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Best month to cruise the Danube


Pawnshop59

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Hello, this is our first river cruise and we would like to book the Uniworld River Beatrice travelling from Budapest to Passau. We've read that June is a rainy month and May is a bit cold. What is the best month to travel May, June or July? We're leaning towards July.

 

Thank you

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The weather was great while we were there at the end of May - beginning of June. Of course we might have just been lucky. I would certainly prefer to do this type of cruise before it got to hot, since there is a lot of walking involved when exploring the lovely cities.

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Our last two cruises in Europe were in late July/early August. In both cases the weather was very hot. Had temps in the 90s F in Italy and Spain and more recently record highs even in Oslo. Really zapped our energy.

 

Somewhere I read the suggestion that June and September were nice months for the Danube and we booked a September date. I know that weather and water levels are hard to predict but we prefer cooler over warmer days.

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We did the Danube - up the river - from Budapest to Nuremburg on the river from 9/25 - 10/4. Fabulous weather - loved sitting up on the sundeck while we were cruising through the Wachau Valley. Wouldn't want to do that when the sun was beating down and 90F or so! We had jackets on and it was perfect. At the warmest (Budapest 9/25) it was almost 80F. The lowest was when we were docked in Regensburg - probably mid50s (F).

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My wife and I cruised from Amsterdam to Budapest this past summer. The tour ran from June 29th through July 10th. The weather on average was in the low 80's, very comfotable.

 

While on the cruise our captain told us that if they have a rainy spring time the water levels in the rivers become so high, the boats can not pass under some of the lower bridges. When this happens, they sometimes have to use buses for a portion of the tour.

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you're on the bus and the boat can't go under the bridge... how do you meet up with your luggage again?

 

You switch from one ship to the other there is always one going in the opposite direction. Amsterdam to Budapest, Budapest to Amsterdam. They have you pack up bus you to the other ship and it turns around and continues. This is what I have read. :)

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The "boat switch" might work if you're both 7 days into your cruise but what if you're 4 days from Amsterdam and the "other" boat is 4 days out from Budapest? Do you remember where you might have read the "switch your boat" theory? Also, the boats better be identical else you've got an administrative nightmare!!!

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You switch from one ship to the other there is always one going in the opposite direction. Amsterdam to Budapest, Budapest to Amsterdam. They have you pack up bus you to the other ship and it turns around and continues. This is what I have read. :)

Not necessarily, this is only one option open to cruise companies. The other being to use the stationery boat as a hotle and do daily bus excursions or bus the passengers along the cruise route but staying in hotels.

 

Ron

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Here is what I post. Nothing is for sure. But it does make sense. OK? I responded based on my 14 day Viking Cruise. Oh my the upsets of a River Cruise Vacation. I'll take them any time.

 

Sailaway5,

 

It depends on the cruise company. Some do have two ships running opposite. So you can simply change the ship. There might be a bus part between Passau and Nuremberg but that´s not too bad. It also depends on how the conditions on the other rivers you´re travelling are. The is no master plan on what to do. It depends on the current situation.

 

mlkitt3,

By the end of July you should be fine on your trip. There is a part of the Danube river which tends to be difficult in low water. As for the Rhine river it must be a really bad drought to affect navigation (might be that some landing spots are not accessible anymore when there´s too less water).

 

To sum it up: Don´t worry in advance! River conditions are always a little risk for each trip. I had cruise which went perfectly well, I had cruise which were shortened either by low or high water. All of the cruises were a great experience and we had a blast.

 

steamboats

 

The "boat switch" might work if you're both 7 days into your cruise but what if you're 4 days from Amsterdam and the "other" boat is 4 days out from Budapest? Do you remember where you might have read the "switch your boat" theory? Also, the boats better be identical else you've got an administrative nightmare!!!
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