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Nuremberg
Day 1 · Monday 12 October · Germany
The ship is in port on this day. Our record holds no river transit for it, so there is no stretch of river to read.
In port
The ship is in port on this day, and our record holds no river transit for it, so there is no stretch of river to read.
The ship is in port on this day. Our record holds no river transit for it, so there is no stretch of river being read here.
Regensburg
Day 2 · Tuesday 13 October · Germany
Locks hold this water at a working level, so low water is far less likely to affect this stretch. Other things still can.
Held by locks
Locks hold this level, so low water rarely stops a ship here. High water, maintenance, a closure, a restriction or the cruise line's own decision still can.
Low water does not close this stretch of river; a lock failure or a flood would. High water, maintenance, a closure or a restriction on the locks can still affect a day here, and so can the cruise line's own decision.
What to check on the official page: No water-level product applies to this day. This water is held at a working level by locks, so there is no gauge reading that would change your day.
What can affect a day like this is a lock outage or maintenance closure. That is announced through ELWIS, the official notices-to-skippers channel — in the authority's own words, before anyone else repeats them.
For this day, check the official notices rather than the levels.
Open the official page (opens in a new tab)Passau
Day 3 · Wednesday 14 October · Germany
The measured level is below the published low-water reference for this stretch.
86 cm below the published low-water reference
That is how far today's measured level sits below the published low-water reference for this stretch — the waterway authority’s own figure, not ours and not the cruise line's.
| Water level now | 204 cm |
|---|---|
| Published An authority's published low-level mark for a stretch. It is not a requirement for your ship. for this stretch | 290 cm |
| Normal for 14 October | 305 cm |
On the record: For 2015–2025, we checked the eleven days around this date. Pfelling’s lowest daily average was 243 cm, in 2018. Today’s reading is 204. That is below every one of the 121 readings in that window.
Water levels are measured at the Pfelling gauge – German federal waterways gauge service (PEGELONLINE).
Your call here is 7 days away — the daily forecast now reaches it
What to check on the official page: Your call here is now inside the daily forecast's fourteen-day horizon. So this block has switched itself from the six-week bands to the daily product.
The button below opens Pfelling's own forecast page directly. Read across to 14 October. Remember the number 290 cm.
BfG publishes a range, not a single line — that spread is their own honest uncertainty. Read the whole of it.
Open the 14-day forecast for Pfelling (German) (opens in a new tab)WLSN — Water level the ship needs (290 cm)
BfG’s own 6-week outlook: one block for each whole published week · BfG issued this forecast: 2026-10-01 · Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde (BfG)
Linz
Day 4 · Thursday 15 October · Austria
Locks hold this water at a working level, so low water is far less likely to affect this stretch. Other things still can.
Held by locks
Locks hold this level, so low water rarely stops a ship here. High water, maintenance, a closure, a restriction or the cruise line's own decision still can.
Low water does not close this stretch of river; a lock failure or a flood would. High water, maintenance, a closure or a restriction on the locks can still affect a day here, and so can the cruise line's own decision.
What to check on the official page: You can check DoRIS yourself. It has the Austrian Danube gauges and the current notices to skippers. Nothing on this part of the river turns on a low-water number.
Open the official page (opens in a new tab)Melk
Day 5 · Friday 16 October · Austria
This is a real reading. The authority’s own low-water reference is shown beside it; no line a ship needs is published here.
102 cm measured
viadonau’s published low-water reference (RNW 2020): 161 cm. That is the authority’s own figure, and no line a ship needs is published for this stretch, so we do not measure the reading against it.
| Water level now | 102 cm |
|---|---|
| viadonau’s published low-water reference (RNW 2020) | 161 cm |
| Normal for 16 October | 229 cm |
Water levels are measured at the Kienstock gauge – Observation from Austria's government-owned waterway company for the Danube., provided through The European River Information Services portal. It republishes official river data from member countries..
What to check on the official page: No German federal product covers the Austrian Danube. Austria's own navigation service publishes a Kienstock page in English. Its graph also shows a forward series.
On that graph the measured line is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the measured water level.. The forward one is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the forward-looking values.. The forward values run several days ahead. Austria notes that Kienstock forecasts are meant for low-water situations.
Then stop looking for a target level, because there is not one. Austria publishes a An Austrian low-water reference level. It gives no depth a ship can use. figure for Kienstock but no A depth an authority aims to keep available for ships along a stretch. figure to pair with it. A level without a depth cannot be turned into a target for your ship, and we will not invent one.
What you can read is the direction of change. The Wachau runs free between the Melk and Altenwörth barrages, so the river’s own flow sets the level here, not a lock.
Open the official Kienstock page (English) (opens in a new tab)EuRIS official water-level prediction for Kienstock, from originator viadonau · Waterlogged retrieved this prediction: 5 Oct 2026, 06:16 CEST · API/Service Hydrometeo v3 incorporated from EuRIS (eurisportal.eu) · Quelle: viadonau
Vienna
Day 6 · Saturday 17 October · Austria
This is a real reading. The authority’s own low-water reference is shown beside it; no line a ship needs is published here.
102 cm measured
viadonau’s published low-water reference (RNW 2020): 161 cm. That is the authority’s own figure, and no line a ship needs is published for this stretch, so we do not measure the reading against it.
| Water level now | 102 cm |
|---|---|
| viadonau’s published low-water reference (RNW 2020) | 161 cm |
| Normal for 17 October | 229 cm |
Water levels are measured at the Kienstock gauge – Observation from Austria's government-owned waterway company for the Danube., provided through The European River Information Services portal. It republishes official river data from member countries..
What to check on the official page: No German federal product covers the Austrian Danube. Austria's own navigation service publishes a Kienstock page in English. Its graph also shows a forward series.
On that graph the measured line is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the measured water level.. The forward one is labelled The German word on the Austrian graph for the forward-looking values.. The forward values run several days ahead. Austria notes that Kienstock forecasts are meant for low-water situations.
Then stop looking for a target level, because there is not one. Austria publishes a An Austrian low-water reference level. It gives no depth a ship can use. figure for Kienstock but no A depth an authority aims to keep available for ships along a stretch. figure to pair with it. A level without a depth cannot be turned into a target for your ship, and we will not invent one.
What you can read is the direction of change. The Wachau runs free between the Melk and Altenwörth barrages, so the river’s own flow sets the level here, not a lock.
Open the official Kienstock page (English) (opens in a new tab)EuRIS official water-level prediction for Kienstock, from originator viadonau · Waterlogged retrieved this prediction: 5 Oct 2026, 06:16 CEST · API/Service Hydrometeo v3 incorporated from EuRIS (eurisportal.eu) · Quelle: viadonau
Bratislava
Day 7 · Sunday 18 October · Slovakia
The measured level is under half of Waterlogged's reference line for this ship.
58 cm below Waterlogged’s estimated level
That is how far today's measured level sits below Waterlogged’s estimated level for this stretch — read from the years of record, not a figure from the cruise line.
| Water level now | 2 cm |
|---|---|
| Waterlogged’s Waterlogged's estimated level for this stretch, set from the measured record rather than from any ship's draught. In 35 years of readings, every day of the cruise season below it fell inside a disruption somebody documented at the time. It is a gauge level, not a depth under a ship, and no authority or cruise line publishes it. | 60 cm |
| Normal for 18 October | 172 cm |
On the record: For 1991–2025, we checked the eleven days around this date. Budapest’s lowest daily average was 42 cm, in 2018. Today’s reading is 2. That is below every one of the 385 readings in that window.
Water levels are measured at the Budapest gauge – Observation from Hungary's national water authority. Its forecasting service publishes the Budapest table. / General Directorate of Water Management, provided through The European River Information Services portal. It republishes official river data from member countries..
What to check on the official page: The button below opens the official water-level forecast for this stretch — a simple table, about six days ahead. It shows the level in centimetres at the Budapest gauge, the same way this page shows it, so the numbers line up directly.
Don't be surprised by a negative number: the gauge's zero point sits above the riverbed, so readings below zero are real measurements, not errors.
As you read the forecast, compare each day's number with the Waterlogged's estimated level for this stretch, set from the measured record rather than from any ship's draught. In 35 years of readings, every day of the cruise season below it fell inside a disruption somebody documented at the time. It is a gauge level, not a depth under a ship, and no authority or cruise line publishes it. line — our estimated level for this stretch, set from 35 years of records: every cruise-season day below it fell within a documented disruption. That estimate is ours alone: no cruise line or authority publishes an official figure here.
Open the official Budapest forecast (English) (opens in a new tab)WLSN — Water level the ship needs (60 cm)
Budapest
Day 8 · Monday 19 October · Hungary
The measured level is under half of Waterlogged's reference line for this ship.
58 cm below Waterlogged’s estimated level
That is how far today's measured level sits below Waterlogged’s estimated level for this stretch — read from the years of record, not a figure from the cruise line.
| Water level now | 2 cm |
|---|---|
| Waterlogged’s Waterlogged's estimated level for this stretch, set from the measured record rather than from any ship's draught. In 35 years of readings, every day of the cruise season below it fell inside a disruption somebody documented at the time. It is a gauge level, not a depth under a ship, and no authority or cruise line publishes it. | 60 cm |
| Normal for 19 October | 171 cm |
On the record: For 1991–2025, we checked the eleven days around this date. Budapest’s lowest daily average was 42 cm, in 2018. Today’s reading is 2. That is below every one of the 385 readings in that window.
Water levels are measured at the Budapest gauge – Observation from Hungary's national water authority. Its forecasting service publishes the Budapest table. / General Directorate of Water Management, provided through The European River Information Services portal. It republishes official river data from member countries..
What to check on the official page: The button below opens the official water-level forecast for this stretch — a simple table, about six days ahead. It shows the level in centimetres at the Budapest gauge, the same way this page shows it, so the numbers line up directly.
Don't be surprised by a negative number: the gauge's zero point sits above the riverbed, so readings below zero are real measurements, not errors.
As you read the forecast, compare each day's number with the Waterlogged's estimated level for this stretch, set from the measured record rather than from any ship's draught. In 35 years of readings, every day of the cruise season below it fell inside a disruption somebody documented at the time. It is a gauge level, not a depth under a ship, and no authority or cruise line publishes it. line — our estimated level for this stretch, set from 35 years of records: every cruise-season day below it fell within a documented disruption. That estimate is ours alone: no cruise line or authority publishes an official figure here.
Open the official Budapest forecast (English) (opens in a new tab)WLSN — Water level the ship needs (60 cm)
What the statuses mean — each one is measured against the level we estimate this ship needs
- Far below the lineThe measured level is under half of Waterlogged's reference line for this ship.
- Below the lineThe measured level is below Waterlogged's reference line for this ship.
- Above the lineThe measured level is at or above Waterlogged's reference line for this ship.
- Lock-controlledLocks hold this water at a working level, so low water is far less likely to affect this stretch. Other things still can.
- No line publishedThis is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.
- No reading yetWe watch a gauge on this stretch. No current reading is on file for it.
- No gauge on this stretchWe watch no gauge on this stretch of river. There is no reading for this day and no line to measure one against.
- In portThe ship is in port on this day. Our record holds no river transit for it, so there is no stretch of river to read.
- Not sailingThe ship does not sail on this day. Your itinerary spends it on land, so no river level applies to it.
The small white boards mark A riverside station that measures the water level in centimetres against a fixed zero point. stations — the places where a reading is physically taken. Each is drawn at its own town's coordinate, which can sit close to the port it serves. Each stretch is coloured by the worst port on it. A gauge level is not the depth of the The navigable channel where ships are meant to pass., not the room under your ship's keel, and not your ship's How deep a ship sits in the water. That depth sets how much water it needs underneath..
Every port, in the order you reach it
This list repeats the map information. It is there for phones, for screen readers and for printing.
Cities are drawn at their true latitude and longitude. The river line is a simplified course, not a navigation chart. Course geometry: Natural Earth (public domain) and © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0.
Do not see your sailing? We do not report cancelled sailings. Tell us which sailing we are missing and we will add it. You can also email info@rivercruisewatch.com with the cruise line, the ship and the dates.