The Rhine and Danube remain extraordinarily low, but Europe’s water-level story is more complicated than two rivers. The notoriously shallow Elbe and even France’s managed canals illustrate why the type of waterway—and the ship sailing it—can matter as much as the number on a river gauge.
Last week, we looked at exceptionally low water on the Rhine and Danube and what cruise lines were doing to keep their itineraries operating.
A week later, conditions remain difficult. But after following the rivers—and hearing from travelers considering cruises elsewhere in Europe—we think there is a larger point worth making:
There is no single thing called a European “water-level problem.”
The Rhine behaves differently from the Danube. The Elbe presents an entirely different challenge. And France’s canals, despite being controlled by locks and reservoirs, aren’t immune to drought at all.
Understanding those differences may be more useful to travelers than watching any single river gauge.
The Rhine: Kaub Is Exceptionally Low
The number attracting the most attention continues to be Kaub, in Germany’s Middle Rhine Gorge.
Germany’s ELWIS waterway system recorded a Kaub gauge reading of just 6 centimeters early on August 17. For comparison, the lowest known reading listed in the government’s reference data is 25 cm, recorded in October 2018.
That sounds almost impossible, so an important clarification is necessary:
A 6 cm gauge reading does not mean there are six centimeters of water in the Rhine.
River gauges measure water height relative to a fixed reference point. They are used, along with other information, to determine how much navigable depth is available to a vessel.
At Kaub, Germany currently lists a GlW, or equivalent water level, of 77 cm, with 190 cm of channel depth referenced below that level.
Reuters reported on August 11 that navigable depth at Kaub had fallen to about 15 cm and that the river itself was roughly another meter deeper. Most commercial freight traffic through the section had stopped, although there is no official water-level cutoff at which all navigation automatically ceases.
That distinction matters for river cruisers. A heavily loaded cargo vessel and a passenger ship do not have the same draft or operating requirements.
Still, Kaub is unquestionably in an extreme low-water situation.
There is a little encouraging news. Germany’s August 17 forecast calls for Kaub to rise over the next several days, potentially reaching the 20- to 30-cm range later in the week.
That would be an improvement, but hardly a return to normal.
The Danube: Pfelling Has Fallen Below Its Previous Benchmark
The most difficult section of the upper Danube remains around Pfelling, between Regensburg and Passau.
Germany’s ELWIS system lists 221 cm, recorded August 17, 2022, as the lowest known water level at Pfelling. This morning, August 17, 2026, the gauge was approximately 194 cm.
The regulated low-water reference there is 290 cm.
Again, those numbers are gauge readings rather than measurements of the actual water beneath a cruise ship.
The practical significance is that the Regensburg-Passau stretch has become increasingly difficult for navigation.
There is some potential short-term relief here as well. The federal forecast has Pfelling rising above 200 cm and potentially toward 220 cm over the next couple of days.
That is welcome, but not enough for us to declare the low-water episode over.
Farther downstream, the Danube remains exceptionally low through parts of Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania. The drought has become severe enough to affect commercial shipping and even electricity production in the region.
Yet river cruise ships have not universally stopped operating.
That brings us to perhaps the most important distinction for travelers.
A Low River Doesn’t Necessarily Mean A Cancelled Cruise
The industry’s primary response continues to be adaptation rather than wholesale cancellation.
Viking says selected Rhine and Danube itineraries may be modified. Its principal advantage is the size of its European fleet. Viking can position identical sister ships on opposite sides of a difficult stretch and transfer guests from one to the other—a practice known as a ship swap.
AmaWaterways similarly says selected sailings have required changes that can include different ports, embarkation or disembarkation locations, motorcoach transfers and ship scheduling.
Avalon Waterways has gone further on some departures, cancelling three July Danube Dreams sailings because of low water.
Uniworld has been making operational changes as well, including ship substitutions and altered embarkation arrangements on affected Danube and Rhine itineraries.
Riviera has cancelled some sailings and modified others during the current low-water period.
The important takeaway is that different cruise companies—and sometimes different ships within the same company—can respond differently to exactly the same river conditions.
Fleet size matters. Ship draft matters. Having an identical vessel waiting beyond a shallow section matters. So does an operator’s willingness to substitute buses, hotels or alternate ports.
That is why asking simply, “Is the Rhine too low to cruise?” isn’t really the right question.
A better one is:
“What is my cruise line doing with my particular sailing?”
Then There’s The Elbe
If the Rhine and Danube are experiencing an unusually difficult summer, the Elbe presents a different kind of low-water problem.
The Elbe is notoriously shallow.
Unlike heavily regulated waterways, long stretches of the Elbe are relatively free-flowing. There are fewer locks and dams available to control water levels, and navigation can be highly dependent on rainfall and natural river conditions.
This isn’t a new problem created by the summer of 2026. It is part of cruising the Elbe.
Cruise companies have responded with some fascinating ship engineering.
Viking’s Beyla and Astrild, for example, were purpose-built for shallow-water operation on the Elbe. Their shipbuilder, NEPTUN WERFT, says the vessels draw only 1.15 meters, considerably less than Viking’s conventional Longships.
CroisiEurope took an even more unusual approach with Elbe Princesse. Instead of conventional propulsion extending beneath the hull, the vessel uses paddle-wheel technology that allows it to operate with an extremely shallow draft.
We wrote about the design when Elbe Princesse debuted, noting that less than three feet of the hull sits below the waterline.
Ingenious engineering helps.
It does not make the river immune to nature.
CroisiEurope currently warns passengers booking its Prague-Dresden Elbe itineraries that the Elbe is a “wild river” and that changing water levels can require hotel nights around Berlin and/or Prague while the excursion program continues.
That’s unusually candid language—and useful information for anyone considering an Elbe cruise.
Our advice would not necessarily be don’t cruise the Elbe.
It would be:
Cruise the Elbe knowing that water-level disruption is an inherent part of the risk profile of this particular river, and pay attention to which ship you are booking.
What About France’s Canals?
Here’s another misconception worth correcting:
A canal isn’t automatically protected from low water just because humans control it.
France’s canal system is managed through locks, reservoirs, feeder rivers and other infrastructure. During drought, however, there may simply not be enough water available to maintain navigable depths and operate all those locks.
And that is happening this summer.
On August 14, Voies navigables de France (VNF) reported that successive heat waves had significantly affected its water resources.
The Canal de Bourgogne and Canal latéral à la Loire are closed to navigation. Part of the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne is also closed.
VNF says conditions no longer allow it to maintain minimum safe navigation on those affected north-south routes.
Elsewhere, the response can be less drastic. Authorities can reduce the permitted draft, restrict operating hours or conserve water by changing lock operations before closing a waterway entirely.
This is particularly relevant to hotel barge cruising, where some of France’s most appealing itineraries operate on canals rather than rivers.
And The Canal De La Marne Au Rhin?
We have a personal interest in this one.
Our October 8 hosted hotel-barge cruise travels from Strasbourg to Lagarde on the Canal de la Marne au Rhin.
The important detail is that the canal has eastern and western branches.
VNF has reported water-resource restrictions and a navigation stoppage on part of the western branch. That should not automatically be interpreted as a closure of the Strasbourg-Lagarde route on the eastern side.
As of this writing, we have seen no indication that our Strasbourg-Lagarde itinerary cannot operate.
We will, of course, continue monitoring it as October approaches.
The situation illustrates another reason travelers should be careful with headlines about “the Rhine,” “the Danube” or “French canals.”
A problem on one section does not necessarily apply to the entire waterway.
The Ship Matters Almost As Much As The River
One of the lessons of low-water years is that river ships are not interchangeable.
A vessel’s draft—how deeply it sits in the water—can determine whether it gets through a shallow section.
So can propulsion design.
So can passenger load, fuel, water and other weight aboard the vessel.
And an operator with dozens of nearly identical ships positioned across Europe has options that a company operating one vessel on a particular itinerary may not have.
This helps explain why one cruise can proceed while another sailing on ostensibly the same river is modified or cancelled.
It is also why freight reports can sometimes make conditions sound even worse than they are for passenger vessels. A Rhine cargo ship carrying only 20 percent of its normal load is an important indication of extreme low water, but it does not automatically tell us whether a particular passenger ship can navigate the same stretch.
Cancellations Are Happening—But They Are Not The Whole Story
We don’t want to minimize what’s happening this summer.
There have been cruise cancellations. There have been ship swaps. There have been changed embarkation points, missed ports, motorcoach transfers and hotel stays.
Some passengers are receiving a substantially different itinerary from the one they booked.
But the other side of the story is equally important:
Most European river cruises have not simply stopped.
Operators are using the tools available to them to keep cruises moving—or at least keep the travel experience operating when the ship itself cannot.
Whether that is an acceptable substitute is ultimately something each traveler has to decide.
For some people, spending several hours on a motorcoach instead of sailing through the countryside would fundamentally change the experience.
Others would rather see the destinations by bus than lose the trip entirely.
Knowing how a cruise company historically handles disruptions should therefore be part of choosing a river cruise line—not something travelers discover only after the water gets low.
What We’re Watching Next
For the Rhine, we’re watching whether the forecast rise at Kaub actually materializes and, more importantly, whether it persists.
For the Danube, Pfelling remains our primary gauge for the difficult Regensburg-Passau section.
We’re also watching the Elbe, where low water deserves attention even in less extraordinary summers, and France’s canal network, where drought has demonstrated that managed waterways have their own vulnerabilities.
And on Tuesday, August 18, Viking Holdings reports earnings.
We will be listening closely for any comments about how this summer’s water levels have affected operations, guests or costs—and whether management sees any effect on what Viking previously described as a strong booked position for 2027.
We won’t speculate before hearing what the company says.
The Bottom Line For Travelers
Water levels are a legitimate concern in Europe this summer.
But “Europe’s rivers are too low to cruise” would be the wrong conclusion.
The better way to think about the situation is river by river, section by section, ship by ship and cruise line by cruise line.
The Rhine and Danube are experiencing exceptional low water. The Elbe has always demanded shallow-draft ships and flexibility. France’s canals can suffer from drought despite being managed waterways.
And cruise companies differ considerably in their ability—and willingness—to work around those problems.
Our view remains the same: we would not let concern about water levels prevent us from taking a European river cruise. We would choose the cruise line carefully, understand how it handles disruptions, consider appropriate travel insurance—and go.
Water levels can change rapidly. Figures in this article reflect conditions and official forecasts available on August 17, 2026.
Sources
Germany’s ELWIS/WSV water-level and forecast system; Voies navigables de France (VNF); Viking current-sailing updates; AmaWaterways travel advisories; Avalon Waterways travel updates; CroisiEurope Elbe sailing information; NEPTUN WERFT ship specifications; Reuters reporting on Rhine navigation.
