Hungarian Danube – 9 Days
Type of tour: Guided
Level: 1
Duration: 8 Nights
Distance: 19 Miles/day average
Dates: May 9, 2015
Tour price: €1899
Start city: Budapest, Hungary
End city: Budapest, Hungary
Tour Description
You will cycle along the most beautiful sceneries with breathtaking panoramas of the Danube Bend, enchanting lakes of Tata, take a canoe tour in the idyllic Szigetköz, visit the picturesque Baroque town of Szentendre, medieval castles at Visegrád and Tata, Hungary’s biggest cathedral in Esztergom, and Benedictine Monastery at Pannonhalma. You will enjoy superb comfort of very nice hotels, all with special atmosphere and beautiful surroundings, lovely swimming pools, saunas, massages, and masterpieces of the Hungarian cuisine. You will also see many beautiful faces and colours of the Danube, probably even blue.
Highlights: Guided Daily Program: Guided Day 1: Arrival in Budapest Day 2: Budapest – Szentendre (16 miles/25 km) Day 3: The Forests of Borzsony (22 miles/36 km) Day 4: Visegrad – The Danube Bend (23 miles/37 km) Day 5: Esztergom – Tata (21 miles/34 km) Day 6: Lakes of Tata (11 miles/18 km) Day 7: Cycling and Canoeing Szigetkoz (22 miles/36 km) Day 8: Pannonhalma – The Saint Hill of Pannonia (12 miles/19 km) Day 9: Departure Included Services: Guided Bike Rentals: Guided Bikes come equipped with: Pedals: Helmets:
Your hotel is near the centre right at the Danube, on Buda side, with lovely views. You will meet your tour guide, have information about the tour, and dinner in the hotel.
Overnight in Budapest
We ride along the Danube, cycle through the Margaret Island, one of the finest parks of Europe. Getting through Old-Buda, we stop at the ruins of a 3rd century Roman town: Aquincum, and take a walk among the charming Baroque houses and Serbian Ortodox churches, lovely restaurants, cafés, and souvenir shops of Szentendre, the town of artists, with a picturesque Mediterranian atmosphere. We can visit a unique exibition of a famous ceramist: Margaret Kovács. We stay in a nice small family hotel with a small swimming pool, and gourmet food.
Overnight in Szentendre.
We ride through tiny little villages on the island of Szentendre – and peacefullness, cross the Danube by the ferry, and we take an old narrow-gauge railway up into the Börzsöny Hills. After cycling in very beautiful woods among the hills, we end up at a nice glade to stay at the log hotel there. It has an individual character, and a gorgeous outdoor swiming pool, Scandinavian sauna and cooling pool, massage, bowling alley, it is an ideal place of relaxation.
Overnight in Kospallag-Nagyirtaspuszta.
Cycling among the hills, we arrive at a monastery, which is a miraculous pilgrimage place, founded in 1352. It belongs to the only original Hungarian monastic order, the Paulaner. We ride along the river, among fascinating sceneries of the hills and a view of the fortification at Visegrád, where King Matthias had his Renaissance royal palace which was famous throughout Europe in the 15th century. We walk around the ruins of the 13th century Citadel. The panorama of the Danube Bend is really breathtaking from here, and from our hotel, which has an exceptional location.
Overnight in Visegrad-Feketehegy.
We go to Esztergom, which used to be our capital, and the center of the Catholic Church of Hungary is still here. We visit here the biggest cathedral of the country, and getting across some hills in the untouched woods we ride to Tata, where we stay in a lovely hotel with a gourmet restaurant, in a nice area of the town.
Overnight in Tata.
We have a leisure cycling through beautiful parks around romantic lakes of Tata, visit the medieval Castle with interesting exhibitions, pass by an English Park, old watermills, nice Baroque houses and many little interesting sights. After we move to another enchanting area, the Szigetköz, we can swim in a lovely thermal bath, and get to a 400 year old Renaissance castle. It is one of Hungary’s most beautiful castle hotels. Antique furnitures, chandeliers, stoves, the Baroque „Sala Terrena”, and chapel, and the English garden with century old trees make the atmosphere here unique.
Overnight in Hedervar.
This is the largest island of our country, embraced by the Danube and Moson Danube Rivers, a paradise for cyclists, bird watchers, fishermen. We cycle through charming little villages, and along idyllic landscapes, and take a canoe tour in one of the peaceful branches of the Danube, watching some of the beautiful birds like herons, egrets, buzzards, cormorants, kingfishers, mallards, and swans. After this we ride back to enjoy the luxury of our hotel for another night.
Overnight in Hedervar.
A short bike ride in the beautiful Szigetköz, and we get to Pannonhalma. The Benedictine monastery, a great symbol of our 1000 years traditions, was founded in 996, and became part of the World Heritage in 1996. We will have a guided tour to see the most valuable parts: the late Romanesque-early Gothic basilica, the 15th century cloister, and the Neoclassical library. We taste some very good local wine with a delicious lunch in a lovely cellar, and we take our bus to Budapest, where you can have a nice rest in the hotel, and we have our farewell dinner.
Overnight in Budapest.
You can still enjoy the friendly atmosphere of the hotel in the morning, and we hope that you will return home safe and sound with nice memories for a lifetime.
Bikes available on this tour, and included in the tour cost (reserved in advance at the time of booking):
The bikes will have FLAT pedals. If you want to bring your own pedals, please bring your own shoes and also the necessary equipment to change the pedals.
Helmets are not available on this tour. For safety and hygiene purposes, we recommend that you bring your own helmet or plan to purchase one upon arrival.
