As of 19 July 2026, the Lower Danube is at normal water levels for river cruising; navigation is open with no disruptions.
The stretch that usually decides — Belgrade (gauge at Belgrade / Zemun) — is currently normal.
updated 3 h ago
Belgrade — the Serbian Danube, watched for high water — is currently normal (watching the gauge at Belgrade / Zemun).
The Lower Danube — Romania & Bulgaria — the low-water reach around Svishtov and Ruse — currently has no live data (watching the gauges at Svishtov and Nikopol).
The Lower Danube — from Budapest through Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria toward the Black Sea — is a different river from the upper half: wider, emptier, and watched in a different way. Cruise traffic is thinner here, and the two things this page tracks are the Serbian reach around Novi Sad and Belgrade, watched for high water, and the long Romanian–Bulgarian border reach around Svishtov and Ruse, the river's chronic low-water zone.
Live gauge coverage on the lower river is genuinely patchier than upstream — some official checkpoints report without a navigability grading, and where that's the case this page says 'no data' plainly rather than guessing. 'No data' never means 'normal'.
The verdict here is deliberately coarse and honest: status and trend, never forecasts. On Lower Danube itineraries, your cruise line manages conditions season by season, and your cruise director will have the plan — this page is the background.
The verdict at the top of this page is the live coarse status for the Lower Danube, derived from the official checkpoints listed on each stretch line and refreshed every few minutes. Your cruise line and cruise director will have the plan for your specific sailing — this page is the background, not a forecast.
Live gauge coverage on the lower river is patchier than upstream — some official checkpoints report readings without a navigability grading. Where that's the case we say 'no data' plainly rather than guess; it never means 'normal'.
High water — the Serbian Danube around Novi Sad and Belgrade is tracked at the Belgrade/Zemun gauge, and navigation on the Serbian reach can be closed by the authorities when the river runs very high.
Belgrade
Belgrade / Zemun
182 cm · level above local gauge zero — not river depth · measured 3 h ago · RS
Novi Sad
-43 cm · level above local gauge zero — not river depth · measured 3 h ago · RS
The Lower Danube — Romania & Bulgaria
Svishtov
-14 cm · level above local gauge zero — not river depth · measured 11 h ago · BG
Nikopol
24 cm · level above local gauge zero — not river depth · measured 11 h ago · BG
Somovit, km 609.000 - 607.000
176 cm · shallowest surveyed fairway depth · measured just now · BG
Palets island, km 586.000 - 584.000
196 cm · shallowest surveyed fairway depth · measured just now · BG
G. Byrzina island, km 576.000 - 573.000
186 cm · shallowest surveyed fairway depth · measured just now · BG
Belene island, km 565.000 - 563.000
176 cm · shallowest surveyed fairway depth · measured just now · BG
Vardim island, km 547.000 - 544.000
166 cm · shallowest surveyed fairway depth · measured just now · BG
Vardim island, km 545.000 - 542.000
206 cm · shallowest surveyed fairway depth · measured just now · BG
Yantra river, km 538.000 - 535.000
236 cm · shallowest surveyed fairway depth · measured just now · BG
km 530.000 - 527.000
256 cm · shallowest surveyed fairway depth · measured just now · BG
Dunav Most, km 489.000 - 486.000
-61 cm · shallowest surveyed fairway depth · measured just now · BG