Weather on Rhine Cruise?

[mommyx2]

Planning a 2025 Rhine River Cruise- 

trying to miss crowds and heat

should be go beginning of April or Mid to late October? 
why? 

[sharkster77]

We did the Rhine in early October 2019.  No heat, thank goodness.  A bit of rain, but a rainy day on vacation is better than a sunny day at work!   At the end, which was on the cusp of mid-October, we ended with 3d/2n in Lucerne and the weather was gorgeous!

 

The only place that was super-crowded was Heidelberg.  This was an included excursion in 2019 but is now optional, I believe.  Was amazed by how many people were at Heidelberg Castle.

[Canal archive]

It’s hit and miss with April but our first cruise that started in Amsterdam in April it was absolutely freezing but by the time we reached the end of the cruise eleven days later it was positively balmy.

[RobInMN]

Ok, since this topic exists, we booked Basel to Amsterdam for May 11-25, 2025 (including pre in Lucerne & Zurich). What could we expect weather-wise?

[CDNPolar]

16 hours ago, mommyx2 said:

Planning a 2025 Rhine River Cruise- 

trying to miss crowds and heat

should be go beginning of April or Mid to late October? 
why? 

 

From what I understand now, the crowds are there all season that the ships are running.  If you really want to reduce the crowds, then do as we do...  Book the first date in the spring that the cruise is available, or the last date in the fall that the cruise is available.

 

We don't like heat and would rather sail when it is colder anyway.

[sharkster77]

55 minutes ago, CDNPolar said:

We don't like heat and would rather sail when it is colder anyway.

I am an American with Canadian and Belgian ancestry---we must have similar blood, as I cannot stand the heat at all--won't even consider summer travel.  Of course, I was a teacher for 40 years, so summer was pretty much the only time I could travel for any length of time.

Edited February 13 by sharkster77

[Daisi]

Last April, there was snow during my friend's Rhine cruise. If you go the end of April, beginning of May, you should be OK. Temps can be hard to tell, depends on what you consider cold or hot. We sailed the Rhine mid May and had perfect weather - OK, was quite hot when we were a Keukenhof, but for the rest of the cruise it was pretty good. We were in Amsterdam during Kings Day (day we arrived) and it did get quite busy that day! However, we didn't find things overcrowded elsewhere. 

 

We sailed the Danube in September, when it was supposed to be cooler. We were hitting 30C several days, and that was the end of Sept. You just can't tell these days!

[JordanF]

I think it's April vs November or October vs. May.  For me, the best months for nice, but likely not too hot weather are May and October.  So between October or April, October is my choice.