saw a lot from the tram as well. We are headed to drop our bags at the ship shortly then look for a Max Verstappen shirt for our friend. We have a canal cruise after that (it may be in the rain…but the boats are covered so we will be ok!). 

[BAYA]

Hope you enjoyed the rest of your time in Amsterdam, @Gopherpharm. Our cruise has us arriving there on April 11 with an overnight stay before disembarking. Weather forecast looks warmer than you experienced. Enjoy the cruise!

We’re sailing from Basel on 4/5. 

[notamermaid]

Glad you enjoyed Lahneck Castle so much. They really know how to bake waffles in the small restaurant.

 

On 4/2/2022 at 10:22 AM, Imasima752 said:

 I can attempt to post photos if you’d like, but I think seeing it first hand would do it more justice.

Not to worry about the photos, it is perfectly fine to leave me in suspense of what it will be like.

 

I see on day 9 you are docked in Ludwigshafen, with excursion choices, spoiled for choice really. Personally, I think in this weather I would go for Mannheim Palace, but Schwetzingen is a great choice to have, just not sure that I could appreciate the gardens in early April. But I would love to see the Schloß there! https://www.schloss-schwetzingen.de/en/home

 

notamermaid

 

 

[notamermaid]

9 hours ago, Gopherpharm said:

Last morning in Amsterdam. We have had a great time despite the rain and cold…

I reckon you have sailed away from Amsterdam by now and are on the canal. The temperatures should go up a little, but it will still be rainy and windy.

 

Have a great time on the canal and "my" river.

 

notamermaid

 

[packed already]

Hi notamermaid and others that have been posting. I have been following along and here is my 1st post. Thank you for the information you so freely provide.

My husband and I are booked on a Scenic Amsterdam to Basel cruise leaving 11th April 2022. I am enjoying reading your information and will follow closely as the departure day nears. We are leaving Sydney this Friday for a couple of days in Amsterdam prior to departure. We hope to visit the tulip gardens and visit the Anne Frank House while we are in Amsterdam. 
Could you inform me of the minimum water level the boats need to sail and is there any danger of the river being too shallow? 

[notamermaid]

@packed already welcome to the river cruising board. A long way to travel to what I am sure will be an exciting time in Amsterdam and on the canal and river.

 

As you have read, we have now had a decent amount of rain - with a bit of snow thrown in - and the level has gone up. Kaub now stands at 146cm, is levelling off. This means for this week there will be no problems for river cruise ships with either low or high water. Next week, the levels will go up further but we cannot say how much. Definitely no problems with low water any time soon! I always say below 90cm at Kaub ships can be slowed down because the navigation channel narrows and with every centimetre less it gets trickier to sail till finally the draft of each individual ship prevents it from sailing safely. In low water that decision lies with the captain of a ship, in flooding the authorities put a ban on river traffic.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Unpleasant, driving rain with strong winds is filling my valley and it is still cool. But we know April is often like that.

 

Not the best day to be out and about on a river cruise or even on a hill above the valley. But let us talk about Boppard anyway. With people reporting on having this town in the Middle Rhine valley as a port of call on their Uniworld cruise I think we should briefly have a look.

 

Boppard was a Celtic settlement, then adopted by the Romans as Bodobrica, then abandoned by the troops but continued as a civilian settlement, regional importance during the Middle Ages, then in modern times turning into a health and tourism town. Legacy: a fort, a castle, a very old church worth visiting and a pleasant river front.

 

But what really makes the place stand out is the view from the hill, the famous Vierseenblick. A chair lift from April to October takes you up to a view point from where you see the meandering river as if it is four lakes. Not today probably...

https://sesselbahn-boppard.de/

 

If that is not your thing, especially in cold weather, then check out the chairs that Vienna coffeehouse culture would be the poorer for if there had not been this man Thonet. He invented the famous bentwood chairs, design 214 is legendary: https://museum-boppard.de/start-english/

 

notamermaid

 

Edited April 4, 2022 by notamermaid
Added link

[Gopherpharm]

Perfect timing @notamermaid! Currently in Köln. We are docked right next to the Hohenzollernbrücke and I googled some post-WWII bombing pictures to see the Cathedral standing, the bridge behind it twisted up and everything around it destroyed. It was 7 C when we docked in Zons about 1200. Rain and wind have continued so after a walking tour, touring the Cathedral, and a stop at Frueh am Dom for some potato soup and potato fritters (can’t go wrong with potatoes) and some local kölsch we headed back to the ship. We have now retired to the warm indoor pool area! Cannot wait for Marksburg castle and Boppard tomorrow. Uniworld offered a hike up to the viewpoint in Boppard but said they will cancel if rain because it gets slippery. We’ve opted for the village tour since we’ll be active in the morning at the castle. Lovely time so far!

[notamermaid]

40 minutes ago, Gopherpharm said:

It was 7 C when we docked in Zons about 1200.

Oh, does Uniworld do that as well now? Drop you off at Zons and bus you to Cologne? I guess that is not a bad idea as it saves a bit of sailing time, i.e. gives you more excursion time, especially being slow upstream. Indoor pool, a perfect place to be in this weather. The photos of Cologne and the Cathedral are eerie and sad, aren't they?

 

Boppard is already in the Rhine Gorge of course, so get ready for a first bit of castle viewing from Koblenz onwards! I think Marksburg in the morning and Boppard in the afternoon gives you the best of both worlds, hill and valley. Marksburg is certainly safer in rain than the hike (a few slippery stones in Marksburg of course but should be alright with good shoes).

 

Boppard walking tour will be interesting and you will surely see this live tomorrow. For everyone else, these are the remnants of the fort: https://www.boppard-tourismus.de/en/sightseeing/the-roman-fort/

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

 

[CPT Trips]

9 hours ago, Gopherpharm said:

Perfect timing @notamermaid! Currently in Köln. We are docked right next to the Hohenzollernbrücke and I googled some post-WWII bombing pictures to see the Cathedral standing, the bridge behind it twisted up and everything around it destroyed. It was 7 C when we docked in Zons about 1200. Rain and wind have continued so after a walking tour, touring the Cathedral, and a stop at Frueh am Dom for some potato soup and potato fritters (can’t go wrong with potatoes) and some local kölsch we headed back to the ship. We have now retired to the warm indoor pool area! Cannot wait for Marksburg castle and Boppard tomorrow. Uniworld offered a hike up to the viewpoint in Boppard but said they will cancel if rain because it gets slippery. We’ve opted for the village tour since we’ll be active in the morning at the castle. Lovely time so far!

It looks like you may be in luck! https://sesselbahn-boppard.de/index.php/fahrzeiten-preise
 

No English translation, but you should be good to go unless you arrive late. It isn’t far from the ship to the base station or from the upper station to the view points. It will be 9.50€ well spent.

[Gopherpharm]

13 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Oh, does Uniworld do that as well now? Drop you off at Zons and bus you to Cologne? I guess that is not a bad idea as it saves a bit of sailing time, i.e. gives you more excursion time, especially being slow upstream. Indoor pool, a perfect place to be in this weather. The photos of Cologne and the Cathedral are eerie and sad, aren't they?

 

 

 

 

Yes, I think docking in Zons gave us a couple extra hours in Cologne. It worked out nicely. The pictures are really something to see. 
 

thanks @CPT Trips for the link, maybe the rain will stop for a moment so we can take a ride up!
 

We have just docked in Koblenz. Rainy but looks to be a bit warmer than yesterday even at this hour, 9 C! Uniworld did cancel the Boppard hike today. Off to Marksburg in a bit. 

[packed already]

On 4/4/2022 at 8:03 PM, notamermaid said:

@packed already welcome to the river cruising board. A long way to travel to what I am sure will be an exciting time in Amsterdam and on the canal and river.

 

As you have read, we have now had a decent amount of rain - with a bit of snow thrown in - and the level has gone up. Kaub now stands at 146cm, is levelling off. This means for this week there will be no problems for river cruise ships with either low or high water. Next week, the levels will go up further but we cannot say how much. Definitely no problems with low water any time soon! I always say below 90cm at Kaub ships can be slowed down because the navigation channel narrows and with every centimetre less it gets trickier to sail till finally the draft of each individual ship prevents it from sailing safely. In low water that decision lies with the captain of a ship, in flooding the authorities put a ban on river traffic.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

 

Thank you for your welcome and answers, I’ll be following along.

[notamermaid]

With the water levels returning close to what is normal at this time of year I think it is time to return to looking at destinations along the river. Part 2 of my short trip to the right bank neighbourhood of Koblenz to follow shortly.

 

All the vistas from the hills are good to stunning depending on where you are and the castles are intriguing places to visit. We have talked about Lahneck Castle and Marksburg Castle in the last few days. The only drawback: the hills! Wouldn't it be great if there were nice proper castles that are not on hills? The obvious answer now is that there are such castles along the Rhine. One you will know if you have been on an APT river cruise: Namedy Castle near Andernach. Most of those places are essentially moated castles (unless they are within town walls), Namedy lost its moat long ago, though. So where are the others? Downstream from Bonn, when the hills recede, you enter the lower lands of my country that are along the Rhine. And that is where you find an array of castles that are a bit easier on the knees and stamina. Needless to say, there are also a few palaces in the area... With the cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf being the big draws, I find the areas away from the river and the other towns downstream a bit overlooked. Natural, but a pity really.

 

I think we should give them a bit more attention here soon.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

Unstable April is doing itself proud, with the typical rain showers interspersed with blue skies and strong winds. We actually have a storm warning over most of Germany. In the Rhine valley we are on level 2 but parts of the Black Forest and the Breisgau are on level 3. That is Freiburg for example. Storms of Bft 8 and 9 with the occasional 10 particularly on exposed places. Not a good day to be on the Feldberg mountain.

 

Much rain is coming down so the rivers' levels will rise. That could be an issue along smaller rivers, the Rhine will stay fine. Current prediction is for Maxau to get over 500cm on Saturday but may already subside on Monday. This is good news for barges now also, it had been far too low, they will now be able to carry more load.

 

notamermaid

 

[Sissi67]

Notamermaid, thank you so much for your reports! I’m now in Basel and it’s very windy here as well. Tomorrow is supposed to be wet and windy but then the weather starts to improve. We are very excited to board our ship on Monday and to spend Easter this year cruising through the German wine region. I have never seen the amount and type of Easter decorations that Germans do anywhere else in the world. Im also really looking forward to seeing the tulip fields outside of Amsterdam. So very excited to be here in April! 
I really appreciate your experienced voice on the Rhine water levels. And I’m happy to hear we should have no problems related to water levels. Thank you!

[notamermaid]

German and Swiss Easter decorations? Wait till you get to Strasbourg or Colmar and areas! ☺️ I hope they will be as good this year as when we were there. They have bunnies and lambs and eggs everywhere. Literally. At least in the small towns we visited.  At the town wall, on the roundabout, at the building entrances...

 

Must look for a photo.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Talking of bunnies. I have just remembered an earlier conversation about Easter chocolates in a cafe in Koblenz. In Cologne, rather than roaming round the chocolate museum, I personally would go to Café Reichard. If you would like to pop in virtually before going there personally (warning, this email link could make you put on weight 😀) here are some photos:

https://www.cafe-reichard.de/index.html

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

8 hours ago, notamermaid said:

At the town wall, on the roundabout, at the building entrances...

 

Here is a photo of the Riquewihr town wall:

 

and here is a photo of the Ribeauvillé roundabout:

 

Colmar has a Spring festival: https://printemps-colmar.com/en/

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

So cute our roundabouts are in many cases so confusing that doing this kind of thing would be tantamount to mass carnage. 

[CPT Trips]

Our roundabouts, called circles here, seem to generate mass carnage even without cute landscaping to distract drivers. As the home to the first circle in the US, you would think that Jersey drivers would have mastered them by now. 

[Canal archive]

Some time ago whilst in Florida we were told that a roundabout was put in place and they had so many accidents that it was removed after only a few months.

[CPT Trips]

That was because tourist drivers from a certain country insisted on circling clockwise 🙄

[Canal archive]

It’s the navigating by the car hire companies maps that successfully mashes the brain. Scooter club trip to France lead bike takes us the wrong way around the first roundabout so we’re then faced with a poor Gendarme jumping around in the middle of the road trying to get us on the correct side of the road, he wasn’t damaged in any way apart from we learnt some really interesting French

[doxielover47]

Hi Notamermaid - We will embark the Viking Hild on April 25th, 2022 - Basel to Trier (then on to Paris by coach). What is the water outlook this Spring in the Rhine and Moselle?

And is there a good conversation you could point me to about Tipping on a Viking River Cruise?  I know they have the normal prepaid gratuities, but what else do people usually do? Are US dollars acceptable for tips onboard?

Thanks!