Part 4 Budapest to Belgrade on the Blue Danube

Verlag Esterbauer Cycline - Premier cycle books from Europe. The "Danube Bike Trail 4" contains maps at the scale of 1:100,000, City maps, with 120 pages in a book format 9"x5" made specially for cycling. When used with the Cycline book/map holder you have easy access to your bicycle route (item # BKMH in the bicycle section). This book covers Hungary, Croatia, Serbia, Romania from Budapest to the Black Sea. If you love bicycle touring & a special challenge, this book may be what you are looking for. It describes an exciting 1,600 kilometer ride from Budapest to the Black sea. As you follow the Danube through the changing scenery of the Balkens, the great river's name also changes, from Duna in Hungary, to Duna in Croatia & Serbia, to Dunarea in Romania. These are all derived from the latin Danubius, the name of a Roman river god. The route crosses landscapes marked by thousands of years of European history & breath-taking natural spectacles. Arriving on the Black Sea at the Romanian city of Constanta, you have the option of ending your tour or continuing through the Danube delta to Tulcea, where you can board a ferry to complete the final kilometers to Sulina where the Queen of rivers enters the Black Sea. This bicycle touring atlas includes detailed maps of the countryside & of many cities & towns, precise route descriptions, information about historic & cultural sites as well as background information & a comprehensive list of overnight accomodations. The one thing this atlas cannot provide is fine cycling weather, but we hope you encounter nothing but sunshine & gentle tailwinds.

Danube Bike Trail 4

The fourth part of our Danube Bike Trail series begins in the Hungarian capital Budapest and ends in the Serbian capital Belgrade.
With a total length of 2,845 kilometers, the Danube is Europe’s second longest river (after the Volga with 3,534 kilometers), and the only one on which kilometers are counted in reverse direction, starting with kilometer zero at the mouth and ending upstream at the source.

The Route

Length

The length of the route between Budapest and Belgrade totals 570 kilometres when you ride via Hungary and Serbia. If you take the main route through Croatia between Mohács and Ilok then the distance shortens to 520 kilometres. The alternative routes and excursions have a total length of 410 kilometres.

Surface quality and traffic

The route mostly follows paved roads in good condition while in Hungary you will also be using dike roads, which are only in part paved. In Croatia and Serbia you will mostly be riding along roads with varying amounts of traffic. Most of the traffic is naturally encountered in proximity to the larger centres Budapest, Novi Sad and Belgrade. In between there are longer stretches which follow small, quiet country roads.
There are some tough climbs to be overcome, but these are mostly confined to the Croatian section, with some in Serbia between Sremski Karlovci and Beška and the alternative route through the Fruška Gora national park. The remainder of the route is very flat.

Signage

The Danube Bike Trail is part of the EuroVelo-Route 6 and is completely signposted between Budapest and Belgrade. In Hungary you follow the square signs with the number 6. The signs are green in the sections where the route has been completed and yellow along temporary routes, where the final route has not yet been constructed.
In Croatia you will encounter small blue signs with the words "Ruta Dunav" which you follow all the way to the Serbian border.
In Serbia the signposting is excellent. The signs, which even carry cheerful phrases, were developed in cooperation with the Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ). The signs even provide the distance to the next and distant goals.