WaterloggedRiver Cruise Watch

The river's logbook for cruise travellers

Back to my day-by-day

Your route

Budapest → Basel · A Viking Longship

Viking River Cruises · Rhine, Main & Danube Odyssey · 11 October28 October 2026

Latest readings: Monday 7 September 2026.

The ports of Budapest → Basel, in the order this sailing calls at them This route map shows the water status at each port on Budapest → Basel. 1 far below our reference line, 2 below it, 0 above it, 2 on lock-controlled reaches, 9 with no line to compare, 0 on stretches we watch no gauge on and 1 with no river transit recorded. Every city also appears in a text list below the map. BudapestDay 1–2 · managed ViennaDay 3–4 KremsDay 5 · managed PassauDay 6 RegensburgDay 7 NurembergDay 8 · managed BambergDay 10 WürzburgDay 11 MarktheidenfeldDay 12 FrankfurtDay 13 BreisachDay 16 · managed BaselDay 17–18 · managed On this map Severely low Water level managed Low Not measured here

Tap a city for its water, or Tab then Enter. Straight lines join cities on different rivers.

Budapest

Day 1–2 · Sun 11 – Mon 12 October · Hungary

Lock-controlled

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)

Read the full guide for this port →

Vienna

Day 3–4 · Tue 13 – Wed 14 October · Austria

Far below the line

The measured level is under half of Waterlogged's reference line for a ship of this class.

51 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 now9 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 13 October176 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 9. 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)

Read the full guide for this port →

YOUR CRUISETODAY2500WLSNWLSN1 Aug1 Sep1 Oct1 Nov1 Dec

WLSN — Water level a ship of this class needs (60 cm)

EuRIS official water-level prediction for Budapest, from originator Országos Vízügyi Főigazgatóság (OVF) · Waterlogged retrieved this prediction: 8 Sep 2026, 00:16 CEST · API/Service Hydrometeo v3 incorporated from EuRIS (eurisportal.eu) · Országos Vízügyi Főigazgatóság (OVF) / General Directorate of Water Management

Krems

Day 5 · Thursday 15 October · Austria

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

115 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now115 cm
Normal for 15 October229 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. You also know that locks keep this stretch full anyway.

Open the official Kienstock page (English) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

YOUR CRUISETODAY30001 Aug1 Sep1 Oct1 Nov1 Dec

EuRIS official water-level prediction for Kienstock, from originator viadonau · Waterlogged retrieved this prediction: 8 Sep 2026, 00:16 CEST · API/Service Hydrometeo v3 incorporated from EuRIS (eurisportal.eu) · Quelle: viadonau

Passau

Day 6 · Friday 16 October · Germany

Below the line

The measured level is below the published low-water reference for this stretch.

77 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 now213 cm
Published An authority's published low-level mark for a stretch. It is not a requirement for your ship. for this stretch290 cm
Normal for 16 October305 cm

On the record: For 2015–2025, we checked the eleven days around this date. Pfelling’s lowest daily average was 234 cm, in 2018. Today’s reading is 213. 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 39 days away — beyond the daily forecast

What to check on the official page: Nothing published today can tell you the level on 16 October. Germany's federal hydrology institute. It publishes the official water-level forecasts and outlooks.'s daily forecast only reaches fourteen days ahead. Your call here is 39 days away. We have picked the product that does reach it, so you do not have to.

That product is BfG's six-week outlook. It is not a daily prediction. It shows likely ranges for each week. Each range is where that week's level is expected to fall, with the odds attached. The ranges come from many past-weather what-if runs, not from a single-line prediction.

The button below opens Pfelling's own sheet directly. Find the week beginning 12 October. Then read which band it sits in against the 290 cm line on this page.

From 2 October, this port will be fourteen days away. The daily forecast will then reach your date, and this block will switch itself over to it.

Open the six-week outlook for Pfelling (PDF, German) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

YOUR CRUISETODAY3500WLSNWLSN1 Aug1 Sep1 Oct1 Nov1 Dec

WLSN — Water level a ship of this class needs (290 cm)

BfG’s own 6-week outlook: one block for each whole published week · the tops of 4 weeks' ranges run past the top of this frame · BfG issued this forecast: 2026-09-03 · Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde (BfG)

Regensburg

Day 7 · Saturday 17 October · Germany

Below the line

The measured level is below the published low-water reference for this stretch.

77 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 now213 cm
Published An authority's published low-level mark for a stretch. It is not a requirement for your ship. for this stretch290 cm
Normal for 17 October305 cm

On the record: For 2015–2025, we checked the eleven days around this date. Pfelling’s lowest daily average was 234 cm, in 2018. Today’s reading is 213. 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 40 days away — beyond the daily forecast

What to check on the official page: Nothing published today can tell you the level on 17 October. Germany's federal hydrology institute. It publishes the official water-level forecasts and outlooks.'s daily forecast only reaches fourteen days ahead. Your call here is 40 days away. We have picked the product that does reach it, so you do not have to.

That product is BfG's six-week outlook. It is not a daily prediction. It shows likely ranges for each week. Each range is where that week's level is expected to fall, with the odds attached. The ranges come from many past-weather what-if runs, not from a single-line prediction.

The button below opens Pfelling's own sheet directly. Find the week beginning 12 October. Then read which band it sits in against the 290 cm line on this page.

From 3 October, this port will be fourteen days away. The daily forecast will then reach your date, and this block will switch itself over to it.

Open the six-week outlook for Pfelling (PDF, German) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

YOUR CRUISETODAY3500WLSNWLSN1 Aug1 Sep1 Oct1 Nov1 Dec

WLSN — Water level a ship of this class needs (290 cm)

BfG’s own 6-week outlook: one block for each whole published week · the tops of 4 weeks' ranges run past the top of this frame · BfG issued this forecast: 2026-09-03 · Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde (BfG)

Regensburg; Nuremberg

Day 8 · Sunday 18 October · Germany

Lock-controlled

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)

Read the full guide for this port →

Nuremberg

Day 9 · Monday 19 October · Germany

In port

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.

Bamberg

Day 10 · Tuesday 20 October · Germany

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

139 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now139 cm

Water levels are measured at the Würzburg gauge – German federal waterways gauge service (PEGELONLINE).

Würzburg

Day 11 · Wednesday 21 October · Germany

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

139 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now139 cm

Water levels are measured at the Würzburg gauge – German federal waterways gauge service (PEGELONLINE).

Marktheidenfeld

Day 12 · Thursday 22 October · Germany

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

139 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now139 cm

Water levels are measured at the Würzburg gauge – German federal waterways gauge service (PEGELONLINE).

Frankfurt

Day 13 · Friday 23 October · Germany

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

139 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now139 cm

Water levels are measured at the Würzburg gauge – German federal waterways gauge service (PEGELONLINE).

Baden-Baden

Day 14 · Saturday 24 October · Germany

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

320 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now320 cm

Water levels are measured at the Maxau gauge – German federal waterways gauge service (PEGELONLINE).

Your call here is 47 days away — beyond the daily forecast

What to check on the official page: Nothing published today can tell you the level on 24 October. Germany's federal hydrology institute. It publishes the official water-level forecasts and outlooks.'s daily forecast only reaches fourteen days ahead. Your call here is 47 days away. We have picked the product that does reach it, so you do not have to.

That product is BfG's six-week outlook. It is not a daily prediction. It shows likely ranges for each week. Each range is where that week's level is expected to fall, with the odds attached. The ranges come from many past-weather what-if runs, not from a single-line prediction.

The button below opens Maxau's own sheet directly. Find the week beginning 19 October.

From 10 October, this port will be fourteen days away. The daily forecast will then reach your date, and this block will switch itself over to it.

Open the six-week outlook for Maxau (PDF, German) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

Strasbourg

Day 15 · Sunday 25 October · France

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

320 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now320 cm

Water levels are measured at the Maxau gauge – German federal waterways gauge service (PEGELONLINE).

Your call here is 48 days away — beyond the daily forecast

What to check on the official page: Nothing published today can tell you the level on 25 October. Germany's federal hydrology institute. It publishes the official water-level forecasts and outlooks.'s daily forecast only reaches fourteen days ahead. Your call here is 48 days away. We have picked the product that does reach it, so you do not have to.

That product is BfG's six-week outlook. It is not a daily prediction. It shows likely ranges for each week. Each range is where that week's level is expected to fall, with the odds attached. The ranges come from many past-weather what-if runs, not from a single-line prediction.

The button below opens Maxau's own sheet directly. Find the week beginning 19 October.

From 11 October, this port will be fourteen days away. The daily forecast will then reach your date, and this block will switch itself over to it.

Open the six-week outlook for Maxau (PDF, German) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

Breisach

Day 16 · Monday 26 October · Germany

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

320 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now320 cm

Water levels are measured at the Maxau gauge – German federal waterways gauge service (PEGELONLINE).

Your call here is 49 days away — beyond the daily forecast

What to check on the official page: Nothing published today can tell you the level on 26 October. Germany's federal hydrology institute. It publishes the official water-level forecasts and outlooks.'s daily forecast only reaches fourteen days ahead. Your call here is 49 days away. We have picked the product that does reach it, so you do not have to.

That product is BfG's six-week outlook. It is not a daily prediction. It shows likely ranges for each week. Each range is where that week's level is expected to fall, with the odds attached. The ranges come from many past-weather what-if runs, not from a single-line prediction.

The button below opens Maxau's own sheet directly. Find the week beginning 26 October.

From 12 October, this port will be fourteen days away. The daily forecast will then reach your date, and this block will switch itself over to it.

Open the six-week outlook for Maxau (PDF, German) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

Basel

Day 17–18 · Tue 27 – Wed 28 October · Switzerland

No line published

This is a real reading. There is nothing published to measure it against.

320 cm measured

Nothing is published for this stretch to measure the reading against.

Water level now320 cm

Water levels are measured at the Maxau gauge – German federal waterways gauge service (PEGELONLINE).

Your call here is 50 days away — beyond the daily forecast

What to check on the official page: Nothing published today can tell you the level on 27 October. Germany's federal hydrology institute. It publishes the official water-level forecasts and outlooks.'s daily forecast only reaches fourteen days ahead. Your call here is 50 days away. We have picked the product that does reach it, so you do not have to.

That product is BfG's six-week outlook. It is not a daily prediction. It shows likely ranges for each week. Each range is where that week's level is expected to fall, with the odds attached. The ranges come from many past-weather what-if runs, not from a single-line prediction.

The button below opens Maxau's own sheet directly. Find the week beginning 26 October.

From 13 October, this port will be fourteen days away. The daily forecast will then reach your date, and this block will switch itself over to it.

Open the six-week outlook for Maxau (PDF, German) (opens in a new tab)

Read the full guide for this port →

What the statuses mean — each one is measured against the level we estimate a ship of this class needs

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.