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Low Water Levels Disrupt European River Cruises, a Favorite of U.S. Tourists

As the continent faces a severe drought, companies have had to use buses to transport passengers along parts of the Rhine and the Danube, where water levels have become too low for riverboats.

By Jenny Gross

• Aug. 29, 2022

Mark Farmer’s two-week river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest got off to a bad start. For the first four days, there were no luxurious dinners overlooking the Rhine River or views from the top-deck balcony room that he and his wife had booked.

In fact, there was no boat at all. He and the other 150 or so passengers were shuttled around the Netherlands and Germany on buses, queuing up in long lines for bathrooms at highway rest stops and cramming into small restaurants.

“We were not happy,” said Mr. Farmer, a sales manager for a waste and recycling company. He and his wife, who live in Arizona, had booked the August trip, which had cost $18,000 including business-class flights, to celebrate their 35th wedding anniversary.

One of Europe’s worst droughts in decades has left the water level of parts of the Rhine and the Danube Rivers too low for ships to pass, paralyzing commerce and causing disruptions for companies that transport goods and commodities like oil and coal. The drought has also affected river cruises, forcing passengers to cope with last-minute changes to their itineraries, long bus rides and missed excursions.

River cruising is a multibillion-dollar industry, with 1.6 million travelers, many of whom were over the age of 55, cruising European rivers in 2018, a number that had nearly doubled from 2013, according to Statista , a provider of market and consumer data. Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group, said the largest group of passengers come from North America.

Nearly 65 percent of European Union territory is currently under some degree of drought warning, according to the European Drought Observatory , which aims to improve drought resilience. Droughts are likely to become more frequent, researchers say, even as hurricanes and other large storms bring flooding to other places around the globe. Climate change from the burning of fossil fuels and other human behavior can play out differently, according to scientists, but the common theme is that extreme weather is becoming more frequent and intense.

Rudi Schreiner, the president and co-owner of AmaWaterways, a river cruise company with a fleet of 26 ships, said that when water levels in the Lower Rhine are too low, cruise passengers are taken on an excursion to a nearby town by bus and then brought back to a spot on the river where water levels are higher. For each day that the cruise itinerary differs from what was scheduled, a passenger receives a voucher for 15 percent off the next seven-night cruise, he said.

Rainfall in Germany last week has provided relief, but the reprieve may be temporary. “The question is how long it will last,” Mr. Schreiner said. AmaWaterways is looking for new technologies to lower the draft of its ships so they can pass through shallower waters. “I don’t see any death of river cruising ,” he said. “I see adjustments.”

Even ships that are able to pass through the Rhine have had to reduce the capacity of their loads, since heavy cargo weighs down ships and causes difficulties in shallow waters.

For Mr. Farmer, the last straw came on day three of his trip, when Viking, the operator, arranged for the guests to stay in a hotel that Mr. Farmer described as subpar, with a man in a building next to the hotel staring into their room when he and his wife walked in.

“That night, my wife and I had had enough. I wanted to go home,” he said. But after two hours on hold with customer service, it became apparent that Viking wouldn’t be giving him a refund. So, he said, he and his wife decided they would change their attitudes. They boarded the ship the next day, and the trip improved significantly.

Viking, which offers trips in Europe, said the circumstances that affected that trip were “highly unusual,” with the Rhine and the Danube Rivers experiencing historically low levels. “We recognized that this was not the experience that our guests expected, which is why we provided all guests with a 15 percent credit toward their next Viking voyage, in the form of a voucher good for one year,” a spokesman said. Customer ratings during the dry period have been “highly satisfactory,” he added.

The company also said in a statement last week that the vast majority of its trips faced no interruptions, even though water levels on the Danube remained unusually low. “Our nautical team is continually monitoring the situation,” the company said. “Guests and their travel advisers will continue to be notified directly by Viking customer relations if we think that their itinerary might be impacted.”

Another passenger on a different Viking cruise this month, Scott Myers, said he and his wife loved their trip, despite viewing one of the most picturesque stretches of the Rhine from a bus.

“It wasn’t as good as if you were sitting on top of the boat as you were floating through, but we were still able to see all the castles,” said Mr. Myers, the director of a county park district in Troy, Ohio. He and his wife were able to spend all but one day of their trip on the cruise they had originally booked. That one day on land involved six or seven hours on a bus, traveling from Cologne, Germany, to Strasbourg, France, with stops, he said.

The pace of climate change has affected other aspects of summer tourism in Europe. With heat waves expected to intensify because of global warming, it is expected that travelers will shift their summer itineraries to destinations further north or on the coasts from destinations like Rome or Tuscany, according to travel agents.

Ellen Bettridge, the president and chief executive of Uniworld, a river cruise company, said that in response to the changing weather in Europe, the company last year expanded into luxury train travel, with itineraries that include both cruise and rail components.

“While we cannot predict future weather changes, we are preparing for it,” she said in a statement. “Our longstanding history and unparalleled relationships within the travel industry have allowed us to be flexible in creating alternate itineraries.” She said most trips had been unaffected, and that the company has had to cancel 7 percent of its cruises.

Lisa Wheeler-Pollington, who had booked a cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest with her husband, said low water levels in the Rhine caused Uniworld to cancel their trip nine days before they were scheduled to depart for Europe.

“My heart just fell,” said Ms. Wheeler-Pollington, a retired real estate worker, who lives in Sarasota, Fla. She and her husband could not reschedule because they had already arranged care for their two Labradors, Cruiser and Scooby-Doo, and contractors were scheduled to do repair work at the house. So Ms. Wheeler-Pollington and her husband accepted a refund and made their way from Amsterdam to Budapest by rail.

It ended up being the best trip of their lives. “Sometimes the unexpected is a lot more fun than things you’ve planned for a year,” she said.

Mr. Farmer, the sales manager from Arizona, said he wished that he and his wife had been offered a refund. On the second-to-last day of their trip, the cruise had to dock in a town far outside Budapest because of shallow waters in the Danube. Passengers then were back on the bus for a 90-minute drive to the city, he said.

The group toured the city by bus and then drove back to the boat for their final night, before waking up at 3 a.m. to get back on the bus to the Budapest airport for their departing flights.

Mr. Farmer and his wife received a $500 voucher each toward their next Viking cruise, but he said he was not rushing back for another river cruise any time soon. “I literally saw Budapest through a bus window.”

Jenny Gross is a general assignment reporter. Before joining The Times, she covered British politics for the The Wall Street Journal. More about Jenny Gross

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Seriously Low Water Levels Are Disrupting European River Cruises

As rivers dry up during one of the worst droughts in recent european history, river cruise passengers should be prepared for last-minute itinerary changes..

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Europe is in the midst of one of its worst droughts in recent history—how will that affect summer cruising?

Photo by Shutterstock/Travelpixs

Earlier this month, I sailed on my first-ever river cruise along the Rhine, with an itinerary that had stops in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Switzerland. I was looking forward to exploring the many museums of Amsterdam and wandering through the vineyard villages of Alsace. But as we embarked on our journey in the Netherlands one thing became a constant during the cruise: a thick white waterline along the embankment that followed the river all the way from Germany to Switzerland. It served as a grim reminder of where the water once was, and where it is now—depressingly low.

To ensure that we could continue without running aground, our ship sailed along slowly and carefully, since parts of the Rhine are notoriously challenging to navigate because of treacherous hidden rocks, especially with so little water. While I was still able to do and see the things I had hoped to along the way, ultimately, the entire cruise itinerary ended up being affected, and we had much less time than usual in ports due to the slower pace. My Rhine River sailing with AmaWaterways was one among many river cruises this summer feeling the effects of climate change that have led to extreme drought conditions and shockingly low water levels this summer in Europe.

Across the continent, a historic heat wave and an increasingly unstable Gulf stream —which usually brings wet weather and rain to Europe—have meant that many inland waterways have effectively been drying up, affecting both cruising and trade vessels. Serbian, Romanian, and Bulgarian authorities overseeing the Danube, one of the largest and most important cruising arteries in Europe, have already started conducting emergency dredging (the removal of sediments and debris) of that river to keep vessels moving. Italy’s longest river, the Po, is also struggling and has completely disappeared in some areas as northern Italy experiences one of the worst dry spells it’s seen in 70 years.

The Upper Middle Rhine Valley is famous for its scenic vineyard views and villages. It’s also known for being treacherous to navigate.

Photo by Shutterstock/Kanuman

The Rhine, which regularly sees cargo ships carrying wheat, petrol, steel, and coal traveling up and down the river, has also been seriously affected, with water levels dipping below 16 inches in some key navigational areas. Experts warn that the river could reach critically low levels that might affect trade and cruising in mere days, potentially halting it completely. And the European Commission’s Joint Research Center warned this week that drought conditions will worsen over the coming days. During normal weather conditions on the Rhine, about 2,100 gallons of water flow through any one point per second—the flow rate is now down to zero gallons in some places, according to the Associated Press .

Though European river cruising remains in full swing this season, passengers with upcoming sailings should be prepared for possible last-minute changes to itineraries and bookings—as well as cancellations if the situation continues to worsen and ships simply cannot sail for a time—since ships rely on real-time river conditions. During times of drought, being bused between ports in trouble spots is not uncommon, nor is doing what is referred to as a “ship swap,” when passengers on two separate vessels that cannot sail any further due to low water levels will disembark, get bused to another ship, and swap ships owned by the same river cruise line so that they can continue with their itinerary.

During my trip, passengers aboard the new AmaLucia still had a wonderful time and we managed to hit all the stops on our itinerary, but at a slower pace. However, be prepared for shorter excursion times and potential ship swaps. Since low water levels are a greater concern during late summer, consider booking a cruise in the spring or early summer months to be safe.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

Could Low Water Levels Ruin Your European River Cruise?

When Julia Slater signed up for an AmaWaterways cruise on the Danube last year, she was expecting a voyage from the historic German city of Nuremberg through southern Germany, Slovakia and Austria to Budapest, Hungary. But just days before the seven-night trip was set to begin, in late October, she got some troubling news. Low water on the river was forcing a change of plan.

"We were notified they were switching our embarkation from Nuremberg to Vilshofen, Germany," said the 50-year-old purchasing and compliance manager from Moorestown, New Jersey, who had booked the sailing with her husband and two other couples. "And we were told at that point that there was a really good chance the ship wouldn't be able to make it all the way to Budapest."

The Slaters and their friends weren't the only ones getting such notices. Historically low water levels on the Danube and the Rhine last year, caused by unusually warm and dry weather conditions across central Europe, disrupted hundreds of river cruise departures operated by AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways , Viking River Cruises and other lines.

In most cases, the disruptions were relatively minor, affecting just a day or two of the itinerary. But as frustrated passengers have recounted in great detail at online sites such as River Cruise Advisor , some voyages were significantly altered. Some cruisers found themselves being bused long distances to destinations on their itinerary that had suddenly become unreachable by ship. In some extreme cases, passengers were moved to hotels for part of their trips when their vessels could go no farther. A few voyages were canceled outright.

"It was extreme last year," said David Porter, president and CEO of Roaming Boomers Travel Services , a Scottsdale, Arizona-based travel agency that caters heavily to river cruisers. "It was just a long, ugly mess."

It's also the sort of thing that happens very infrequently.

Should you worry about low-water levels affecting your river cruise this year and beyond? Probably not as much as you think. Years like 2018 are extremely rare.

"The last time there was anything even close to this was 2003, and the last time before that was 100 years ago," said Pam Hoffee, managing director of Avalon Waterways.

In a typical year, just a handful of sailings in Europe are affected by low (or high) water, Hoffee told TPG . In some years, such as 2017, pretty much every voyage goes off without a hitch.

"The reality of river cruising is that it does rely on the right level of water, but in general the water levels are fine," she said.

Even during years marked by drastically low water on Europe's rivers, such as 2018, disruptions to itineraries aren't across the board. Rudi Schreiner, president and co-founder of AmaWaterways, estimates only about 80 of the line's 600 departures in Europe in 2018 were impacted. As Schreiner noted, only the Danube and the Rhine were affected by the warm and dry weather across central Europe, and not until the second half of the summer into the fall. Water levels on France's Seine and Rhone rivers, and on the Douro in Portugal, were generally fine.

As the Slaters experienced, the typical disruption didn't have a huge impact on the vacation experience. Instead of boarding their ship, the 162-passenger AmaSonata, in Nuremberg, the couple met it about 140 miles to the southeast in Vilshofen, an area just below a known choke point on the Danube that often becomes impassable during periods of low water. The change meant they missed touring Nuremberg completely. They also had to be bused more than an hour to what was supposed to have been their first port stop, the medieval city of Regensburg, Germany.

On the flipside, AmaWaterways replaced the lost day at Nuremberg with a stop at the cozy Danube town of Grein, Austria, where passengers were treated to a tour and Champagne reception at the town's perfectly preserved 15th-century castle.

"It was an awesome excursion that we wouldn't have experienced if we had done the regular trip," said Slater, who gives AmaWaterways high marks for rearranging the schedule on the fly. "It actually was one of my favorite stops of the entire trip."

Slater said AmaWaterways also gave everyone on board a free excursion to Salzburg, Austria, something that normally comes with an extra charge. And when she got home, she received a credit for about $750 off a future cruise as an apology for the changes.

"I really didn't expect that," she said, noting that, despite the initial warnings, her ship was able to travel all the way downriver to Budapest, as planned. "The credit was very generous."

Compensation of some sort is typical when river cruises are significantly disrupted. Schreiner said AmaWaterways gave passengers on seven-night sailings a 15 percent credit toward a future cruise for each day they experienced a disruption on a voyage.

Hoffee said Avalon in most cases refunded a portion of the cruise fare to passengers who had to spend a night or more in a hotel instead of on a ship — something that happened on about 10 percent of the line's voyages. When Avalon knew in advance that passengers would have to spend time in a hotel, it also offered passengers the chance to cancel without penalty.

One of the places where river cruisers last year sometimes found themselves in a hotel instead of on board a ship, as expected, was Budapest. Toward the end of the year, the Danube got so low on the short stretch between Vienna, Austria and the city that lines had to stop ships in Vienna and bus passengers onward to Budapest — a journey of about two-and-a-half hours. They then put them up in hotels for the final day of touring.

Another strategy that river cruise operators employed in 2018 was what is known as "the ship swap." Passengers on a ship on one side of an impassable section of river change places with passengers on a sister ship on the other side of the impasse before continuing with the itinerary. Lines such as Avalon and AmaWaterways operate fleets of identical vessels, meaning that ship-swapping passengers end up in the exact same cabin they had occupied before. In some cases in 2018, passengers had to do more than one ship swap during a single voyage, which is extremely rare.

If the possibility of having to endure that sort of disruption is something you just can't tolerate, it doesn't mean you have to swear off booking a river cruise. Travel agents such as Porter point out there are travel insurance policies that will let you cancel a voyage at the very last minute without penalty if it looks like it might be disrupted by low-water conditions. They're known as "cancel-for-any-reason" policies, and they're offered by many river cruise lines as well as independent travel insurance companies. Some policies offer a full refund. Others give you a credit toward a future trip.

Avalon, for instance, offers a cancel-for-any-reason policy that will allow a customer to cancel a voyage up to 24 hours before departure for a credit that can be used on a later trip. The insurance costs from $249 to $379 per person, depending on the cost of the cruise.

One upscale river cruise operator, Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours , has also offered a "river cruise guarantee" since 2017 that promises at least partial refunds for voyages marred by high or low water. Included in the cost of the cruise, the guarantee kicks in when a ship is unable to proceed, and passengers must be bused three or more hours to destinations on the itinerary. It also applies in the case of a ship swap that results in a delay of more than 24 hours.

Such policies could become more important if, as some people are predicting, unusual weather events like the extended dryness in central Europe in 2018 become more common due to climate change.

Still, river cruise industry leaders say they haven't seen a pattern yet that gives them pause.

"It's hard to say that [what happened in 2018] had to do with global warming," said AmaWaterways' Schreiner, who has followed river water levels in Europe closely for nearly three decades. "My feeling is this was a unique year. You will have these unique years maybe every 10 or 15 years."

Schreiner noted that river lines are building 19 new vessels for Europe's rivers this year. If there was serious concern in the industry about future water levels, you wouldn't be seeing this, he suggested. "It seems like demand is still growing, and the cruise lines are not too concerned."

Also not too concerned? The Slaters and their friends. Despite the disruption to their October cruise on the Danube, the three couples have already booked another Europe river trip with AmaWaterways. It'll be on the Douro in 2020. Even if there were to be a disruption due to water issues, Slater doesn't see it as a dealbreaker.

"You're still on vacation," she said. "There's still great food and drink, great people and you're going to beautiful places. Can the trip really be ruined?"

Europe's Drought Will Happen Again: Here's How River Cruises Are Preparing

Adaptability is the name of the game

You've likely heard the news: extreme drought in Europe this summer has drained rivers, and the low water levels have been causing some river cruises to alter their itineraries. Sometimes, passengers rode buses between specific ports of call rather than sail the river on the ships.

While such disruptions are a significant frustration for travelers, they are, unfortunately, a fact of life for river cruising. Ship traffic, including cargo traffic, is continually impacted by rivers' water levels. And while droughts like this one come and go, there is an overall trend toward droughts becoming more common—and more severe—as time goes on. Fortunately, river cruise lines are doing everything possible to prepare for ever-changing weather conditions.

"During the summer, droughts are common in Europe and many other places. Recent significant droughts in Europe occurred in 2003, 2015, 2018, and 2019," said Stephen Bennett, chief climate officer of climate impact consultancy Demex . He also serves as the American Meteorological Society's Financial Weather and Climate Risk Management Committee chairman.

But Bennett notes that this drought was particularly severe because it was so widespread. "According to the European Drought Observatory, 64 percent of the E.U. territory is under drought conditions," he said. "This is qualified as a one in 500-year drought, which means that it is so severe that it has only a 0.2 percent chance of happening in any given year. Scientists in France have declared this the worst drought since records began in 1958."

This is certainly not the last time Europe will face such conditions. "The frequency of droughts has substantially increased over the last half-century, and there are strong links between these droughts and climate change. Climate change is making droughts more frequent, severe, and pervasive," said Marty Bell, chief science officer at WeatherFlow , which provides weather data and AI-driven modeling for consumers and businesses.

To make matters worse, it's not just droughts that affect river cruises—the opposite conditions can impact them, too. "On the flip side, if there is heavy spring rain or unusually high temperatures that cause a drastic snowmelt—many rivers originate high in the mountains—or if there is torrential rain for a prolonged period of time at any time of year, the rivers may swell or flood, which could also cause problems by preventing ships from passing under the bridges," said Ming Tappin, a freelance cruise writer and founder of Your Cruise Coach .

Because river cruising is so dependent on water levels, whether in drought or flood conditions, cruise lines have come up with solutions to minimize interruptions. "River cruise lines always have multiple ships sailing on the same river from opposite directions. So in the event that a part of the river becomes impassable, a 'ship swap' is performed," added Tappin. In that case, both ships approach the troublesome point on the river, and the passengers transfer from one vessel to the other. Then the ships return to their point of origin, so the passengers get to sail the complete itinerary.

River cruise ships are also specifically designed to have shallow drafts, which means their keels, or the lowest points of the vessel, are not that far beneath the water's surface. That allows the ships to sail in shallow rivers. Some ships can adjust their ballast, making their drafts even shallower.

There are, of course, times when rivers become entirely impassable. "In extreme circumstances where the water levels prevent ships from sailing, and a ship swap is not possible, the river cruise will become a land-based holiday," said Tappin. "Guests will continue their tour on motorcoaches and stay in hotels along the way. Everything that would have been included on the river ship—meals, tours—would still be included on the land trip."

So, what if you're a passenger on an affected river cruise sailing? Are you entitled to a refund? "In all cruise contracts, it is written that the cruise line has a right to alter itineraries if necessary," said Nancy Yale, a travel advisor with Cruise and World Travel , a Virtuoso Agency. There's an argument to be made here for purchasing cancel-for-any-reason (CFAR) travel insurance, which would get you your money back if you decide to back out of the trip before departure. (Bennet's company Demex has even started offering extreme weather insurance , though it's primarily for homeowners and business owners.)

But despite what's in the fine print, river cruise passengers are not necessarily out of luck for some form of compensation from the cruise lines. "I have seen them offer their guests a pro-rated refund or a credit towards booking a future cruise," said Tappin. "Some cruise lines may even offer a full refund of their current cruise in addition to a booking incentive for a future cruise."

If your trip is affected by water levels, remember that it's out of your cruise line's control—no one wants to change the itinerary. Your best bet is to take the trip in stride, as you'll likely still be visiting the same ports advertised when you booked the sailing. "They make every effort to fulfill the itinerary either by land or river," said Yale.

The New York Times. " Low Water Levels Disrupt European River Cruises, A Favorite of U.S. Tourists. " August 29, 2022.

Global Drought Observatory. " Drought in Europe ." August 2022, Page 1.

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European River Cruises Cancelled Because of Low Water Levels

W hat is a cruise without water? A ruined vacation. A hot, dry summer has left European rivers with record-low water levels this year, causing travel disruptions and other challenges to cruise companies who operate on the Danube, Rhine, and Rhône rivers.

Jana Tvedt, vice president of Riviera Cruises ’ US branch, told The New York Times that the unpredictable water levels can be a nightmare for cruise operators. “Sometimes it’s tough to decide if we should cancel before a trip starts,” she said. “You think it’s going to work one way and then two days later it’s totally different.” Cruise companies like AmaWaterways compensate passengers with a 15 percent discount off a future trip, for each day the cruise deviates from its planned itinerary. If a cruise is cancelled completely, cruise lines will typically issue a full refund.

This uncertainty is even worse for travelers who might not know until the day before their trip if it’s been cancelled. Carol Milsoch, who lives North Carolina , was looking forward to cruising down the Rhine this October when she received a disappointing email. “We got an email three days before we were supposed to leave,” she said, “with the option to cancel for a full refund.” She ended up touring the countryside by bus instead, “but it just wasn’t the trip I spent nearly a year imagining.”

H/T: The New York Times

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What to Expect On Europe's Rivers

Although there's no better way to explore Europe's great cities, castle-dotted countryside and vineyards by riverboat, situations may arise that are beyond our control. In the event we need to modify your journey for any reason, you can trust that we will make every effort to communicate with you and to preserve your experience.   Water Levels Unpredictable weather can result in both low and high water conditions that can impact your planned itinerary. These changes may include swapping riverboats or arranging for ground transportation to circumvent a bridge (high water) or water levels that are too low to be passible. Rest assured, we have many years of experience with these potential events and our team – and network of trusted partners – are well-prepared to make any necessary adjustments to preserve your experience.  Water levels are explained further in the video above.

Double-Docking "Rafting" All riverboat companies have dock assignments and sometimes due to increased traffic, docks can get double- or even triple-booked. As riverboats may also have specific docking needs, yours might be "rafted" to the boat next to the pier, requiring you to walk through or over (via staircase), a different riverboat. It is likely that you will experience this on your trip at some point, only adding to the overall flavor of cruising on the rivers of Europe.

Docks and Locks Most docks are centrally located, however, some may be further away from city centers. Assignments are determined by factors such as riverboat traffic, river current, water levels and city layout. Passing through locks along the river is a fascinating part of your upcoming journey. Again, depending on traffic, water levels and potential mechanical issues, lock transit may take longer than expected. Don't miss this unique opportunity… when possible, head up to the top deck and enjoy this engineering experience!

Mobility Onboard and Ashore Ashore – Guests with restricted mobility may have difficulty managing the pedestrian-only city centers, cobblestone streets and uneven surfaces that exist throughout Old World Europe.

Onboard – Guests may need to walk across narrow gangways and ascend or descend stairs when embarking or disembarking the riverboat due to "double-docking" or the docking location. An able traveling companion who can help guests who require assistance must accompany them throughout their journey.

Learn More From an Expert While river cruising is one of the best ways to explore the heart of Europe, situations may arise that are beyond our control. Go with the flow of a Tauck river cruise as Michelle Molnar, Senior Product Manager for River Cruising, shares insights about what to expect on Europe's rivers. You'll hear personal anecdotes about Michelle's recent riverboat travels, learn about the twists and turns she encountered along the way, and how Tauck handled them in the best interests of our guests.

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What to Expect on Europe's Rivers

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Are Europe's Low Water Levels a Problem For Your Holiday Cruise?

By Corina Quinn

All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Plenty of travelers gear up for the holiday season by making their rounds at Europe’s best Christmas markets , but a river cruise can help you fit in several while removing the logistics of hopping around towns—and offer beautiful views of the charming waterways as you go. It’s romantic and festive, and it’s no wonder that people in the know don’t waste their time with plans: these cruises book up anywhere from seven months to a year in advance.

Some passengers, though, are concerned about this year's sailings: Lower-than-normal water levels in the Rhine and Danube rivers—popular thoroughfares for the holiday market circuit—caused by an unusually warm and dry season, have affected some itineraries , as ships need a certain level of water to safely navigate the rivers and enter ports. Cruise lines have been posting warnings on their websites and via newsletters, and reaching out to customers, letting them know if they’re facing delays leaving or sailing into a port, facing reworked itineraries as a result, or—sometimes necessary but generally least-liked by passengers—if they’ll be making transfers to a destination via bus instead of ship.

But just how extensive are the changes? Are this season’s sailings really “ruined,” as has been reported ? “It’s been an interesting season, that’s for sure,” says Ellen Bettridge, president and CEO of Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection, which lists nine different holiday-themed cruises on its site . “But we’re looking at only a small portion of cruises that were slightly impacted.”

Some sailings earlier this fall were disrupted by the low water levels, which led a lot of insiders to forecast that Christmas market cruises would be hit hard this season. And some certainly have—but as rains and snows reach some parts of northern Europe, cruise lines tell us they don't expect the impact to last much longer. “It’s actually been snowing in Vienna and a few places in Germany, so our guests are going to be able to enjoy the markets, capped with a little snow to add to the charm of the season,” says Walter Littlejohn, vice president and managing director of Crystal River Cruises . He says the company's cruises on the Danube have been able to call on ports without any challenges so far.

Weather and water always have the ability to alter a cruise, whether on river or ocean, and most agents tell clients to check their cruise line's policies on how they handle these situations before booking. Yet things like how many adjustments the cruise lines need to make for which sailings and to what extent happens case by case—after all, weather can change quickly. “As of right now, we do have a Christmas Market cruise where, the first day, we’re putting guests up in the Kempinski Budapest , because the ship can’t leave Budapest that first day,” Bettridge says. “But that’s today. The rains could come and the water goes back up, and the ship may end up being able to leave. We’re just being proactive—we only know what the forecast tells us.”

Bettridge says approximately five percent of Uniworld’s overall voyages have been affected this season, and adjustments have ranged from putting guests up in a hotel, to speeding up a ship to account for changing weather. In the case of the guests spending an extra night in Budapest, the company has called them directly to let them know in advance, and in other cases, where itineraries have to be altered, the company worked with local partners to bring different amenities on board, like a live band or a guided wine tasting, to boost programming and help make up for the changes. Six cruises did have to be canceled this year, and in those cases, Uniworld offered full refunds, and re-booked guests for sailings later this year or early next year, Bettridge says.

For travelers, two things seem to most significantly affect their experience: when itineraries are so altered that they spend more time on land, whether via bus transfers between destinations or in hotels, than on their ship; and how the cruise line handles the changes—from communicating with them, to making accommodations and, when warranted, offering adequate refunds (many of these cruises have starting rates around $3,500 and go up to nearly $8,000 for longer trips). The website River Cruise Advisor, run by journalist Ralph Grizzle, has been tracking and collecting guest responses to this season’s affected sailings, and has seen this pattern play out, noting that Viking River Cruises, Emerald Waterways, AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways, and Scenic Tours are among the cruise lines that have had to make adjustments.

It’s good feedback for the cruise lines to be sure, but they don’t always have much lead time before they have to alter an itinerary, says Jill Jergel of Frontiers International Travel, who also is a Conde Nast Traveler Travel Specialist . “If it’s Friday night and the ship can’t leave Bratislava, then the line offices have precious little time to confirm hotel space for 60 rooms at a (hopefully) quality hotel in Budapest for Saturday night cruisers disembarking the next day—and for Sunday night cruisers expecting to embark on Sunday.”

Yet, Jergel says, since “Mother Nature certainly rules river cruising,” cruise lines have become adept at dealing with these scenarios, pointing to the 2013 flooding in Central Europe as an example. It's a fine balance between making changes to keep guests safe when they need to, yet keeping them happy with an experience they expect—and paid for. “Truly, it is a credit to the crew, who sometimes need to move luggage from one ship to another and then serve dinner with a smile, that guests normally return home still giving surprisingly good marks to a cruise line,” she says.

“None of us wants to alter the cruises, but when we do, we’re looking to offer an alternate that’s just as good, or better, if we can,” Bettridge says, noting that this season’s challenges are regarded generally as an anomaly. (Travelers may also want to keep an eye on the Mekong River, where a low water season already is under watch .) “Last year, we didn’t have this issue at all. This season is not one we’ve had before—and I don’t think it’s a trend.”

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Record Low Water Levels Impact European Rivers

Sep 7, 2022 | 0

By Ted Scull

Sandy streams seen in this photo below of the Loire Valley make it impossible for river traffic to proceed.

Apart from most of the Loire, sections of the Rhine River have also been affected by record low water levels this year, though the deeper draft cargo barges have been disrupted more than the shallower draft riverboats.

The lower reaches of the Danube have been more affected than higher up.

The 2022 summer weather conditions reached extreme levels of both temperature changes and highly varied amounts of rainfall throughout most of the world.

For instance, while rainfall has flooded one-third of the country of Pakistan, drought has reduced European river passenger travel and cargo movements to some of the lowest levels in history.

While QuirkyCruise cannot provide up-to-hour bulletins, we can give you an overview and provide sources with up-to-date conditions, especially if you are looking to plan a river cruise or you are scheduled to take one soon.

Obviously, if you are booked and are soon to depart for Europe, the river line should be keeping you informed of any changes.

However, if the cruise is still on, that does not necessarily mean it will unfold as laid out in the perspective.

Record Low Water Levels — Various Scenarios

The water-level alterations may result in a change in itinerary to be able to proceed, with you remaining on the boat you booked.

It could also mean spending part of the cruise on the scheduled ship and then moving to another boat if the subsequent destinations can no longer be accessed.

While the water level is summertime low, this Slovakian stretch of the Danube is navigable for now. Normally sandy spit would be underwater.

Some lines, most notably Viking, have many vessels laid out exactly the same, and others with a few, so while it may be a nuisance to pack up, transfer perhaps by bus to another, the cabin may only vary by the picture on the wall.

If you can then complete the cruise as advertised that’s wonderful, and Viking’s duplicate itineraries operating in opposite directions are designed to do just that.

If the river is not navigable, your ship may serve as a stationary hotel, and you head off for your destinations by bus.

The drive may be partially along the river or via a scenic inland route. If your riverboat can’t move for a second day, the excursion’s drive may be longer.

Differences River by River

The most traveled European rivers are in alphabetical order — the Danube, Douro, Elbe, Loire, Main, Moselle, Po, Rhine, Rhone, and Seine.

A map showing many of Europe’s major rivers. * Photo: AmaWaterways

The situation faced may be a lack of rainfall over a long period of time, and that may be at more distant water sources well upstream.

The virtually dried up Loire River in France. * Photo: Reuters

Another factor is extreme high temperatures causing increased river water evaporation.

For the Rhine , a major factor is the amount of snow that fell in the Swiss Alps during the previous winter.

In the spring, it melts and flows into the river north of Basel on the German-Swiss border to flow through Germany and the Netherlands.

Lack of snow or rain results in the same scenario for other rivers.

Normal river depths are a big factor. The Loire flowing past all those magnificent chateaux is normally shallower than most other rivers, and the upper Elbe is similar.

The specially designed low-draft paddle-wheelers for the Loire draw less water than stern propellors that dig deeper into the river. Hence, there is little wiggle room if the Loire’s river level decreases by several inches.

The Loire Princesse. * Photo: Croisi Europe

A sidewheeler, such as this one above, has a shallow draft that allows it to proceed in more shallow conditions on the Loire River .

Some rivers, especially the Rhine and Danube, provide very important commercial routes for moving goods between European countries as does the Mississippi River and to a lesser extent the Ohio.

A single cargo barge can carry more bulk cargo at much lower rates than employing a whole fleet of trucks.

In some cases, Rhine and Danube barges drew less water by loading up only 25 to 50% of what they normally would.

While the cargo continues to flow but at lower levels than normal, that results in the need for extra cargo barge moves and more costs. With even lower water levels occurring, some barge traffic ceased altogether.

Moselle River barges transport building materials and agricultural products, and most of these commodities originate in southern Germany or the Ruhr, an urban and industrial area in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Moselle, a highly scenic tributary has its source in France, so rainfall there is crucial. River levels this summer currently only reached half the norm seen in the past two years.

Along the Loire, reports are indicating that some stretches allowed one to walk across the river from one bank to another.

Even though the riverboats may have some of the shallowest drafts in Europe, with these unprecedented low levels, no commerce can operate as seen above.

RELATED: “Could the Drying Up of Europe’s Great Rivers be the New Normal?” — a report by Yale Environment 360.

Rhine-Main Canal

Germany’s Rhine-Main Canal permits traffic to sail from Amsterdam all the way to the mouth of the Danube as it empties into the Black Sea.

The canal was largely destroyed during WWII. Since 1992, today’s rebuilt canal is much wider and allows more than one riverboat at a time to occupy some of the 16 locks speeding up transit times.

The waterway, 106 miles (171 kilometers) long, simply cuts through the undulating countryside providing a highly scenic passage.

Disruptions have taken place around Regensburg at the Danube end of the Rhine-Main Canal. Some trips have been interrupted and passengers have been transferred around blockages to another riverboat.

Sources for Checking on Water Levels

When researching river levels, centimeters will be used and to convert to inches, 2.54 centimeters = one inch.

Beyond checking with the specific river cruise line that you’re booked with, you can stay up to date on European river conditions by simply googling such, for example, www.rhineforecast.com.

The site offers the Rhine’s depth in meters over time for several locations. “ Rhine Forecast ” also includes figures on the Moselle, Main and Neckar rivers.

For info on water levels of the Danube River , visit:  www.danubeportal.com

RELATED: Read more about the Rhine River HERE — its history and backstory.

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© This article is protected by copyright, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the author. All Rights Reserved. QuirkyCruise.com.

About The Author

Theodore Scull

I am happiest near water, over water or better still on a conveyance moving through water. When my brother Sandy and I were deemed old enough, mother took us to Europe by ship.

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Europe's Drought: Will It End River Cruises?

(CNN) -- Just when you thought it was safe to get back in the pandemic-snarled water, Europe is having another cataclysmic summer. This time, it's not pandemic red tape, but what looks set to be the continent's worst drought in history. Around  63 percent of the land across the EU  and UK had either drought warnings or alerts, according to the EU's European Drought Observatory last week -- and that figure was issued before the  UK declared a drought  in eight out of 14 areas. New alerts are pouring in every day.

While the landscape is tinder-dry, water levels are plummeting. Rivers and lakes are drying up -- and as well that having devastating effects on trade and industry, it's also hitting a sector that was already on its knees thanks to the pandemic: tourism. Worse, experts say that this is a worrying sign of things to come.

Drama on the Rhine

The 766-mile Rhine is one of Europe's most important trade routes, with container ships plying their way around its looping bends.

It's also a classic cruise itinerary. But now some of those waterway dreams seem set to run aground.

On Saturday, the water level at the German town of Kaub -- a critical juncture -- slipped to just 36 centimeters, or 14 inches, according to  official figures . That's devastatingly low -- at 40 centimeters, commercial shipping becomes unprofitable.

None of this is news, says Clare Weeden, principal lecturer in tourism and marketing at the University of Brighton.

"Anybody who operates river cruise boats would have had an understanding of this because of the way the climate has changed in the last 20 years," she says, adding that low levels on the Rhine and Danube have seen incidents of passengers being bussed from one destination to another for the past five or six years. But while the cruise companies may have foreseen this, clients haven't.

"River cruising is becoming much more popular, particularly for active people," she says.

"You dock early, spend all day enjoying a city, then go back to the boat at the end of the day and sail on. It's much quieter [than mass cruising]. But drought and climate change has coincided with the increase in river cruising."

But she warns that, with the climate crisis, Europe's traditional river cruising is "definitely going to suffer" and predicts "the industry is likely to reset as a result."

A booming business -- for now

Helen Prochilo of cruise specialist  Promal Vacations  calls European river cruising "the hottest thing we are selling this year."

A little too hot: Although none of her clients have been affected yet, she says that among her fellow agents, one had a client's cruise canceled this week, and another had their itinerary adjusted. River cruise alterations tend to be very last-minute, because they depend on water levels and rain.

Prochilo says that many river cruise boats are specifically built with flatter hulls to deal with low water levels. If in difficulty, those with swimming pools on board can empty them. Railings, furniture and even the captain's bridge are designed to be lowered, while passing under bridges in high water, adds Rob Clabbers, president of  Q Cruise + Travel , a Virtuoso member agency in Chicago.

Not that that prevents problems. In 2017, Prochilo booked a Rhine sailing herself with Emerald, only to find "very low levels" of water.

"The ship emptied the pool to lighten the load and we could actually feel the ship tapping the bottom of the river," she says.

"We never saw the captain after the first night. He stayed on the bridge to ensure the ship was carefully handled."

Others weren't so lucky. Prochilo says that they floated past another cruise line offloading their passengers onto buses.

"The ship build and experience of the captains is very important when the weather is like this," she says. And she's not taking any chances -- watching the water levels drop on the Rhine over the past month has made her advise would-be bookers to wait till next year.

"I'm also advising them to cruise earlier in the season as the river levels don't seem to be a problem if traveling in May or June versus July or August," she says.

For those who've already booked, she makes regular calls to the river cruise lines checking the conditions.

Those conditions are pretty devastating -- levels are "exceptionally low" in some areas, German officials  told CNN  on Friday.

In fact, Weeden believes that Rhine cruises "will be a thing of the past" before too long.

So what will happen this year? CLIA, which represents cruise operators, says:

"River cruise operators ... are monitoring the situation and responding appropriately in liaison with the relevant authorities.

"The safety of guests and crew will be central to any decisions relating to itineraries. Where any changes are planned, operators are working hard to minimize any disruption."

River cruise specialist  Riviera Travel  said in a statement: "We have seen minimal disruption so far as we have put measures in place, such as ship swaps and minor itinerary changes, to ensure guests can still make the most of their cruises." A ship might leave a destination a couple of hours early, for example.

Viking Cruises' website  states that "low water levels will affect select river itineraries." Impacted travelers will be contacted by the cruise line.

To mitigate issues, Viking runs sister ships sailing the same itinerary, but in opposite directions. If there's a problem on one side of the river, guests can transfer to the other ship.

Clabbers says that "many lines" do this. "If low (or high) water prevents passage at a certain point, the line simply moves the downstream sailing passengers (and their luggage) to the upstream ship and vice versa. The ships turn back to their point of origin with their 'new' passengers who simply continue their journey without too much interruption."

And if all else fails, they use the boat as a hotel, and bus travelers to their destinations each day. It may not be as romantic, but it's effective.

"The distances traveled by river cruise are not very long, so sometimes passengers will even get to see more as buses travel faster," says Clabbers, from personal experience.

"On a Uniworld cruise a few years ago, high water kept the ship in Vienna for three days, and the company did a fantastic job in setting up additional tours that showed us sights that were not included in our original schedule."

Got a Rhine cruise booked for this year? Don't cancel, he says -- you may be penalized. Just try to go with the flow. But if you haven't yet booked, and want to travel this year, he suggests looking at alternatives like the Seine or the Douro.

No river unscathed

Not that they're much better. The picture is bleak for all Europe's rivers.

In France, some parts of the famous Loire river have  dried up almost completely . Some  canals have also been closed . "I think canals are a no-go," says Weeden, about the future.

In the UK, the source of the Thames has  moved five miles downriver  for the first time in history.

And of course there's the Danube. The situation on Europe's other prime tourism river is looking blue, too.  Emergency dredging  is currently taking place on the lower river, in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.

Although there are "no problems" on the Austrian stretch, authorities told CNN last Friday, the situation in Hungary -- perhaps the most famous part of the Danube -- is more concerning.

The drought is already devastating for trade -- an average 1,600-tonne vessel can now only navigate the river without any cargo, according to the Hungary Tourist Board. So far, the situation for tourist boats is holding out. The  Mahart Passnave Passenger Shipping Ltd. , which runs river cruises, is still operating all the way along the Danube, although some stations are closed north of Budapest. Between Szentendre and Visegràd, around 15 miles north of the capital, the river takes a major loop. "Some stations [there] have been closed for about a month, as ships cannot moor due to the low water level," says a representative of the Hungary Tourist Board.

But not all companies are managing to navigate the river -- and not all of those are having as good an experience of bussing as Clabbers did.

"I had travelers whose ship couldn't make it to Budapest -- they had to board their ship in Komarno" -- about an hour away in Slovakia -- says tour guide  Julia Kravianszky .

"Travelers flew to Budapest, from where they were taken to Komarno by bus, and they were bussed back to Budapest the next day for their city tour, only to return to the ship by bus after the tour."

Things are already looking different in Budapest, perhaps the most beautiful city along the river.

"The Danube is visibly lower at the moment, it's been really low for two or three weeks now," says Kravianszky.

"Margaret Island looks bigger, because all the rocks at the bottom of the river are visible now. Some parts of the old Margaret Bridge destroyed in World War II are visible now, too."

But don't cancel your trip just yet. The river still "looks large and majestic -- it doesn't really give the image of a dried-up river," she says. For now, it's the locals who can tell the difference.

In Italy, the Po is unnavigable in parts.

'If it's like this next year, I'll retire'

And then there's Italy, where the Po River is at historic lows, and has close to disappeared in places. It's disastrous news for the entire country -- and has also put an end to tourism on parts of the river this summer.

For the past 20 years,  Stefano Barborini  has rented boats and taken visitors out on his stretch of the Po, near Parma. This year, he hasn't been able to manage even a single outing.

"I've been on the Po for 40 years, and this has never happened before," he says. "We've had droughts before, but this low -- never. There's been erosion of the bottom so the river has actually got deeper. Usually it's navigable year-round."

This year, he says, "It started very early -- there was no rain and everything dried up."

His small boats usually dart all over the river, and up close to the beaches, to see things -- Barborini usually points out medieval remains, and has found things like buffalo bones and even mammoth teeth, he says, while out on excursions.

He normally rents boats to fishermen but, he asks, "Where would they go to fish?" Anyone using a boat in the Po needs to be extremely experienced right now -- even professional fishermen are not able to navigate, he says.

Barborini has 30-odd excursions lined up for September. By then, he hopes that the water levels will be higher. Even then, it could be difficult to load and unload passengers, as they'll have to navigate steep walks on and off the boat.

"If it's the same next year, I'll retire," he says.

Dried-up lakes

It's not just rivers. Italy's largest lake, Garda, is  nearing its lowest ever levels , adding a stretch of land around the peninsula of Sirmione, which famously ends with some impressive Roman ruins -- or did, until now.

And parts of Lake Tisza, Hungary's largest artificial lake, are no longer accessible by boat, according to Kravianszky. "In Abadki [a popular rental spot] the water level is 50 centimeters [20 inches] lower than the minimum required," she says.

"They stopped renting out boats, and many owners were forced to remove their boats from the water. The Tisza lake cross-swimming event scheduled for the 13th of August was canceled."

Tisza borders the Hortobágy National Park, a landscape of plains and wetlands, that has UNESCO World Heritage status. Animals have been brought here to graze for around 2,000 years.

"It's one of [Hungary's] defining characteristics... it's heartbreaking to see how it slowly dries up, how the birds have started avoiding the area or nesting less around the National Park," says Kravianszky.

From drought to flash floods

The other side of drought is flash flooding -- something that has hit the US in the past few weeks, with Yellowstone suffering a  once-in-500-years incident  in June, and  two people being killed  in Las Vegas last week.

Barborini says that he's worried for the Po this fall. "Two years ago the water levels were high in January and February, because when the snow fell on the Alps it immediately warmed and came down in levels that weren't normal," he says.

"The climate has changed a lot in the past five or six years."

An uncertain future

"Travel has a front row seat as climate change unfolds in the destinations we visit and, if this becomes a standard summer, it will massively impact our industry. Unless urgent action is taken on climate change, the reality is that extreme weather is going to have an impact on the destinations and communities we visit."

That's the opinion of Susanne Etti, environmental impact manager at  Intrepid Travel , who calls this summer "a wake-up call for the entire sector." She's not alone.

"The places where we can ski have shrunk -- the same will be true for river cruising in 20 years. There won't even be (environmentally damaging) snow cannons to help out," says Justin Francis, CEO of  Responsible Travel .

Weeden thinks that as Rhine tourism dries up, river cruising companies will look elsewhere. "Ships are mobile, companies are not loyal to destinations. They will move and find new areas for river cruises beyond the traditional European ones," she says. They'll also look beyond rivers. Market leader Viking, she says has been "heavily investing in ocean cruising these past few years."

This year, she says, has shown us that "climate change isn't just about heat, but also about water.

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Best time of year for a european river cruise.

Posted by David Porter on Monday, June 1, 2015 · 19 Comments  

River Cruise Climatologist

What is the best time of year for a European river cruise?

This can be a very tricky question to answer.  And to be frank, even the most experienced travelers are going to be disappointed from time to time.

Sure, there are “experts” out there (like this guy pictured to the right), but the truth of the matter is: specific weather patterns are very difficult to predict six to twelve months out.

Our Sad Story

Carol and I tend to like to travel to Europe in the shoulder seasons (April, May, Sept, Oct).  The weather is generally cooler, the massive summer crowds gone, and you can often get more bang for your buck.

A while back, Carol and I flew off to the south of France for a long-awaited river cruise with our friends at Viking River Cruises. As we landed in London to swap planes and head to Marseilles, we got an email from Viking telling us that our river cruise was going to be disrupted by high water levels.  You can read the whole story by clicking here .

When we got to our starting point in Avignon, Viking offered their clients the option of leaving the sailing with a refund of the unused portion of their cruise, or continue on with the hopes of lower water levels in the coming days.  We opted to stay, and as it turned out, we never got to sail and wound up using our cruise ship as a hotel with luxury coach excursions to and from our ship each day.  But, at the end of this experience, even though we did get to see nearly all of our desired locations, Viking still offered their guests a 50% discount off of a future sailing.  Very generous, indeed.  You can read about that by clicking here .

So, if we got foiled, what’s a person to do?  When is the best time of year for a river cruise?

Well, before I make an attempt to offer a few tips on this subject, let’s take a peek at a helpful video from our friends at Tauck River Cruises:

Click for larger view.

So, as you can see in this video, high water, low water, and broken locks can disrupt a river cruise.  While these things are definitely not the norm, what can we do to stack the odds in our favor so that these river gods and nixes don’t disrupt our vacation?

While not all high water occurs in the spring, spring rains and snowmelt are generally the culprits for most springtime high water events.  If you look at the map I’ve included, you can see which areas of Europe are most prone to flooding.

And, oh look, there’s our Rhône river in France!  It’s highly prone to high waters as the French Alps are nearby and shedding snowmelt into the river.

Now to make this even more difficult, we don’t know when this spring snowmelt is going to occur.  We interacted with a couple on our Facebook Page who had taken our same exact cruise a week prior and had absolutely no difficulty.  And, I suspect that the group behind us enjoyed smooth sailing as well.

Travel Tips: Best Time of the Year for European River Cruises

• If you’re river cruising Europe in April, May and even early June, the rivers flowing through the darkest regions in the map above provide the greatest opportunity for high water levels.  These include the Rhône and certain portions of the Rhine.  We had clients sailing the Rhine while we were sailing the Rhône.  They had to swap river cruise ships one afternoon, but other than that, the rest of their journey was just fine.
• Alternatively, if you’re river cruising in the spring, the Bordeaux region of France, the Seine around Paris, and the Douro River in Spain might make good options for less high water probabilities. It looks like the Rhône is best in the late spring, summer and fall.
• Predicting low water levels?  No can do.  It totally depends on the summer weather and each individual country’s management of the water levels.
• Predicting broken locks?  No can do.  When we sailed the Danube, we sailed through 11 different locks.  We encountered no problems, but it must happen on occasion and back up the river traffic for a bit.
• European summers are a very busy time for travel and river cruises.  Most of the river cruise lines completely sell out in the summer months, requiring that you book at least a year in advance.
• European summers can be hot and posses very large crowds in popular cities.  But, this is also the time of year when you find many fun festivals to visit.  So, maybe hot weather and fun festivals are more your cup of tea.
• Fall can bring beautiful foliage, lower temps, and again, the large crowds will be gone.
• Christmas cruises on the Rhine and Danube can be wonderful times.  The temps will be towards the cold side (layer your clothing), but the cities are absolutely beautiful all dressed up for Christmas.  We did the Danube in very early December and completely loved the experience.

I know that this wasn’t a very definitive answer to my initial question.  But the truth is, I don’t have one of those goofy hats (pictured at the top of our article), and therefore, I’m not a river cruise climatologist and don’t have a definitive answer.

Your best course of action?   Be certain to include water level probabilities in your discussions and be aware of the possible risks.  No one can ever promise you absolute perfection with every travel experience.  Airline strikes, volcanoes, floods, and stifling hot weather are just a few of the things that can pop up to make a mess of your vacation.  Do your best to contemplate the things that can go wrong, and then be flexible.  You can’t predict all things, but you can decide to make lemonade out of lemons.  Right?  🙂

How to Book a River Cruise?

Are you thinking about a fun European river cruise?  Give us a call at (480) 550-1235 and we can help you sort through the options, discuss potential obstacles, and book a wonderful sailing.  When you book with us, the price is never higher than doing it yourself, and many, many times we have special pricing options available that are not widely known to the general public. 

If you prefer, you can also use our online information request by clicking here .

Category: Blog , Travel News & Tips · Tags: European River Cruise , Viking River Cruises

19 Comments on “ Best Time of Year for a European River Cruise ”

Interested in cruising September, October. My partner and I are looking for upper and a 2for 1 would be great. The route would be from Basel to Amsterdam. Wondering about weather and water levels, from your experience.

September is a very popular month for river cruising, and if you look, you’ll also notice that because of the demand, prices are generally the highest in September. Folks like September because the weather is still lovely and the crowds are gone.

Generally speaking, high water issues come with the spring snow melt in mountainous regions, and further high/low water issues are weather driven. For example, a few years ago, there was a drought in the Danube region which produced low water issues for the ships. Water levels are difficult to predict, but “generally” not an issue in September, October.

I will pop you an email, and if you like, we can take this conversation offline. Thanks for reaching out.

we have cruised with Viking river 7 times and have only run into one minor problem with high or low water. that was near lyon in the summer when a bunch of thunder storms dumped plenty of rain and guess where it went. to the river. by the way that is the only summer cruise we have taken. most of our cruises are around Thanksgiving time. tulip time in Holland we have found is the hardest cruise to time to predict.

We’ve been stuck in Lyon on a river cruise as well. With the French and Swiss Alps feeding The Rhône, it can be tricky in that area.

Leaving on Uniworls River Cruise Nov. 30 to Dec 7.. Austria and Germany.. Vienna to Nuremberg…. What do you wear on the ship and what coat should I bring? Can you give me an idea of the weather ? Thank you..

This will help you with your what to wear question: https://www.uniworld.com/en/faq/ And this should help you understand the weather: https://www.accuweather.com/en/at/vienna/31868/november-weather/31868

Pingback: Review: Avalon Waterways European River Cruise Ships | The Roaming Boomers

I saw and appreciate your answer to Brenda, above. We are cruising the Rhine with Uniworld, from Amsterdam to Basel, on November 5 of this year (the last sailing for that itinerary of the season). Given all the water level issues right now, I was wondering if you have any info or experience with Rhine water levels in November on the Rhine?

Boy, I’d hesitate to give you an answer. River levels are difficult to predict. From our experience, we don’t generally see any issues at that time of year. But, the moment I say that they’ll have a colossal draught and you will be disappointed.

I just came off that river trip and the water was very low. We had to bus three hours to another ship waiting for us upstream. Beautiful trip even with that switch of boats!

Hi Claire, we’re glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip, in spite of the water issues. 🙂

We are planning on doing our first river cruise in 2019….Would June or Sept be the best for the Rhine or Danube? We prefer Viking and air fare included.

First of all, thanks for stopping by our website. While the Rhine and the Danube are two completely different experiences, we tend to prefer to do our river cruises in the less busy shoulder seasons. While all months are lovely, June will likely find large crowds in the cities and while September is a wonderful month from a weather perspective, it is also the most expensive month of the year for a river cruise.

I would recommend that you consider April, May, or early October.

Lastly, we’ve often got perks for you above and beyond Viking’s best offers. We’re the #2 booking agents for Viking in the world. When you book with us, you’ll get good advice, benefits from our backchannel access, and perks. If you like, give us a call at (480) 550-1235. Thanks! 🙂

We are thinking of a river cruise next May. We will be going to visit our son in Berlin and plan to travel for a few weeks while there. Possibly start a cruise in Budapest and ending in Berlin or the other way around..any suggestions? We’d love to visit Prague and Vienna as well.

There are quite a number of options depending on your preferred style of travel. Perhaps it’s best to give me a call and we can discuss. 480-550-1235. Thanks! 🙂

Great article thanks. Other issues to consider is rain potential and also whether you have seasonal allergies. I had a minor issue with cottonwood in the late spring during our river cruise.

Hi Chuck, Thanks for stopping by and sharing. 🙂

Can you recommend the best European River cruise line for me to take my 87 year young mom on? Limited bus tours, we prefer short shore excursions and /or a more ambitious walking excursion for me while she enjoys the amenities of the ship in port. Open to all European Rivers, but leaning towards Paris-Normandy or?

The Rhine is a great first-time river cruise. Lots of castles and very little time on a bus. We like the Paris to Normandy itinerary. Just know that when you visit the Normandy region, that day is a lot of time on the bus. 🙂 Please feel free to give me a call to discuss. We’re the #2 booking agents in the world with Viking and we can bring you a lot of expertise in the booking process. Plus, right now, we have some additional perks to share.

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'You're not fighting the crowds' in Europe when you visit on a river cruise

Europe has no shortage of marquee tourist hot spots , but Diamond Meadows’ first river cruise there didn’t include them.

The 28-year-old graduate student took a cruise along the Rhine and Moselle rivers that took her to cities like Koblenz and Trier in Germany (she supplemented the sailing with train travel around Austria, Switzerland and elsewhere).

Meadows was traveling with her mom and her mom’s boss, who uses a wheelchair. The group chose the CroisiEurope Cruises sailing for the ease of sailing with a mobility device . But she discovered other upsides.

“It takes you exactly into the heart of the city,” said Meadows, who is based in Tennessee. Their roughly 160-guest vessel offered convenient drop-offs in smaller destinations, allowing them “to access so much more.”

Many European destinations were packed with tourists last summer . But river cruises in the continent can offer a more laid-back way to travel with small ships visiting a mix of popular and less-crowded ports.

Are river cruises better than ocean cruises?

Jen Campbell Boles, founder of the travel agency Explore More Family Travel, said that while cruising in general is a “great value for seeing Europe,” river sailings are particularly immersive. “One quote we always use in the travel industry is, ‘Ocean cruise liners take you to the destination, river cruises take us through the destination,’” she said.

Passengers visit not only major cities but also quaint villages and often disembark within walking distance of attractions. When they are done exploring, they return to a ship with an average of 150 guests.

“It's more intimate, it's cozier,” said Campbell Boles. “You're not fighting the crowds, obviously.”

That was part of the draw for Jim Jones, 57, who took Avalon Waterways river cruises with his wife in 2011 and 2014.

“The smaller cities were an attraction,” said Jones, who is based in Phoenix and works for a software company. He enjoyed visiting Avignon in the south of France, for example, which was once the seat of the papacy . “I’m a total history geek,” he said. On their first cruise, he recalled, “just about every town” they visited had a farmers’ market, allowing them to sample local food.

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Unlike ocean cruise ships, with their large casinos and plentiful bars, onboard “it was very relaxed and a much slower pace.”

River cruise vessels tend to have “less bells and whistles,” Campbell Boles said (though she added that guests get a more personalized experience as a result of their small size).

Adam Duckworth, president and founder of Travelmation, echoed that. He said the cruises are less about the ship than where it’s going. “This is truly an experience about itineraries.”

Are European river cruises cheaper than land-based trips?

While travelers can find land-based accommodations that are less expensive than river cruises, there are other factors to consider.

River cruises tend to bundle more costs, such as alcohol in the fare, than a mainstream ocean cruise line, Duckworth said (though exact policies vary by line). At least one excursion per day is typically included, as well, Campbell Boles added.

She said demand for Europe is still “through the roof” and land-based pricing is particularly high. “Even if you're staying in the highest category stateroom or suite, you're spending less than an equivalent hotel,” she said.

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Transportation from one destination to another is also built into a river cruise, whereas travelers might have to take a train or make other arrangements to visit a mix of places. “I mean that really adds up in Europe, so this is a great way to see a lot more variety,” Campbell Boles said.

Passengers can also add pre- and post-cruise stays, allowing them to “get the best of both worlds.”

“What we say is that a river cruise oftentimes can be a premium product,” added Duckworth. “But for what you're experiencing – the comfort, the (lower) stress, the luxurious experience on board – we find it to be actually the best value through Europe from our experience.”

Are European river cruises kid-friendly?

Since river cruises require a certain amount of free time – most are at least seven days long – they have tended to be popular with older guests, according to Duckworth.

But in the past couple of years, he has noticed more multigenerational travel in the sector. “We're seeing grandparents bring their grandkids, we're seeing young professionals go on a river in Europe for the first time,” Duckworth said.

Some operators have offerings that are particularly well-suited to younger guests. Adventures by Disney offers river cruises with AmaWaterways, and Uniworld Boutique River Cruises has a Generations Collection .

How long should I go on a cruise?: How long and short cruises compare

Even if programming is curated with kids in mind, though, Duckworth cautioned that river cruise vessels don’t offer the same breadth of amenities as large ocean ships. “If your kids want to go to a waterpark and they want to go on a FlowRider and they want to play putt-putt all day, there are great lines for you, but a European river cruise is probably not one of them currently,” he said.

Some lines also don’t allow kids or have varying age requirements, so it’s important to do some research beforehand.

For those going for the first time, Campbell Boles suggested starting with a cruise on the Danube or Rhine since they are “kind of the most iconic.”

“I mean, it’s Europe,” she added. “It’s going to be great no matter what river you go on.”

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville, Tennessee. You can reach him at [email protected].

• River Cruising

Rhine water levels 2023 and similar topics

By notamermaid , January 24, 2023 in River Cruising

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notamermaid

Greetings from the Rhine valley. Here is the thread for 2023 for everything related to the water levels of the Rhine and bits of information on the river.

Through the year we will look at the river's levels and what else may be happening that could be of interest to river cruisers. Join us again with your comments and share your excitement about upcoming trips on this major European river.

Where ever your trips may take you this year  - safe travels.

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Share on other sites.

Notmermaid, I have been looking for you to start up a 2023 water level board. Your posts on the water levels and many other topics are always so informative. I certainly enjoyed participating in discussions on the 2022 board, but now is getting even more interesting with just over 70 days to go until we embark the ship in Amsterdam.    

On 1/30/2023 at 1:17 AM, RDVIK2016 said: I certainly enjoyed participating in discussions on the 2022 board, but now is getting even more interesting with just over 70 days to go until we embark the ship in Amsterdam.    

It is quiet here and the river is calm with little of note to report. In January there was an odd accident of a barge breaking in two while being loaded in Kehl. A few days ago we had a short scare as a tanker loaded with Diesel ran aground at Spay in the Rhine Gorge. Water got into the hull but no Diesel leaked into the Rhine.

Hopefully February brings no excitement of that kind and sticks to Carnival excitement.

Let us see what river levels were like for those very few cruises that ran over New Year and at the end of the past month. Here is the graph at Kaub for January :

The month started well above the mean and after a decline the graph shows the peak following substantial rain at the middle of January. After a relatively sharp drop the level is in slow decline still and the month finished with a level that is considered slightly low for barge traffic, meaning potentially reducing cargo.

But the forecast shows another return to levels closer to the mean.

Well, the month started with unpleasant excitement unfortunately at Monheim, a town between Cologne and Düsseldorf. A barge hit the newly installed landing stage for excursion boats. It is bent and not usuable right now but fortunately at least did not drift off: https://www.monheim.de/stadtleben-aktuelles/news/nachrichten/baumberger-steiger-nach-kollision-mit-einem-schiff-schwer-beschaedigt-12051

I must admit that I have never been to Monheim. Big question is: have they got a docking area for river cruise ships? I will explore that and see what else I can find out about the place.

A phone call has revealed that the landing stage that was damaged is the out of town one. A very friendly tourism assistant told me that the modern big one at the town centre embankment is fine. Apparently there is also a very nice park at the river and a Roman fort near by. Sounds inviting to me. The town being accessible with a river cruise ship means it is eligible for inclusion in my series of lesser known ports. So I will write a little about Monheim some time. This is the thread I mean: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2516698-rhine-beyond-the-standard-ports/

The river is rising and falling with the rain, it looks to have reached a peak at Kaub this afternoon, now slightly falling again. All very normal so I will move to more pressing matters. A tiny "crisis" is occurring in the Rhineland, to revellers' shock the rise in cost of living has reached Carnival! Fewer "Kamelle" may be thrown this year, oh no!! Only half joking... Although Carnival is so much fun, for some the costs are a serious problem. So what are Kamelle? They are sweets, boiled sweets, originally all caramel, hence the Karamelle having morphed linguistically in the Rhineland to Kamelle. I have no statistics but imagine hundreds of kilos being thrown from the floats in street carnival to the people watching a parade. If you want to reduce the cost of staging such an event and preparing a float, get costumes, etc.., the Kamelle are an easy item on the list that you can save money on.

Talking of sweet food, I think it is time for a couple of photos or a video on other Carnival treats. Coming soon.

Here we go, Muzemandeln: https://www.dw.com/en/sweet-carnival-treats-from-cologne-muzemandeln/video-52468540

I prefer the Muzeblätter.

All very well you may say, cannot go on a river cruise to experience Carnival as it is off season. Well, you can actually. Viva Cruises offers a Rhine cruise Düsseldorf return on the Viva One: https://www.viva-*****/en/cruisedetail?id=358&adults=2

Come a day earlier and stay a day longer and you are in the area for most of street Carnival.

Or for those who feel comfortable on a Swiss-German and German language ship, there is the Thurgau Travel Edelweiss in Basel for the Fasnacht, which is during the week after Rhenish Carnival: https://www.thurgautravel.ch/angebote/fasnacht/

As it is quiet, I wasn't going to write anything in this thread in the next few days, but then I spotted something...

You can see it underneath the graph I posted above, but I have blown it up from the website for you:

The parameter for GlW (gleichwertiger Wasserstand) has changed. Kaub now has 77cm instead of 78cm. A slight adjustment only but important to remember for me, you know, before any of you say to me "but last year..." . The TuGlW remains the same, so our calculations will not change much in low water.

For those I have completely baffled with this post, perhaps you would like to look in 2022, post #308: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2827571-rhine-water-levels-2022-and-similar-topics/page/13/

Alaaf and helau to you! Or any other "rallying cry", I mean greeting, you may encounter or use at this time of year. Today is Weiberfastnacht here, my office is closed, time to get cheeky and annoying, girls! Or just joyous. Or legless if you feel the need to... It is the day for the ladies traditionally, so all men watch out! 😁

They say the tradition started in Bonn, in the district of Beuel, with the washer women. https://www.bonn.de/microsite/en/events-calendar/events/main-calendar/eigene/womens-carnival-day.php

Not in Bonn, but closer to home, I hope to be able to watch a storming of the town hall. It is time for the folk to capture the mayor and fools to take over the administration of the place for a few days. Now I will bite my tongue, you know, who are the actual fools, those in the street or those sitting on office chairs...

P.S.: Still think Germans are efficient, humourless, etc.? Come at Carnival to the Rhineland and prepare to be amazed.

Canal archive

Maybe that’s why DH wouldn’t go to Germany at this time of year, I’ll have to ask him!

5 hours ago, Canal archive said: Maybe that’s why DH wouldn’t go to Germany at this time of year, I’ll have to ask him!

Talking of Bonn. I am quite fond of the city, I know it is not for everyone and not as big or busy, full of old walls, as Cologne, but has an interesting old church and Baroque town hall. If I had the choice of a river cruise port being either Cologne or Bonn for four hours, I would go for Bonn. For a whole day I would choose Cologne.

I have been to the Eifel again, near Laacher See, the volcanic lake. So I spent a good extra hour in a large village and had a nice surprise. More on that later.

No I have not had anything to drink yet, but I missed out the word soldier in this sentence. Sorry.

1 hour ago, notamermaid said: in the tunnel towards the underground a "Prussian" early 19th century walking passed me.

15 hours ago, notamermaid said: Alaaf and helau to you! Or any other "rallying cry", I mean greeting, you may encounter or use at this time of year. Today is Weiberfastnacht here, my office is closed, time to get cheeky and annoying, girls! Or just joyous. Or legless if you feel the need to... It is the day for the ladies traditionally, so all men watch out! 😁   They say the tradition started in Bonn, in the district of Beuel, with the washer women. https://www.bonn.de/microsite/en/events-calendar/events/main-calendar/eigene/womens-carnival-day.php  

I am getting a Server Fehler 404 at the url you posted.  Was it supposed to link to a story about the Beueler Weiberfastnacht? 

Try search for Calendar of events in Bonn Germany 2023, it worked for me.

6 hours ago, RDVIK2016 said: I am getting a Server Fehler 404 at the url you posted.  Was it supposed to link to a story about the Beueler Weiberfastnacht?   

Yes, sorry, the link does not work it seems.

2 hours ago, Canal archive said: Try search for Calendar of events in Bonn Germany 2023, it worked for me.

Good idea, thanks. This is what I can find: https://www.bonn.de/microsite/en/highlights/events-calendar/carnival.php

While the capital of Germany is Berlin, Bonn has retained several international institutions. That means many anglophone (and other nation's) expats still live and work in Bonn. Hence the fact that the English website goes far beyond standard tourism and business topics. By the way, the "language" in Bonn is Bönnsch, a Rhenish dialect similar to Cologne's, but more pleasing to the ear I find.

Right, I am off to do some shopping and try and find Mutzen(leaves). Had a Berliner yesterday (not the person but the doughnut), really nice. I preferred the dark jam in it to the lighter jam that others contain.

It is Ash Wednesday, Carnival has been "buried", today it was eating fish, as is tradition. Herring, that is. Not for me though, not my taste. I was able to get Mutzen, both the leaves and the almond shaped ones. I tried the Mutzen again but next year I will only get the leaves. Eating them side by side on a plate showed me that my preferences of years past are still the same.

If you would like to read about Carnival - which is not over yet actually, in Switzerland it is later than in Germany - have a look here: https://www.german-way.com/history-and-culture/holidays-and-celebrations/fasching-and-karneval/

Before we move on to other topics, here is one of my favourite odd things of Rhenish Carnival, the "Schwellköpp" in Mainz: https://de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Mainzer_Schwellkopf_Fastnacht2.jpg

These are larger than life size heads (the Mainz dialect word literally means swollen heads) of Mainz personalities, ordinary folk very often, and are made of papier-maché.  If you want to look deeper into Carnival traditions when on holiday, you can go to one of the Carnival museums. This is the website of the one in Mainz (German only): https://mainzer-fastnachtsmuseum.de/html/museum.html

Pancakes successfully constructed tossed and eaten. My daughters and my senior Guides ’Rangers’  used to take over my kitchen for the evening and we would definitely get over pancaked.

I was in England one year over Carnival and was taught how to make pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. I make pancakes occasionally.

So what happens when someone from another continent encounters Carnival? Can it work, can they join in? Of course! And this Australian man was invited to do it fully and properly: https://www.dw.com/en/an-australian-visits-colognes-carnival/video-64742923

Notamermaid fantastich now I have some idea of what my man got up to on his many trips to Germany. I’ve heard about the buxom German wenches carrying their many large beer steins (spelling). I know he enjoyed himself maybe sometimes a bit over the top but he reciprocated by showing his German colleagues a special time in London.

While most of the river cruise ships of CroisiEurope and the German companies have a break from cruising until well into March, it looks as if Viking starts the season in earnest a week earlier. I see a Swiss Alps to Paris itinerary leaving from 10 March if I have calculated the departure date correctly. So let us have a look well ahead into March in a very tentative way as regards river levels. The Rhine is so low that "my favourite fear mongerer" Bloomberg may well have written another article about it... But it is actually not good for barge traffic. Unusually so at this time of year, especially as not much precipitation has been retained as snow. It is too warm.

Kaub is at 121cm, which is below what it should be for shipping companies but poses no problem for river cruise ships. Looking ahead, we see the level rise and then drop to a level that is, well, not good. So far in advance, we look at this in probability terms. So on 6 March the level at Kaub will almost certainly be under 110cm and very likely be under 97cm (!). Am I worried? No. But a bit surprised and will look at this again earlier than I thought I would this early in the year,

It has cooled down and yesterday's rain came down as snow in the mountains. After a short rise the level is going to fall, in part due to the cold weather keeping the snow. According to the probability chart we are still going to see a first real low this year. On the 8th of March the level will almost certainly be under 110cm and most likely under 97cm, it is possible that the level falls to 77cm. I will leave it at that and return to the subject when summarizing February.

And now for something completely different - a quarrel about a ship and its protected status. It is a special "workhorse", the diving bell ship called "Carl Straat". Modern technology has superseded the old, so the Federal Waterways people now have a new one. What to do with the old? Some want it protected, others think it should be scrapped. I personally think it should go to the museum in Duisburg. As of 23 February a court has confirmed that it is correct that it is on the "protected" list. Is the decision final? I hope so. The new diving bell ship was given a propulsion system built by the company Schottel, based in Spay near Koblenz. Since this press release  https://www.schottel.de/en/media-events/press-releases/press-detail/new-diving-bell-ship-for-the-rhine-and-its-tributaries-fitted-with-schottel-propulsion-units was written the ship has been delivered, it is called Archimedes and was built by the Dutch shipyard Damen for 24.57 million euros. Should you see something highly unusual on the water during your river cruise...

Schottel GmbH builds propulsion for ships worldwide, they have a big portfolio, really impressive. The founder of the company named it after a shallows in the river at kilometre 576.5, which is somewhere here at the end of the Bopparder Hamm (vineyard):

From ship technology we move onto - old stones in the Eifel. In this volcanic region of Germany I came across Roman "antiquities" where I had never expected them.

We have in our archive a 1760 book it’s a treatise on how to build a canal translated from the French the plates at the back are completely Heath Robinson so will try to scan as if you see anything similar along the rivers of Europe, you’ll know, yes design has changed but you can usually tell where the original idea originated from. Archimedes invented the screw we have  few on display that are now about 200 years old but modern ones working in exactly the same way are still in use. What a brain that man had!

8 hours ago, Canal archive said: Archimedes invented the screw we have  few on display that are now about 200 years old but modern ones working in exactly the same way are still in use.

Ah yes, him. Fitting name for a specialist ship. Forgot to mention the museum properly. It is the German Inland Waterways Museum (for those who have read the 2022 thread, yes, I mentioned it in connection with the "Oscar Huber" ship last year): https://www.duisburg.de/tourismus/stadt_erleben/museen/museum-der-deutschen-binnenschifffahrt.php#/

By the way, Schottel propellers are also installed in river cruise ships. It is mentioned for a couple on their website and you can possibly read it online in the description of the odd ship in the technical details.

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Choose Your Own Adventure On This European River Cruise

Thank you to AmaWaterways for hosting our cruise so we could provide this detailed review of our experience.

This AmaWaterways river cruise has become a popular way for active travelers to easily see multiple places, with daily excursions to cities, countrysides, and local landmarks.

We cycled into Melk, Austria, exhausted but deliriously happy, completing a 17-mile bike ride along the Danube River – passing by small medieval churches, castles, monasteries, gravesites, and fruit orchards. We whirred alongside vineyards, by corn fields, and through cobblestone villages, admiring perfectly arranged flower boxes in the stunning Wachau Valley, A UNESCO World Heritage Site and region known for its natural beauty. The ride felt like therapy as we were distracted in a good way after the recent passing of my father-in-law.

Our dream bike trip was one of the active excursions available on AmaWaterways, our “floating boutique hotel” that whisked us from Budapest to Vilshofen for 7+ nights and beyond the typical tourist paths to venture deeper into Old World villages along the Danube – the second largest river in Europe. The ship brought us through five countries and enchanting towns we could never imagine easily getting to like Bratislava, Slovakia; Austria’s Linz, Mondsee, and Salzburg (where the hills come alive with the Sound of Music); and the German villages of Passau and Vilshofen. The regal journey, including a small pool and walking track on the Sun Deck and rooms with French and outside balconies, had us cruising through the Austrian Lake District and the Strudengau Valley and since we were already deep in Europe, we easily extended our voyage with a half-day trip to the fairytale town of Cesky Krumlov, en route to Prague.

The beauty of these river cruises is not just the intimacy, with fewer than 150 people aboard our ship, but the ability to choose your own adventure. In each port, guests can decide on the level of activity they are comfortable with for the day – such as biking, hiking, or walking tours (at gentle, regular, and active paces). While “bike and barge” tours have been around for years, AmaWaterways was the first luxury river cruise line to include a fleet of new comfy 7-speed bikes and introduce a Wellness Program on its European cruises. Last year my mom and I cruised the Seine from Paris to Normandy with Viking , but bikes were not available.

As we glided along the Danube, we slipped into a new location each day where local guides greeted us for biking, hiking, and city walking tours (some with culinary components) to dive deeper into each landscape. While we were cycling through the Wachau Valley, friends we met onboard hiked in Durnstein to the Keunringer Castle, the famous ruins where Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned. Other guests chose to invest their time touring the impressive Benedictine Abbey of Melk while others walked the town of Durnstein to sample apricots, sweets, and local wines.

Biking: Heighten your senses

The freedom of biking to explore new regions was exhilarating to us as we knew it wouldn’t be easy to replicate this experience on our own. We took advantage of the biking options and created a collection of unforgettable travel memories, choosing to cycle in three ports for around 15 miles at each destination. There were fewer than 10 bikers on each excursion, which made each cycling jaunt pleasurable.

In the Wachau Valley, we met several other passengers who were just as eager to view the Austrian countryside on two wheels. Our local guide made sure we didn’t get lost and also helped unveil the history and secrets of the journey with intriguing stops to take in the stunning viewpoints, learn historical information along the way, and point out natural features we might otherwise miss. Five to six-hundred-year-old villages that sprung up during the Middle Ages are still thriving along the Danube and feature unique points of interest – like a romantic little Gothic church from the 1500s, fortified with a tower since the town couldn’t afford a wall. We scaled the tower to admire the interior covered in a 3D mural due to a layered colored painting technique called ‘scrafitti’ where they scratch the layers away – similar to fresco paintings 500 years ago.

In each town, we noticed markings high on the walls where measurements are reminders of how the Danube can rise at an alarming rate – flooding twice in the last 13 years instead of the historical hundred-year event. Flood protection barriers have since been built in certain areas where metal sheets can be slid in to meet up to 25 feet of water.

Later that day we rested our weary bodies on our stateroom balcony – admiring the passing picturesque setting over local beer available on the ship as we snaked along the green Strudengau Valley. In Grein, the 500-year-old residential Greinburg Castle once owned by Queen Victoria of England (by way of her husband Albert) loomed above the town waiting for us to admire its lowkey grandeur and splendid courtyard. A private tour later wowed us with the castle’s diamond-cut ceiling in the music room and Sala Terrena (Stone Theater) crafted entirely out of pebbles from the Danube.

In Vienna, we opted to peddle through the buzzing city with a local guide who gave us a nice overview for afternoon and evening exploration on our own. We zipped along the riverside embankment by miles of graffiti art, with monumental buildings and soaring cathedrals leading us to the famous Ringstrasse, then on to admire architecture in Graben square and peruse Kohlmarkt with its luxury shops. The ride took us by hidden corners of Vienna, spiraling through one of the oldest amusement parks in the world with its popular Ferris wheel and into a city park to the golden statue of John Strauss II (“King of the Waltz”) playing his violin. In the city center, we came across a regal military procession with music in front of The Hofburg, the former 13th-century imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty, and then stopped to witness Vienna’s town hall with its contentious balcony still in existence, where Adolf Hitler conducted one of his most infamous speeches.

In Passau, Germany, we felt motivated to bike again as this jaunt took us along the scenic shores of the Inn River through wooded hills and beaches of poplars, where we gaped at the cobblestone town’s pastel-hued Baroque buildings. A pedestrian bridge brought us across the river (and border) to Wernstein, Austria where we cycled along more woods, corn fields, churches, castles, and pubs, and observed village life before returning to the old town of Passau, known as the “City of Three Rivers” because the Danube, Inn and Liz rivers all converge here.

More biking excursions are available in many other river cruise destinations, such as Cologne’s Old Town, the medieval city of Rouen, St. Emilion’s wine estates, and the idyllic village of Kinderdijk in the Netherlands, a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for its historic windmills. For even more active experiences, adventure travel leader Backroads partners with AmaWaterways to host intense biking tours for experienced cyclists.

Hiking: Get high for the best bird’s eye view

Opportunities abound for those who prefer hiking or want to mix up their exercise on a trip, as the beauty of Europe not only lies in its architecture and landmarks but also in its abundant nature. Most of the ports we visited included hiking to a hilltop castle and opportunities to go off the beaten path with hikes (and extended city walks) ranging from two to ten miles. In Budapest we scaled side streets to the Castle District, beginning with a walk along the Pest embankment to remember the Jewish lives lost at the Shoes Memorial before exploring the Matthias Church and fairy-tale-like Fisherman’s Bastion perched high on a hill above the Danube.

In Slovakia, a brisk hike to the Bratislava Castle was a warmup for a power walk to the towering UFO Building, up to the observation deck and restaurant to watch the sunset from soaring heights above a hanging bridge along the Danube. In Salzburg, we got high again atop Monchsberh hills above the roofs of the old town as the Salzburg Modern Art Museum has a scintillating restaurant perch to admire this Austrian city with its medieval and baroque buildings and eastern Alps.

Walking: Take it all in

Need an alternative to an aggressive day of exercise while on vacation? No problem, choose a walking experience at your preferred speed. We loved getting to know Bratislava with a walking beer food tour to sample various suds and regional treats (like cheeses, meats, and even tongue) at a local brewery. With a guide or on your own, walking the streets of a quaint medieval European town is a trip through a rich and storied past.

Activities: Golf, Pickleball, and Bespoke Wellness Programs

While you might think of a cruise as a crowded bonanza where the most common exercise is a walk to the nearest buffet, river cruises make it possible to keep your fitness goals going while on vacation. Our ship had a professional wellness coach who facilitated active excursions in port and daily fitness classes such as core strengthening, resistance band workouts, and sunrise stretching.

Some ships offer tailored wellness programs featuring yoga, Tai Chi, guided meditations, and an introduction to the traditional way to make organic teas for detoxifying, healing, and re-energizing. Others boast pickleball courts on the deck, juice bars, massage rooms, and beauty services like hair and nails. Some even offer concierge golf programs to experience prestigious courses in Hungary, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic.

Dining Options: Stay healthy or splurge

After an active day, it’s rewarding to indulge in sit-down meals in the waterside restaurant – created by expert chefs with daily elaborate multicourse menus featuring traditional and regionally inspired cuisine made with locally sourced fresh ingredients, including bread baked onboard overnight. Complementary wines selected from the surrounding areas are chosen by acclaimed European sommeliers and presented at each meal.

As a huge food fanatic, dining and discovering new dishes is an important part of my travels as in the past I have learned food can make or break a trip. AmaWaterways was the first river cruise to be inducted into the La Chaîne des Rôtisseurs and Tableset Auberges – two of the world’s most prestigious culinary organizations. Dishes were always presented so beautifully that it was shocking how artful the chefs could be in a tight galley. Each meal started with 4 mini appetizers and ended with dessert options – featuring ingredients and impressive options from the regions we were visiting.

Some of our favorite meals included a Bavarian carving station with pork knuckle and pork belly and gnocchi with wild mushrooms but we also appreciated veering off now and again from the region’s hearty dishes for fish and chips and a build-your-own Pho bowl. Also, guests are invited to a night at the Chef’s Table for a multicourse grand affair, and it is one we will never forget as we slipped by Budapest’s Parliament Building in all its glowing gold magic (pictured above). Vegetarians will be easily satisfied too as the daily menus include a special multicourse meat-free option along with menu items that can accommodate dietary restrictions and preferences like gluten-free or low-sodium.

On days we raced to morning biking excursions, I appreciated the grab-and-go breakfast options in the lounge as an alternative to the full-service restaurant while my husband loved the post-activity Sip & Sail daily cocktail hour with complimentary wine, beer, and spirits.

AmaWaterways far exceeded our travel exploration expectations. They make it easy to enjoy a healthy and vigorous lifestyle while on vacation and have now made river cruising our new favorite way to explore Europe.

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The 10 Best River Cruise Lines in Europe for Every Traveler

Picking the best line for a European river cruise can be a challenge as more and more lines compete for attention on European waterways. Many American travelers have heard of river cruise lines like Viking , AmaWaterways and Avalon Waterways -- and you can find more about them below.

However, there are also other lesser-known cruise lines to choose from that are contenders for the best river cruise line in Europe , depending on your travel style. To help you out, we've taken a look at 10 lines, from the familiar to the lesser-known, so you can decide the best river cruise line in Europe for you.

1. Best European River Cruise for First-Timers: Viking River Cruises

With more itineraries than any other, Viking is the best cruise line in Europe for first-time river cruisers. The world's largest river cruise line offers a well-tested river cruise recipe on its fleet of identical Scandinavian-style longships. Insightful port talks provide information on the next day's program that cover all questions, such as how much walking is involved and difficulty levels.

Viking includes one excursion in each port with your fare, and offers a wider variety of river cruises in Europe than others. That gives new-to-river-cruise passengers plenty of options to try their hand at a cruise length that fits their style and a wide array destinations from which to choose.

2. Best European River Cruise Line for Active Travelers: Avalon Waterways

If you like to stay fit and healthy on vacation, Avalon Waterways is the best line for get-up-and-go European river cruises. In addition to regular itineraries, Avalon offers Active & Discovery sailings on the Rhine , Danube , Rhone , Moselle , Seine and Dutch waterways. Work up an appetite with action-packed kayaking, hiking and cycling tours before returning to a well-earned meal. Onboard cuisine features a variety of menus including Avalon Fresh which showcases mainly vegetarian dishes.

3. Best All-Inclusive European River Cruise Line: Scenic

When it comes to a river cruise line in Europe, Scenic's all-inclusive fares are hard to top. They cover all premium drinks, including a minibar in every cabin, plus specialty dining, butler service and gratuities.

In addition to the main dining room, ships have smaller venues where every passenger can have a meal. There's also the exclusive Table La Rive fine dining experience for Diamond Deck suite guests. Daily activities feature a wide choice of included shore tours so you can personalize your cruise experience.

4. Best Budget-Friendly European River Cruise: Grand Circle Travel

Grand Circle generally draws travelers aged over 50 and is a popular line for Americans cruising the rivers of Europe. But one of the best features of this line is its price point. Grand Circle attracts a high number of repeat passengers, drawn by value-for-money fares that are often lower than other European river cruises.

Perks include a roommate matching service for solo cruisers, competitively priced single supplements and group discounts, plus price match guarantees. Ships offer traditional-style cruising and Exclusive Discovery Series, which provides first-person accounts from locals or expert talks about the destinations you'll be visiting.

5. Best European River Cruise for Cuisine: AmaWaterways

AmaWaterways is the only cruise line on Europe's rivers to be a member of the prestigious international gastronomy organization Chaine des Rotisseurs. Additionally, the line's culinary director is a member of the French association Tables et Auberges de France.

Fancy associations aside, these credentials translate into some truly awesome dining experiences. European ships have the cozy Chef's Table restaurant where all guests get to dine for free once every cruise. AmaWaterways also has food and wine-themed sailings accompanied by expert hosts.

6. Best European River Cruise for Solo Cruisers: Tauck

Upscale river line Tauck is the best for solo river cruises in Europe, even though Grand Circle gives the line a run for its money. Tauck waives single supplement charges on all of its Category 1 lower-deck cabins on every ship in its European fleet.

The line also offers reduced solo-traveler surcharges on higher-grade cabins on select sailings. Tauck's ships carry fewer passengers than riverboats of a similar size, so it's easy for solo travelers to make new friends. You'll also find a high number of inclusions, such as all drinks from the bar and with meals, to create a stress-free sailing with no hidden extras.

7. Best Boutique European River Cruise: European Waterways

European Waterways isn't the most widely known European river cruise line, but for travelers craving something truly intimate and unlike any other sailing, it's the best.

European Waterways has 17 barges sailing along the less-visited waterways in the U.K. , France , the Netherlands , Luxembourg and Italy . Most European Waterways ships are old working barges, though the casual houseboat atmosphere includes beautiful modern interiors. Each all-inclusive cruise holds just eight to 20 passengers and can also be chartered by families and groups.

If that size river cruise sounds too small for you, Uniworld is a great boutique-style option for sailing Europe's rivers.. The line is more high-end than European Waterways and decor runs maximalist. Uniworld's ships are each distinctly designed and outfitted, and the all-inclusive itineraries include tours, meals, liquor and wine, fitness classes and more.

8. Best European River Cruise for Onboard Facilities: AmaWaterways AmaMagna

AmaWaterways is one of the best known river cruise lines in Europe, but one ship in particular stands out from the pack for what it's able to offer: AmaMagna.

For starters, cabins are larger and you'll find seven suites onboard. There are also four different dining venues (more than most river ships), and that choice has proven popular with previous passengers.

AmaWaterways ups its dedication to active cruisers with a bevy of wellness spaces as well, including massage rooms, a fitness center, open-air spin classes on the sun deck and a pool. However, despite being twice as wide as most river ships in Europe, there are only about 30% more travelers onboard (just shy of 200 passengers).

9. Best European River Cruise Line for Unique Destinations: CroisiEurope

CroisiEurope is the largest company based in Europe and operates a fleet of riverboats and hotel barges. While people from North America aren't regular passengers on the line's European river cruises, the line is bilingual so English-speaking passengers won't be left out.

CroisiEurope is the only line to sail on the Loire River in France, with a specially designed modern paddlewheeler to navigate low water levels. Similar vessels sail France's lesser-known Elbe River and CroisiEurope is also the only line to sail on Spain's Guadalquivir River and the Vltava River in the Czech Republic.

10. Best European River Cruise Line for Families: Adventures by Disney

Adventures by Disney is, unsurprisingly, one of the best river cruise lines for families in Europe. The line charters AmaWaterways and, while you shouldn't expect a bevy of Disney branding on the ship, Disney's Adventure Guides are trained to bring kids into the river cruise experience.

Programming and excursions are geared toward kids, To that end, expect a focus on storytelling rather than straight history lessons. You'll also find plenty of energetic and engaging activities, like tobogganing, 4x4 tours and bike excursions. The ships also have small pools onboard, popular with any kid on vacation. In the evenings, supervised meals for kids and teens (and movie nights) keep the vibe upbeat until bedtime.

© 1995— 2024 , The Independent Traveler, Inc.

Which European cities are trying to cut back the number of cruise ship visits?

Destinations struggling with overtourism are putting a stop to ships that bring toxic emissions and millions of passengers.

Every year, more than 20 million passengers take a cruise. 

Before the pandemic, that number was even higher sitting at around 30 million.

As passenger numbers look to breach this pre-pandemic number once again, many European ports where these ships drop anchor are re-evaluating their presence. Some are looking to ban them altogether, citing environmental, social and economic concerns.

The 218 cruise ships operating in Europe in 2022 emitted over four times more sulphur oxides than all of the continent's cars, according to Transport & Environment. The NGO found back in June last year that these toxic air pollutants from ships are now higher than they were before COVID-19. 

And, with their benefit to the local economy up for debate, the millions of passengers they bring to Europe's cities each year are causing problems for the people that live there. 

• Guilt-free cruise ships? Norwegian cruise line unveils plan for first zero emission vessel by 2030
• Cruise passengers in Barcelona will no longer be able to stop in the city centre

Venice wants to keep cruise ships out of the city

In 2021, Venice barred large cruise ships from anchoring in its historic centre . 

Damage to the lagoon saw UNESCO threaten to put the city on its endangered list unless they were permanently banned.

They argue that the big ships cause pollution and erode the foundations of the city - which already suffers from regular flooding. The ban means that large cruise and container vessels can no longer enter Venice’s Giudecca canal.

There were attempts to stop the large ships before with previous legislation overturned. But pressure mounted when in 2019 a cruise liner crashed into a harbour in Venice, injuring five people .

And by the time of the 2021 ban, even cruise companies were on board. After it was announced, the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said it had “been supportive of a new approach for many years” calling it a “major step forward”.

The reality of barring large ships from Venice has turned out to be more complicated than it may have first seemed, however. Without a new hub outside of the city's lagoon for cruise lines to use, many are still docking there years after the ban was brought in.

Which European cities are banning cruise ships?

Pollution and overtourism aren't just a problem in Venice, however. 

The Balearic city of Palma de Mallorca looks set to reintroduce limits on cruise liners which were first imposed in 2022.

This will see only three ships allowed in port each day with only one permitted to have a capacity of more than 5,000 passengers.  

Politicians in Spain have also proposed stricter rules surrounding taxation and the use of polluting fuels by cruise ships. 

Barcelona - as it moves to tackle its own issues - closed its North terminal to cruises on 22 October last year. Around 340 ships a year will now have to dock at the Moll d'Adossat pier instead which is the furthest from the city's residential areas. 

Following the closure of another terminal located in the Maremagnum and the introduction of a one-ship per terminal rule,  just seven cruise ships can now dock in Barcelona at one time. 

These measures follow an agreement with local authorities to relocate cruise ships outside of Barcelona's city centre in an attempt to mitigate the impact of overtourism.

By 2026, the South terminal will also close and all cruises will operate from the Adossat wharf.

The Mediterranean is the second-largest market for cruises outside of the Caribbean and rising passenger numbers are putting increasing strain on local populations. 

In 2022, 50,000 people in Marseille -  France’s biggest cruise port  - signed a petition against cruise ships, according to campaign group Stop Croisières. 

Santorini and Dubrovnik have also tightened restrictions on cruise companies.

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Where else are cruises causing problems?

A crackdown is also taking place at popular ports outside of the Mediterranean. 

Cruise ships visiting Scotland will be charged a new tax under plans recently announced by the country's Green Party. It says the levy will tackle the "twin challenges" of emissions and overtourism. 

Lorna Slater, Scottish Green co-leader, also said that she hoped the cruise tax would encourage companies to use less polluting vessels, claiming one ship produces the same emissions as 12,000 cars. 

"Operators have been allowed to get away with polluting for too long," Slater added. 

In Amsterdam, the city council voted to shut down its cruise terminal in a bid to curb pollution and reduce tourist numbers. 

Moving the terminal outside of the centre looks like the most likely resolution. But the vote indicates the city's feelings about these large passenger ships.

Last year, local political leader Ilana Rooderkerk compared cruise passengers who descend on the city to a "plague of locusts".  

Amsterdam introduced a tax on cruise ship passengers in 2019 - a move that saw some companies replace or cancel stops in the city. More than 100 vessels dock in the Dutch capital every year and they have become symbolic of local overtourism issues.

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Do cruise ships bring in money where they dock?

One of the biggest arguments supporters make for keeping cruise ships is their contribution to the local economy.  

But do guests on these giant vessels actually spend money in the towns they dock at?

Several studies have shown that passengers disembarking from ships don’t contribute as much to the local economy as you might think. With all the food, drink and souvenirs they could ever want available on board, the money stays at sea.

It's unsurprising when you learn that the world’s biggest cruise ship, the Wonder of the Seas, has a staggering 20 restaurants, a 1,400-seat theatre and shops selling everything from fine watches to high fashion. Depending on which package you pick, food and drink are often included and purchases are tax and duty-free.

An even bigger ship, the 365-metre-long Icon of the Seas, launched earlier this year. 

A study from Bergen, Norway - a popular stop for fjord tours - found that up to 40 per cent of people never left the ship. For those who did go ashore, their average spend was less than €23.

More research from the Norwegian city in 2013 discovered that length of stay was probably one of the biggest factors in how much passengers spend.

The average port stay lasts around eight hours but this can vary massively depending on the itinerary of the ship. For some - like Barcelona - it can be as short as a four-hour stop.

And spending remains low even when passengers are given more opportunities to splash their cash.

The cruise industry argues that a passenger's average contribution to the local economy is much higher than the Bergen estimate at around $100 (€91) a day. 

One way to bridge the gap would be to raise the passenger tax levied at ports, which currently tends to be around €4 to €14 per person.

The cruise industry says it is making moves to improve both its environmental and social impact.

Cruise lines were among the first companies in the maritime sector to commit to cutting carbon emissions by 40 per cent by 2030, according to CLIA. Some have even signed up to pledges to reach net zero by 2050.

The electrification of ports so that ships can turn off their engines and limit toxic emissions could also help. It is something Barcelona is factoring into its plan to move cruise ships outside of the city by 2026 by allowing vessels to plug in at Adossat Wharf.

Whether these targets will be enough to appease fed-up locals in port towns, however, is yet to be seen.

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