Elbe River, Germany / Labe River, Czech Republic
Rising in the mountains of north-central Czech Republic, on the border with Poland, the Labe river flows northwesterly into Germany where it becomes the Elbe river and flows to the North Sea at Cuxhaven,after passing directly through the city of Hamburg. It is one of the major rivers of Europe, at 1,094 kilometers total length, 939 kilometers navigable length (729 km in Germany.) There is only lock in Germany, separating the tidal from the inland river.
The primary navigational difficulty on the Elbe/Labe is the frequent shallow depth of the free-flowing section of the river, which can be as less than one meter in dry seasons. On the other hand, the river is infamous for major flooding. Boaters traveling the river should monitor weather and river conditions on a daily basis.
Elbe river of Germany is described in the EuroCanals Guide:
Labe river of the Czech Republic is described in the EuroCanals Guide:
Hello Tom, Thanks so much for all the work you have done over all these years and your freely offered support, it really is very much appreciated. So much so it has enabled a group of complete amateurs to take a 40 foot steel Dutch motor boat from Arnhem to very close to the Med, all via your guides, and we're still going!! Stay safe. John C.