We’re considering a Danube River cruise – Budapest to Passau – in early February. The prices are reasonable, probably because no one in their right mind would want to do that. 
I would expect that the weather will not be great … but how bad can we expect it to be in Austria & Hungary in February?
February should be fine, but Austria-Hungary has been known for some unpleasantness in summer.
Do you mean Budapest-Passau one way, or one way and back? I ask because we took a Passau-Budapest-Passau cruise over the New Year 2023/2024 and that took just one week, with ample stops and excursions. Budapest-Passau one way would be just 3-4 nights, then.
For a river cruise the weather will probably be nearly immaterial - we spent whole mornings and afternoons just sitting on the lounge looking at the landscape, i.e. your enjoyment will only suffer if it rains so hard you cannot see the landscape. As to the cities visited, many of the attractions are indoors.
Depending on the levels of the Danube your ship’s upper deck may be blocked off for hours on end due to bridge passages (quite a few bridges where passage is marginal at high water), but in February weather lounging on the upper deck is not attractive anyway. We danced into the New Year in Vienna on the upper deck, though. Wiener Walzer, of course.
Do choose a cabin with a window that opens (on many cabins on many ships you are at the mercy of the a/c, particularly in the cheaper cabins near the waterline). I’d also recommend you choose a cabin near the middle of the ship (we had unthinkingly chosen a cabin near the bow, under the dance floor. Never again. Fortunately they could relocate us just two cabins back towards the stern; that small distance made all the difference).
Thanks for the tips!
The itinerary is technically 10 days, but that’s counting an overnight in Budapest before departure, and an overnight in Vienna, and an overnight in Passau. So it’s…leisurely.
Day 3: Gyor, Hungary
Day 4: Bratislava
Day 5-6: Vienna
Day 7: Grein
Day 8: Lin
Day 9-10: Passau
If you were only going one-way, would you go Budapest - Passau, or Passau-Budapest? We have a choice.
I have no recommendation as between upstream and downstream.
Choosing a side is a crapshoot - in Vienna you will probably be moored port side to quay but there is no way to know if your ship will be the first or only at the quay; in most cities the river cruise ships are moored 2 or sometimes even 3 deep, with the passengers crossing to land over other ships (that sounds more involved to the passengers that it is; they moor the ships so that the middle entrances to the main deck align and crossing is quite comfortable). What’s the English nautical term for that? In German it is im Päckchen liegen.
My maternal grandmother was born in Gyor! (needs an umlaut though).
Györ!
As long as your limo driver is on the ball and doesn’t turn onto the wrong street, you’ll be fine.
Thanks!
Actually, it’s Győr. It’s a long umlaut.
‘Nelson’s Patent Bridge for Boarding First Rates.’
And thanks to you, too!
Budapest in February is cold, cold, cold.
I see I’m late to the joke, but it’s a sign of the times that I seriously expected the OP was an oblique historical allusion and the actual OP would be a discussion of some sort of war or insurrection starting in Feb 2025, and one triggered by some fanatic’s violent wackiness.
IANA expert on local European weather then (beyond “It sucks far worse than I would ever experience voluntarily”), but a quick look at the wiki article on any of those major cities will include a section on climate to give you a decent idea of the range of highs and lows and typical amounts and kinds of precip.
In general, ships or boats tied alongside one another to a mooring is called “rafting”. I’m not aware of a term for arranging the rafting specifically so passage from ship to ship is facilitated.
Depends on your definition of “cold.” I’ve spend five winters in Budapest, and February averaged probably just around freezing, 32F. To me, that’s fine. I grew up in Chicago, and I would say the summers are about the same and the winters are a bit warmer.
Austria-Hungary?
You might want to check if your visa has expired.
I have a letter of introduction from Emperor Franz-Josef himself!