Cycling along the Danube to Black Sea

[katied]

I am planning a solo cycling trip along the Danube from its source in Germany to the Black Sea. Leaving on the 21st of July '07 on the Bike Express to Nancy (going to train it/cycle it from here to the Danube)

The first part of the trip from Germany to Budapest - there's lots of information on which I have. I am not particularly worried about this section (except for entering the capitals).

But I am interested in finding out about people's experience from Budapest to the Black Sea. Any maps etc / routes you did ? I am planning on staying as close to the river as possible. And camping most of the way to stretch the budget.

Attached is a pic of my bike I am planning to do it on....I am sure it will be fine for the first section but it might be pushed (or more likely me!) on the second part. But hey if a guy can skateboard across Oz then I can cycle along the Danube on my Pashley!



Cheers

Katie

[nurgles]

katied
Last Year I cycled from Istanbul up into Bulgaria ,along the Black Sea Coast and then upto the Danube and finally to Sofia in a cross country route.

I see your route may be different but if you plan to go that way(in reverse) ask any questions and Ill try to answer

[ThomasDylan]

Hi!

Living in Budapest, as I do, I should have been more adventurous, I suppose. However, I "endure" enough of life here to want to escape west to places where provision for cyles is a little better.

Don't let me put you off, but as far as I know once you get south of Budapest, things deteriorate significantly from the already scant provision the Danube Cycle route provides. You will certainly need a sense of humour once you get to Serbia and Romania!

If you can read German this should be of some assistance, as it covers the route to the Black Sea from Budapest. There may be some maps in it that would be useful in any case.

Should you venture as far as Budapest, do look me up, I'd be glad to show you the sights.

[Bridgford]

I cycled this route on my own in 2004. An account of my trip can be found at www.bridgford.plus.com/travel The cycling after Budapest is no more demanding than before, although there are no cycle routes and traffic was a bit heavy in a couple of short stretches. I camped up until Croatia but then used hotels - which were relatively cheap. I had a couple of fairly large scale maps for the route beyond Budapest. It was a great experience. Go for it!!

[jenny]

Hi
We are plan to cycle this route late spring 2008. Katie did you do it! and how did you get on. I wondered if it might be better to cycle so far then catch a ferry either forward or back to Austria. We will have about 3weeks.

[yoyo]

My daughter and I did the Austrian section last summer. It is very easy indeed - we felt we had no exercise after 40 miles. Excellent signposting, great paths all good surface etc. We were on an organised holiday but if I did it again I would go independently and would take about 4 days minimum to go from Passau to Vienna. You can certainly take ferries/ boats from Passau to Vienna and anywhere in between - this probably also applies from further afield. We had poor weather in the early stages and then it was very hot from Perg to Vienna in August. Your choice of late spring is good for not overheating.

Have a brill trip.

Yoyo

[johno]

Hi Katie

Mrs J and I cycled from Regensburg to Linz last summer on our Bromptons without any difficulty and we would have carried on to Vienna or Budapest if we had had the time. What was particularly nice was that the bikes started a lot of conversations with Germans and Austrians we met along the route and I am sure a Pashley would generate similar interest.

The path surface was usually pretty good with few potholes and unless you detoured away from the route there were very few gradients in the section we covered.

While not strictly necessary, we found the Bikeline guides available for the route useful and very interesting.

Good Luck!

Johno

[ThomasDylan]

Katie did the route last year on her Pashley - all credit to her!

Anyway, there is another thread here that mentions the section in Serbia.

I found the route in Austria & Germany a little bit bland in some respects. It was almost too popular for its own good and not really very adventurous, but that's just me perhaps. I'm hoping to do a stretch in Serbia this summer where I'm sure it'll be a little less comfy (especially once Kosovo declares independence!).

[Brains]

As recomended by Thomas Dylan I would very stronly suggest you get the 4 Bikeline books on the Danube from source to delta. They have the best maps of the route money can buy. The central Passau/Vienna section is available in English, but even if you can't speak a word of German they are worth getting in any language just for the maps
http://www.esterbauer.com/

I suggest you need to look at the basket at the front of your bike to ensure it can take maps that can be read whilst cycling, otherwise you are going to doing a lot of stopping.

We did Regensburg to Vienna during a very easy week or so, a few weeks after the floods of 2003. Perfect cycling.

[PW]

A chap named Patrick Leigh Fermor walked from Rotterdam to Istanbul back in the 1930s so a Pashley shouldn't be a problem. Likewise my late godfather rode fixed over the Brenner from Austria to Italy about the same time.
Leigh Fermor's exploits may be found in "A Time of Gifts" and "Between the Woods and the Water". He's an excellent travel writer, especially his later stuff on Greece. Pity he didn't record his war exploits on Crete where he kidnapped a German general!

[ThomasDylan]

Katie did the route last year on her Pashley - all credit to her!

[John Holiday]

Am also riding the Danube this spring, & noted the excellent Esterbauer Books, but am having difficulty in getting hold of them.
Anyone know where they may be purchased, as have tried The Map Centre?
Thanks.

[ThomasDylan]

Am also riding the Danube this spring, & noted the excellent Esterbauer Books, but am having difficulty in getting hold of them.
Anyone know where they may be purchased, as have tried The Map Centre?
Thanks.

There is a link in one of my messages above to amazon.de. Maybe the UK Amazon sells them too? If not, the German Amazon will deliver to the UK.

[John Holiday]

Following an e-mail to Esterbauer in Germany, they have told me that their U K supplier is Cordee in Leicester, who are able to supply the maps.
The English versions not yet available.

[ThomasDylan]

Following an e-mail to Esterbauer in Germany, they have told me that their U K supplier is Cordee in Leicester, who are able to supply the maps.
The English versions not yet available.

According to their website, Part One will be published in English in January this year, part four will come out in March and parts two & three are already in English.

Start of Part 1 = from the source @ Donauschingen; End of part 4 = Black Sea