The study implements a workflow to evaluate the effects of different data sampling methods and interpolation methods, when measuring and modelling a river bathymetry based on point data. Interpolation and sampling strategies are evaluated against a reference data set. The evaluation of the results includes critically discussing characteristics of the input data, the used methods and the transferability of the results. The results show that the decision for or against a particular sampling method and for a specific setting of the parameters can certainly have a great influence on the quality of the interpolation results. Further, some general guidelines for the acquisition of bathymetries are derived from the study results.