1,004 miles (1,607 km) 29th August to 24th September 2016
The second leg of our ride took us from the source of the Danube, Donaueschingen (Germany), along the banks of the mighty river, through Germany, Austria, Slovakia & Hungary to Budapest.
This was a easy ride, with lots of “A Class” civilized cycle paths, most of the way. We arrived in Budapest one week earlier than expected, so we had time to explore the beautiful city & sample the art nouveau thermal baths. We even had time to make additional ride to Lake Balaton.
There is a Flickr Album of Tim’s photos here…
Alysun’s diary of our ride….
- DAY 01… Home to Donaueschingen
DAY ONE… 13.25 miles (21.25 km) We arrived safely after a bumpy plane descent, and quickly restored bikes from their plastic bag and pipe lagging wrapping to find that we… - DAY 02… Donaueschingen to Hausen im Tal
DAY TWO… 44 miles (70.5 km) Amazingly good and flat roads, mainly for cyclists, through rolling farmland and fields of small sunflowers with borage borders. Perfect for bees! And I… - DAY 03… Hausen im Tal to Rottenacker
DAY THREE… 53 miles (85 km) Sitting outside our tents as the sun sets on a little chair with salmon bubbling on the little cooker in front of me. We… - DAY 04… Rottenacker to Leipheim
DAY FOUR… 48 miles (77 km) Lovely ride through Ulm, with an amazing Munster. We had a long stop here to try and find bits of clip that Tim had… - DAY 05… Leipheim to Altisheim
DAY FIVE… 55 miles (88 km) Sitting, now 10.15am, on the banks of a much wider Danube. Flat route so far, but a gravelly surface along the side of the… - DAY 06… Altisheim to Vohburg
DAY SIX… 50 miles (80 km) Rose 6.30am to wet tents and mists but beautiful. A swan rose from the water, really heaving itself. We’ve had to ration water, so… - DAY 07… Vohburg to Kelheim
DAY SEVEN… 22.25 miles (35.5 km) A Half Rest Day Today is a rest half-day. It is a beautiful day. And I had a reasonable night’s sleep, at last !!… - DAY 08… Kelheim to Straubing
DAY EIGHT… 55 miles (88 km) Rain came in bursts last night and we were told that we could expect another one or two days of rain, but this morning… - DAY 09… Straubing to Vilshofen
DAY NINE… 45.5 miles (73 km) A good night. The “orange boys”, some laddish cyclists that have been following in our tracks, turned up and were a bit rowdy, but… - DAY 10… Vilshofen to Schlögen
DAY TEN… 41.5 miles (66 km) No rain last night. Just a bit noisy from passing boats on the river, and from the nearby airport (across the bridge) but, apart… - DAY 11… Schlögen Loop
DAY ELEVEN… Rest Day The Danube loops here and it is totally blissful. There are hives, a peacock, a group of sheep and some very frisky cows, let out each… - DAY 12… Schlögen to Au an der Donau
DAY TWELVE… 56.25 miles (90 km) Tents were very wet from a misty start to the day, but it promises to be 27 degrees, so hot again. The cycle ride… - DAY 13… Au an der Donau to Splitz
DAY THIRTEEN… 62 miles (99 km) Morning was wet and misty but we made fast progress on flat and tarmacked paths to Grein (16 miles). It was beautiful. The mist… - DAY 14… Splitz to Tulln
DAY FOURTEEN… 42 miles (67 km) Rose at 6am to ensure no trouble from last night’s Lederhosen lads and set off along the Danube to Krems; still no camping gas…. - DAY 15… Tulln, day trip to Vienna
DAY FIFTEEN… Day trip to Vienna We took the coach in to Vienna. Everyone else was at least a decade older than us. AT LAST we found a camping shop… - DAY 16… Tulln to Vienna
DAY SIXTEEN… 26 miles (41.5 km) We cycled into Vienna (only 40km) so we were at our campsite for lunch. It’s not so nice here. And its very noisy at… - DAY 17… Vienna to Rajka
DAY SEVENTEEN… 58.5 miles (93.5 km) Woke to tent city. Half naked people lying in open tents or half put up tents, or people outside their tents, or people asleep… - DAY 18… Rajka to Komárom
DAY EIGHTEEN… 61.5 miles (98 km) An undisturbed night. Tim discovered showers this morning by breaking through the fence again. Though the owner arrived as Tim was in the shower…. - DAY 19… Komárom to Esztergom
DAY NINETEEN… 34.5 miles (55 km) Very slow start after two long days. We are both quite tired. Very hot day. The sun was almost burning at breakfast time. We… - DAY 20… Esztergom
DAY TWENTY… Rest Day We woke to rain. The full moon last night heralded a sudden change in the weather. Everything got wet quickly. Even the little sheltered table area… - DAY 21… Esztergom to Budapest
DAY TWENTY ONE… 55 miles (88 km) The skies are clear but everything is damp or wet (tent, groundsheet etc) after a wild thunderstorm just as we were cooking our… - DAY 22… Budapest
DAY TWENTY TWO… Rest Day We looked round the Jewish quarter and the Basilica. Then, in the evening headed out to the Parliament building, however we were stopped in our… - DAY 23… Budapest
DAY TWENTY THREE… Rest Day Another late start. We discovered that we had spent half of our holiday fund that we thought would last us another week! We planned a… - DAY 24… Budapest to Lake Velence
DAY TWENTY FOUR… 57 miles (91 km) We woke early and had to leave Prince apartments to return to tent dwelling for a few more days. We have decided that… - DAY 25… Lake Velence to Lake Balaton
DAY TWENTY FIVE… 53 miles (84.5 km) A beautiful morning with clear skies, despite rain in the night. We set off along cycle paths beside the Lake Velence, passing a… - DAY 26… Around Lake Balaton to Siófok
DAY TWENTY SIX… 43.5 miles (69.5 km) A very beautiful start to the ride on dedicated cycle paths. All of our ride was on a cycle paths or quiet roads,… - DAY 27… Siófok, train to Budapest, then cycle to the Airport
DAY TWENTY SEVEN… 17.5 miles (28.5 km) We caught the train into Budapest, then cycled out of the grand city centre, through endless suburbs, on quiet roads, desperately trying to…