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

[Daisi]

@AMhappy, as you state, you just can't tell how the water levels will be. Last year we were on the Danube and had low water, this year same time it was flooded. What I can tell you is that Avalon will do their best to make sure you have the experience you signed up for.

 

We sailed from Budapest, and were to end sailing in Nuremberg. We found out after returning from our excursion in Dürnstein that we would only get as far as Passau, which was 2 stops short. They added an extra stop in Engelhartszell, reimbursed us for the optional excursion to Cesky Krumlov or Salzburg and made that an included excursion for everyone. We were bussed to Regensburg for our last day excursion and instead of being a 1/2 day trip, they made it almost a full day. They gave us coupons to get lunch at the Sausage Kitchen and a generous "lunch money" in Euros. Those who were ending the tour in Nuremberg were then bussed to Nuremberg and put up in a hotel with dinner for the night to catch their flights the next morning - with transit I believe. The rest of us had a continuation in Prague, so our trip was only changed from leaving from Passau instead of Nuremberg. I didn't hear anyone complaining about the changes, and everyone seemed happy - we actually came home with more Euros than when we left!  My only miss was Nuremberg, but we will be doing another cruise that goes along the Main, so will end up there....just gave us an extra reason for another cruise. 

 

Book your trip, and enjoy, let Avalon do the worrying. 🙂

 

[notamermaid]

14 hours ago, AMhappy said:

We are planning an Avalon Cruise next fall (Danube, Budapest westbound to Vilshofen)

Oh my, I did not read that properly earlier. You are travelling from Budapest to Vilshofen. This kind of itinerary gives you much of an advantage over any other itinerary that travels further West (upstream on the Danube) You will not get to Pfelling and end your river cruise basically at the lock. By that I mean the river is under the influence of the dam and the river is deep enough not to cause problems in low water. You would only need to content with a small risk of the river being too low to cruise out of Budapest. That is difficult to see from statistics. But I will keep the statistics in mind to look at some time and post it. In short: there is little difference between any of the dates you are thinking of for low water. For high water the risk is also small. This year has been exceptional as regards that.

 

I am thinking that the Hungarian authorities must have some statistics, a timeline or even annual things that we could look at online. If anyone would like to roam around the website... not sure that there is anything: https://www.hydroinfo.hu/en/index.html

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

35 minutes ago, Daisi said:

Book your trip, and enjoy, let Avalon do the worrying. 🙂

 

I agree, no need to worry. Avalonwaterways appear to be very good at plans B and C. If the river does what it should not do for your cruise they will adapt. We can try and beat the odds with the statistics but if it does not work out, that company is good at handling things.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

Just to explain: Pfelling gauge is the first one on the Danube down to Budapest to show low water levels as that is the shallowest area. This is to help you find it on the map:

 

Look for Straubing on this map or any other and then follow the river downstream a little.

 

When Pfelling gets below 290cm we need to check the figures. From past experience a river level below 280cm can cause problems at Budapest a few days later. That is what I will focus one when I compile a list.

 

Not being able to cruise into or out of Budapest normally means for the upstream itineraries embarkation at Komarno/Komarom or occasionally Esztergom.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited 11 hours ago by notamermaid

[notamermaid]

But before I get to that some time, here is the recap of September. I keep it short on comments this time. You know what happened... This is Pfelling:

 

At the beginning of the month it looked as if we would be looking at the standard dry period in autumn, if not too low, then almost too low. The middle of the month saw the unusual weather pattern. The level went up high but there was no river traffic ban. Remember that the problems were further downstream so Pfelling at the western end of the rain-troubled areas was high but not too high.

 

This is Passau:

 

It was too much to cope with, leading to problems for passage under the bridge and then a short river traffic ban (HSW). A good recovery followed. The tributaries downstream from Passau gave the river further and increased trouble.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

[notamermaid]

About flooding. As that usually starts in Germany, on an itinerary Vilshofen to Budapest we need to be mostly concerned with the ships passing under the bridges. That becomes difficult before the authorities issue a river traffic ban. In Passau we need to look at the suspension bridge as being the big obstacle. The river traffic ban kicks in at 780cm. The problems at the bridge arise at a level of between 630cm and 700cm depending on the individual river cruise ship. The level reaches 630cm to 680cm every year in the timeline since 1990 as far as I can determine. The question is how often does it rise to that and further in autumn, seeing that flooding is more frequent earlier in the year? When we know that we can roughly see what may be better, August, September or October, to avoid flooding. I will look at the timelines from 1990 to 2023 to answer that question before we at some point get to the more complicated low water issues which, as I mentioned earlier, will less concern those going from Vilshofen to Budapest.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited 10 hours ago by notamermaid

[RDVIK2016]

7 hours ago, notamermaid said:

Just to explain: Pfelling gauge is the first one on the Danube down to Budapest to show low water levels as that is the shallowest area. This is to help you find it on the map:

 

Look for Straubing on this map or any other and then follow the river downstream a little.

 

When Pfelling gets below 290cm we need to check the figures. From past experience a river level below 280cm can cause problems at Budapest a few days later. That is what I will focus one when I compile a list.

 

Not being able to cruise into or out of Budapest normally means for the upstream itineraries embarkation at Komarno/Komarom or occasionally Esztergom.

 

notamermaid

 

 

 

notamermaid,

 

 Well, as a former submarine builder that caught my eye!!  GER SUBMARINE on the Danube just upstream of Irlbach an der Donau. Further research reveals that a bucket dredge / Eimerkettenbagger named Wotan maneuvered by Pushboat Uhu is signalling as a military ops vessel!  The VesselFinder summary page shows a photo of a sailboat presumably unaware that a U-Boot is lurking below. Last port of call is listed as Fredrikshavn, Denmark.                 

 

RDVIK

 

 

Edited 4 hours ago by RDVIK2016
Formatting- added spacing, added addressee and signature

[ural guy]

Yesterday we docked in Nikopol and took a bus to Pleven, Bulgaria.

 

 

We wandered the pedestrian area, which had a nice fountain,

 

 

And a WW1 memorial.  This soldier is on it, from potato masher grenades to protective mask at the ready.  And a pigeon to send messages.

 

 

Later we visited the Pleven Panaramic painting depicting the lifting of the siege of Pleven during the Russian-Turkish War of 1877–78. Same concept as the cycledrama painting at Gettysburg.  Very well done.

 

 

 

Another memorial for days gone by:

 

 

We are approaching the Danube Delta, and the birders are becoming more numerous and excited on the top deck.

 

Tomorrow we board smaller boats to go out through the marshes.

 

 

 

 

Edited 1 hour ago by ural guy