The Danube River by bicycle -- Passau, Germany - Budapest, Hungary -- Sept 2015

It was a year in the planning which seemed like forever, but it finally materialized in Sept 2015...our bicycle trip from Passau, Germany to Budapest, Hungary along part of the EuroVelo 6 biking trail, or as this section is better known as 'The Danube River Bike Path'.

With only a small backpack and a carry on each, both filled with on and off the bike clothes, bike helmets and some bike gear, a few toiletries, passports, cash, a credit card, one computer and a cell phone, we boarded Ethiopian Airlines and headed to Europe.

We chose Top Bicycle (see link below), as the bike company to use, as it was recommended to us by a couple we met last year on the bike trip we took in Italy.  We actually chose 2 bicycle trips, back-to-back...the 1st from Passau, Germany - Vienna, Austria and the 2nd from Vienna, Austria - Budapest, Hungary, to make it one continuous journey.  12 actual days and 450 miles of cycling in total, with an additional 12 days exploring (at the beginning, middle and end), walking and sight seeing (without the bikes).  What a FABULOUS trip!

http://www.topbicycle.com/BTPassauWien.htm

Top Bicycle provides you with everything you need, a top notch bicycle, 2 panniers per bike, 1 handlebar bag per bike, bike locks, GPS, cyclometers, terrific maps (all in English), tools for repairing flats and even a local cell phone, just in case you need to call the company with any real emergency to report.  We never used the tools for any repairs as we were lucky not to have a single bike problem nor did we ever need to use the phone...but it sure was nice to know that we could reach someone in case of a true emergency.

The way you do it is, you choose the dates you want to travel with Top Bicycle, and they call and make all reservations for your hotels along the way.  Distances and evening stops are all pre-arranged by the company you choose (there are lots of bike companies who do this, not only Top Bicycle and even though everyone is riding in the same direction--mostly--some companies choose other villages or even the other side of the river to ride or sleep).  Once it is all confirmed, you pay by credit card and meet their representative on the scheduled day in the pre-arranged town.  (If you check out their website, they have a number of bike trips and all of them meet in various towns/cities).

We took our own helmets, saddles, shoes and clip pedals and their rep fitted their bikes with our personal gear.  After gearing up the bikes and a short briefing, we left Passau, Germany on a cloudy, overcast, drizzly 6th of Sept, Buddy's 67th birthday!  We left our luggage with their rep and off we cycled, beside the river, to our next destination, 30 miles down stream.  We chose the 'self guided tour' and just followed the map meandering our way down the river, through villages, stopping when and wherever we wanted, sometimes passing or being passed, by other cyclists along the way.  Every morning, after quite the luxurious breakfast (always included in the hotel and really, really scrumptious) we would leave our luggage at the front desk of our hotel and cycle to our next destination where we'd find our bags, already in our room!  During each day, we'd ride, stop for breaks, visit various sights and even take time out for the occasional mid-day beer, before reaching our evening destination.  We'd be in the saddle usually 3-5 hours each day leaving plenty of time at the end of the day to sight see in each evenings town/village.

The hotels were lovely, mostly 3-star and were usually smaller and quainter than the big ostentatious places.  The hoteliers were very friendly, the water hot, beds comfy, and, like mentioned before, breakfasts was delicious...Camembert, Brie, and many local cheeses and meats, fruits, breads, eggs, coffee, tea, juices...everything...always a highlight of the day in preparation for cycling.

The cycling was superb...the 1st 6 days, Passau - Vienna, is probably THEE most popular cycling route in Europe (says all the books).  It's almost completely FLAT--lovely German/Austrian countryside with a plethora of small villages, historic castles, statues, churches, abbeys, museums, historic memorials and even ice cream!  Depending on the day, there were sights to see, events taking place, we'd cross the river by ferry or bridge, it was different every day.  We're sure July and August is a bicycle highway, but Sept seemed fairly tranquil, with fewer numbers of cyclists and mostly adults as families with kids were already back in school.  The cyclists seemed to come from all over the world as we heard numerous languages being spoken along the trail and in towns and villages.

Part 1--Passau to Vienna

The daily trip directions included the daily mileage (normally between 25-55 miles/day) and always included interesting sights along the way.  We tried to stop in most of the small towns and villages and took advantage of as many of the recommended sights as possible.  
                     
The cycling from Vienna - Budapest, is much less traveled and Hungary's bike paths aren't quite as sophisticated as those in western Europe, at least those we just experienced in Germany and Austria.  Hungary felt a lot more eastern European and it was the 1st time for both of us to visit this lovely country...and what a way to visit it, by bicycle.

Part 2--Vienna to Budapest via Slovakia

There was so much to see and so much to do--remember this was a month of sight seeing.  We have broken down the photos by 'segment' of our daily rides from the town-to-town where we spent each night.  We tried to give you a feel of the daily routine and hope you enjoy this photo montage...you can do internet searches yourself on any city or interesting photo you see below.  The daily mileages are estimates from Top Bicycle and we often rode more miles per day with the various sight seeing trips--all said and done our cyclometers read 450 miles when we reached our final destination in Budapest.  There are a lot of photos, it was hard to cull them, as we wanted to give a feel of everything we saw and did.  Click on any photo to enlarge it, and click again to get back to the explanations.  Go as quickly or slowly as you wish, and we hope you enjoy the ride...

Passau--We took a train from Vienna to Passau and visited for a couple of days before our bike trip.

waiting for the train in Vienna going to Passau

Our hotel in Passau, was also an old glass museum with
over 30,000 pieces of European glass

Interesting read about the glass museum:  click on the link:  http://www.wilder-mann.com/en/hotel/passau-glass-museum.html

panorama from the Veste Oberhaus Fortress

Passau is at the confluence of the Inn River
(upper half of the photo) and the Danube (with the ship)
and the Ilz--a bit more downstream (not pictured)

Passau's Rat haus (with clock tower)--aka City Hall!

beautiful countryside around Passau

narrow streets of Passau

St Steven's Cathedral

the largest pipe organ in the world with over 17,000 pipes

a downtown statue

one of many street cafe's where we stopped

high water marks in recent years....the 2nd from the top is
from the flooding in 2013

'singin' in the rain'...

our last night in Passau

having fitted our bikes, we're ready to head down the Danube
rain or no rain!

Passau - Schlogen ~ 27 miles--day 1 of riding

wooden mermaid sculpture

small villages along the river

short rest

Jochenstein Lock

and damn along the river

small villages with small river crossing Ferry's (Fahre)

a gnome garden along the path

we skipped lunch but stopped instead for local flavor

that's our hotel in the distance on the other side

wow!  Hotel Donauschlinge

loading the ferry to get to the hotel

bike and people ferry only

the hotel bike garage--imagine this place in July!

The Danube Bend (view from hike we did from Schlogen)
the path we cycled is on the left inner side of the river

many choose the cruise ship way to tour the Danube

Buddy's 67th bday complete with sparkler and apple strudel

Schlogen - Linz ~ 35 miles--day 2 of riding

An old river boat which used to haul salt (white gold), wine and fish...these boats were pulled up river by teams of horses along the path we're riding today

Ottensheim Palace

the ferry to cross to the other side--we are crossing

after a cold and drizzly morning, a hot chocolate stop

colorful row houses before Linz

our hotel on the main plaza in Linz

our lovely room

main plaza and the Old Cathedral circa 1678

walking street in Linz

new age trams

main plaza

the New Cathedral circa 1862-1924, which seats 20,000
Austria's largest church

with beautiful stained glass

Linz - Grein ~ 41 miles--day 3 of riding

saddling up to depart Linz

just a few of MANY swans along the river

there's no place like home, no place like home....
no, we didn't stop, but the photo was a must

Late morning, we took a recommended side trip to the last liberated concentration camp and largest labor camp from WW2 -- Mauthausen...the following photos are somewhat disturbing...attention...

the road up to Mauthausen

the camp from the outside

thank you America!

from 1938-1945--the only way in

memorial wall

one of many memorials of the atrocities which took place here

'Stairs of Death' from the quarry to the camp--186 stairs
inmates were made to carry rocks up these stairs and
often died falling backwards creating a domino effect

the crematory ovens

1938-1945--the only way out, said most

This is a HORRIBLE part of our world history, but a part of which we all should know.  If you are interested in reading more, click on the following link:  https://www.google.rw/search?q=mauthausen&oq=m&aqs=chrome.1.69i60j69i59l2j69i60l3.3500j0j4&sourceid=chrome&es_sm=93&ie=UTF-8

a castle down the roa

This side-trip was a bit of a downer, so the best thing to do was get on the bikes and get moving down the road.

back at the river and to the town of Grein for the night

our hotel in Grein

cute downtown Grein

before dinner drinks in Grein

Grein - Melk ~ 32 miles--day 4 of riding

leaving Grein--we crossed the river on a nice big bridge

small villages along the river

beautiful castles

arriving in Ybbs, home of a very cool bicycle museum

downtown Ybbs

Aly on one of the 1st bicycles ever

Buddy riding a Penny Farthing

childrens' bikes

more Penny Farthings

police, military and postal bikes

old fire fighter bicycle

another cute small village with its church

and another

the grand daddy of them all--the famous Melk Benedictine
Abbey--seen from miles (even in the rain), over 1000 years old

the narrow streets of Melk

our hotel in Melk

walking up a narrow path to the Abbey

a photographer photographing the Abbey

one of the smallest Bibles on display

an old chalice

in the glass room

ceiling fresco painted in 1731 by Paul Troger inside the Abbey

views of Melk and the surrounding area from the Abbey

looking downstream on the Danube

panorama of Melk and area--the Danube is in the distance

the church

inside the Abbey Church

the ceiling fresco inside the church

the Abbey garden over looking the town and countryside

beautiful and Massive

To read more about the Abbey, just click on this link: http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/
Melk - Tulln ~ 45 miles--day 5 of riding

Ruine Aggstein Castle

looking down into the Wachau Valley (wine country!)

small village of Willendorf

Venus of Willendorf--thought to be over 25,000 years old
female statuette made of limestone ~ 4.5" tall

small village of Spitz

wine country

St Michael's fortified church

Wosendorf

Durnstein and vineyards

a winery/distillery where we stopped, sampled and purchased

all homemade

village of Unterloiben

small village of Fothof

beautiful flower garden

bike path through the grapes

village of Stein

Our hotel in Tulln--right on the river

celebrating our 12th anniversary with Gin we bought earlier

 Tulln - Vienna ~ 24 miles--day 6 of riding

one of those great breakfasts...in Tulln

Greifenstein Castle

a flower field before reaching the outskirts of Vienna

Seems like shortly after we left Tulln, we were in the outskirts of Vienna...so we've saved most of those photos for the next segment, Vienna.

Vienna, Austria--we spent 3 days where we parked our bikes, walked, took public transport, visited museums, churches, palaces, government buildings and other sites, played tourist before setting out on the 2nd part of our bicycle journey.

our lovely hotel in Vienna--we stayed here when we 1st arrived
from Rwanda, in the middle and before returning to Rwanda

walking street downtown

The following few shots are of the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Austria, St. Stephen's Cathedral, 1st constructed in 1147 and added onto throughout the years.  Today stands a beautiful Medievil, Romanesque and Gothic structure located in the heart of the downtown walking district of Vienna, one of Vienna's top tourist attractions.

A nice internet site to visit if you are interested: http://www.stephanskirche.at/index.jsp?langid=2&menuekeyvalue=2

outside the main doors

Capistran Chancel

inside the cathedral

the organ

We walked up the spiraling 343 stairs (212 ft) of the South Tower for beautiful views of the church roof and the sights of the city.

beautiful church roof tile work

We descended the spiral stairs and continued on our city tour journey.

other bicycle tourists

many sidewalk cafe's

our favorite ice cream shop

just one of the multitudes of city transport

a very cute teddy bear museum on one obscure corner

one of the oldest cafe's in Vienna--Mozart Cafe since 1794

an old wooden toy shop

dusk in the walking streets of downtown

St Stephen's at dusk

St Stephen's lit up at night

Imperial Palace

Hofburg Palace

Prunksaal (State Hall) - or center of the National Library
with over 7.4 million items in collections

beautiful ceiling fresco inside the center room

St. Augustin, is a famous church near the Imperial Palace where many of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty married and are buried.  The Habsburg's monarchy ruled in these parts for over 6 centuries.  Napoleon Bonaparte was married here, along with the Austrian Archduchess Maria Christina, the sister of Maria Antoinette.

Cenotaph of Maria Christina

opera house

city hall or Rathaus

Parliament

Kunsthistorisches Art History Museum

the dome on top of the Natural History Museum

Maria-Theresien Platz statue

Buddy found a Viennese sausage (bosna) street food stand where we stopped on 2 separate occasions and became friendly with the Turkish vendor.  He liked Aly so much, he invited her behind the counter, gave her a 'workers hat' while he served Buddy his sausage sandwich and beer.  He felt sorry that Aly hadn't ordered anything and gave us a free meat sandwich (we didn't have the heart to tell him she is a veg).  We ended up giving it to a local homeless man, of which he thoroughly enjoyed.

statue on the famous Graben St.

 We did manage a classical music concert in one of the 1st halls where Mozart played as a young boy.

Every Saturday in Vienna, year-round, the Naschmarkt is bustling with buyers and sellers.  We found ourselves there on 2 separate Saturdays, bike miles apart!  There are over 400 street vendors selling anything and everything, and is considered one of the biggest and best flea markets in all of Europe.  A great place to people watch and possibly find that one treasure you are looking for.  We found great photo ops and lunch!

street vendors selling most everything!

masses of nuts and candies

Kebap meat

stuffed grape leaves, tomatoes, olives, peppers and more

humus, babaganoush and other spreads

all kinds of cheeses

lots of veggies

We spent the better 1/2 of one of our days finding, touring and walking around the most famous palace and grounds of the 4-sq mile, 18th century summer palace of the Habsburg dynasty, the Schonbrunn Palace.  We did not tour the inside, as there were masses of visitors, but instead chose to walk about the beautiful grounds and gardens, which were just as spectacular.

For more information on the Schonbrunn, visit this website:  http://www.schoenbrunn.at/en.html

the front of the Schonbrunn

from the palace, looking up onto the grounds

taken through one of the fountains

on the grounds

some of the local visitors

a beautiful end to a lovely palatial visit

The tallest ferris wheel at the time, built in 1897,  owned by a Jew who was killed in Auschwitz, is a landmark in Vienna, was a perfect departing shot as we rode by, on our way out of town.

Das Wiener Riesenrad (Vienna Giant Wheel)

Vienna - Hainburg ~ 32 miles--day 7 of riding
We rode the dykes of the Danube much of the way from Vienna to Hainburg and arrived just beating the rain.  A night at an old 17th century building turned hotel was a warm welcome.

20 more miles to our destination, Hainburg, one of
the last villages in Austria

the southern gate into the village--our hotel on the left

downtown Hainburg

our post bike ride meal

one of the old watch towers of the village

hiking Braunsberg on the NE side of Hainburg--looking
back towards Vienna

Hainburg castle

our hotel--Altes Kloster

Hainburg - Mosonmagyarovar (via Bratislava, Slovakia) ~ 38 miles--day 8 of riding
Today would be riding in 3 countries, Austria, Slovakia and on into Hungary.  Much of the ride in Hungary was NOT along the Danube, but instead took us through charming villages and beautiful countryside.

leaving Hainburg

and it's beautiful flowers

lots of cyclists--they are heading towards Vienna
(probably the most cyclists we'd seen on the trail since Passau)

Hrad Castle in Bratislava, Slovakia

a spaceship looking viewing tower at the Novy Most Bridge
taking you into Bratislava

We took a short side trip into the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, crossing the Novy Most bridge.  The old historic downtown was full of narrow walking streets, old buildings with cafes, shops, and tourists.  Bratislava used to be a part of Hungary from the 1500s-1700s and became the capital of independent Slovakia in 1993.  It's population is roughly 450,000.  It is the only national capital in the world bordering two other independent countries (Austria and Hungary).

Bratislava's theatre

main walking street and Embassy row

Franciscan church

main square

main square fountain

'Cumil'--the most famous statue in Bratislava, 'watching...'

St. Michael's Gate

outside the downtown area looking up to the castle

business district in Bratislava

one of the old trams in Bratislava

We left Bratislava, crossed back to the other side of the river and pedaled on down river.  About an hour down river we came to a nice rest stop with other cyclists...

a Slovakian rest stop about 15 kms outside Bratislava
bordering Hungary

the old border patrol between Slovakia and Hungary

Entering Hungary--wow, we're not in Kansas anymore Toto, we think they are welcoming us to Hungary!

downtown Mosonmagyarovar--our destination for the night

our hotel, the Panorama

 Mosonmagyarovar - Gyor ~ 28 miles--day 9 of riding

an old cemetery along the route

interesting Hungarian names

This region is a renowned for thermal baths.  We took advantage of one right along the cycle route, outside of the small village of Lipot.  Very refreshing for a couple hour mid-morning break.

Back on the road again...

we think we're going in the right direction?!

school is out...

We made our way to Gyor, one of our favorite towns along the route, with a local population of ~130,000 and is 1/2 way between Vienna and Budapest.  The old town is very bike and walk friendly with lots to see and do with shops, cafes, statues, old buildings, and churches.

our hotel in Gyor

the Klastrom--a former Monestary

with its wide hallways

and comfy rooms

Gyor 'city hall', in German known as 'Rat haus'--seems
like a perfect name for a Gov't house--wonder why we
don't call our city halls 'rat houses'?!  maybe we should start!

a typical book store--not at all like Barnes and Nobel

Szechenyi ter--Benedictine church

main plaza

old town hall statue

man in the boat statue on the walking plaza

one of many wooden doors along the side streets

an old side street

Bishop Vilmos Apor saved many women and children
during WW2 and was killed saving others

Bishops castle, statue of Karoly Kisfaludy
at the Vienna gate

Bishops castle

our restaurant in this quaint square

a nice outdoor restaurant

Hungarian specialty--pork knuckles--which Buddy LOVED!

roofing designs

old, but...

beautiful

Gyor - Tata ~ 45 miles--day 10 of riding

much of today's riding was dirt track in the woods

just keep following the bike path--Euro velo 6

Fort Monostor--was the biggest ammunition storage
after WW2--the Danube borders this fort

Arriving in Tata

the beautiful Lake Tata

fresh water fountain

Tata Castle

our hotel in Tata

Tata - Esztergom ~ 34 miles--day 11 of riding
This section of riding took us off the Danube and into the rolling back roads through small villages of the Geresce Mountains (highest elevation ~2,000 ft).

the 2nd of 2 days of hills!  this was long and fairly steep!

an old vein of red marble in the hillside--famous
Hungarian red marble

rolling on down the road

Entering the quaint town of Esztergom--our last stop before Budapest...we spent much of the afternoon touring the Basilica after we walked through town...

Esztergom Basilica

Taking a stroll through the old town, meandering through back streets

our hotel in Esztergom

We then headed up to the Basilica, through the lovely grounds, into the chapel and all the way up to the viewing towers--the sights of the day were lovely.  To read more of this beautiful basilica, click the link:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esztergom_Basilica

The sights from up on the outer dome...we are back on the Danube and across the river is Slovakia.

Buddy's buddy...a young Hungarian man who worked up here

Vizivaros Parish Church

Esztergom town, with the Danube and Slovakia

Slovakian scenery

Esztergom

cute chapel on the hill

delicious Hungarian wine, cold beer and dinner, ended our day

Esztergom - Budapest ~ 52 miles--day 12 of riding--our last day of cycling
This would be our last day of riding, bittersweet.  We left Esztergom and headed down river where we would cross 3 times back and forth across the river, before arriving in Budapest.  It was fun being back on the river.

lots of riders heading to Budapest--1st of 3 ferry crossings

We stopped in one of the small villages and joined in their street fair and craft market.

treats made by the local ladies

soon to be wine

the winemakers

the last ferry crossing

Welcome to Budapest!

our hotel on the right (white building)

we did it!  450 miles later, we reached the Hotel Parlament

Budapest, Hungary
Wow!  This is one of thee most beautiful cities in Europe.  We tried to do justice to the history and architecture, the beauty, majesty and elegance of the city, the river and the life of this grand city.  With a population of almost 2 million, it was a well run, well functioning city.  Click on the following link for more Budapest info, or just enjoy the below photos.  http://www.budapest.com/

The Danube disects this historic city, separating the Buda, ancient hilly side, from the Pest, flat side.

looking at the Buda side from the Pest side

the GORGEOUS Hungarian Parliament

The ostentatiously beautiful Hungarian Parliament is the largest building in Hungary.  Construction took over 19 years, employed over 1,000 people during construction, used more than 40 million bricks, 1/2 million precious stones and 88 pounds of gold.

Matthias Church in Castle Hill on the Buda side

Parliament

standing guard outside Parliament

Shoes on the Danube Bank--a memorial to the Jews who were killed by the fascist Arrow Cross militiamen during WW2.  Shoes were considered of value and the Jews were told to take off their shoes before they were shot and their bodies fell into the river and floated away.

Castle Hill

Pest's walking streets

beautiful architecture

the Eye in downtown Budapest

Chain Bridge and the Royal Palace

Parliament from a far

modern trams

Last year we met a really nice German couple while on our bike ride in Italy.  We have kept in touch over the year and when they heard we were going to bike the Danube, they planned their vacation around the same time as ours.  Even though they weren't cycling, we planned to meet up in Budapest.  We spent 3 fun days with Katrin and Heiner, walking around seeing the sights of Budapest together.

cooling off after a LOT of walking and sight seeing

Central Market Hall--where one could get about anything one wanted....just take a look...

inside the market

Hungarian lace

traditional Hungarian dolls

sausages and meats

lunch food

3 weary cyclists!

Heroes Square--beautiful bronze statues honoring Hungary's heroes

Chain Bridge

view from the Chain Bridge looking towards Margaret Island

Royal Palace

Castle Hill Funicular

traditional Hungarian snacks--very tasty!

our chimney cake lady

statue entering the Mideval Castle Hill

up on Castle Hill

National Archives

beautiful tile work

Fisherman's Bastion

Pest view from Castle Hill

the Parliament from Castle Hill

Buddy, Katrin, Aly and Heiner

boys and burgers--after a long day

The M1, or Millennium Underground Railway, is the oldest underground in Hungary and the 2nd oldest in the world, 2nd only to The London Underground.  It was very clean, very well kept and our timing was perfect, almost empty...amazing, as today, over 100,000 people use this line per day.

Buddy, Katrin and Heiner

one of the 11 M1 stations late at night

Other around the city shots

piece of art maybe?

Margaret Island

pork knuckle sandwich bar

 and Hungarian street food

one lunch, we settled on beer and Langos--a Hungarian specialty
--with cheese and/or meat

the beautiful chain bridge at dusk

When visiting Budapest, one of the most popular tourist things to do is take an evening cruise along the Danube seeing the city by night...just beautiful...you just can't get enough of the beautiful Parliament building...

Royal Palace

Chain bridge with the Citidel lit up in the background

Chain Bridge and Royal Palace with a lovely moon

Buda (right) and Pest (left)

a wonderful end to a wonderful trip

After this fabulous trip, we have decided to do more exercise vacations as we had so much fun.  The walk across England (Coast to Coast--check this out: http://www.coast2coast.co.uk/ ) sounds enticing, or possibly another European bike trip might be in the books for next fall, or maybe something completely different...you'll just have to stay tuned.  Until next time...