After weeks of watching the water levels drop across Europe, there is finally some good news for us river cruisers.

It has been pouring down in many parts of Europe this week, particularly in the Alps and further south, and that rainfall is now starting to make its way into the Rhine and Danube systems.

For those cruising Europe’s rivers, this means that several stretches which have caused problems over the past weeks should become navigable again over the coming days.

The Rhine

If the current forecasts hold, by Tuesday, 25 August, the navigable channel through the Upper Middle Rhine Valley between Lorch and Bad Salzig should once again reach a depth of around 190 cm.

In the Rheingau, between Budenheim and Lorch, the navigable channel is also expected to reach 190 cm by Tuesday night.

At Koblenz, the entrance to the Moselle and its first lock currently has a navigable channel depth of around 210 cm, while Cologne should have enough water by Sunday for river ships to dock properly again.

The Bavarian Danube

There is good news on the Bavarian Danube as well.

Between Straubing-Sand and Vilshofen, one of the most critical low-water sections of the entire European river-cruise network, the navigable channel should reach 200 cm by Sunday.

The Austrian Danube

Further downstream, all the shallow sections of the Austrian Danube, from the Wachau to the Slovak border, currently have navigable channel depths of more than 240 cm.

Slovakia and Hungary

The remaining concern is the Slovak and Hungarian Danube.

From Komárno towards Budapest, things are improving, and at the moment it looks as though this stretch could become properly navigable again around the beginning of September.

Cautious optimism…

Of course, we should not celebrate too early. What we are seeing now may simply be a wave of higher water moving through the river systems. The big question is whether there has been enough rainfall across both the Rhine and Danube catchments to stabilise water levels afterwards.

But there is finally some reason for cautious optimism. If the rain keeps feeding both systems, the second week of September onwards could see much more relaxed conditions for river cruising again.

I’ll keep watching the gauges and forecasts over the coming days. As always with river levels, things can change quickly, so consider this a snapshot rather than a guarantee.

Let’s cross our fingers.

What a summer it has been…

Have a question, something to add, or your own river-cruising experience to share? Let me know in the comments below. And if you think another river cruiser might enjoy this article, please pass it along.

See you on the river!

Roland
Roland on the River
Zen and the Art of River Cruising