Tripsite Traveler: Along the Danube - Four Country Tour

Day 1: It was late spring when my husband Ron and I arrived in Passau, Germany, to board the SE Manon, our home for the next 8 days. We were thrilled to be able to finally reschedule our trip, which had been canceled due to the pandemic. We are avid cyclists, but this was our first bike tour AND our first trip on a ship!
By the end of our first evening, we had met a couple from British Columbia, another from Australia, and two “blokes” from New Zealand. And the eight of us became friends, just like that. It was a great start!

Day 2

We woke in Engelhartszell, Austria to a lovely sight - all the bikes lined up on the bicycle path!

We ate at the breakfast buffet, packed lunches from trays of meats, cheeses, breads, and fruits, and we were off!
The tour was self-guided. We each received a bike, a tool kit, and a booklet with maps of the various segments. Most of the 120 passengers were native German speakers. The English speakers consisted of our group of eight and a party of nine from Wisconsin. The crew gave instructions and made announcements in both languages.
The first day was a 35-kilometer ride through Austria, from Engelhartszell to Untermühl. Portions of the bike path were closed, so we crossed the river by ferry four times. Bike ferries are super-efficient, and we were experts by the end of the first day. It helps to remember which direction you are traveling, so you don’t exit the ferry and head off in the wrong direction...

About half the passengers rode electric bikes. Ron and I opted for standard bikes (7-speed, caliper brakes, lights, panniers). The electric bikes have computers that track distance and speed, as do our bikes back home, but our tour bikes didn't. We were a little nervous that first day, not knowing how far or fast we were going.

Day 3

We traveled overnight through Austria, reaching Slovakia and its capital city, Bratislava, at daybreak, where the SE Manon stayed moored for the day. Some spent the day on foot touring Bratislava. We opted to cycle up to Castle Devin, about 10 km to the east.

We returned to the paved bike path, traveling up the Morava River until crossing the “Freedom Cycling Bridge” a/k/a “Friendship Bridge” into Austria. We ate our packed lunch on the Austrian side of the bridge, then arrived back in Bratislava with enough daylight for an evening stroll.

Day 4

We arrived in Budapest, Hungary at daybreak.

The city of Budapest is actually two cities, ornate Buda on one side of the river, and working-class Pest on the other. We left our bikes on board and headed into Buda, up to the castle complex, then wandered down through the cobblestoned medieval town.

By the time we got down to the river again, we had walked about a million steps and still had not made it over the Danube to Pest. With the tap of a debit card, we jumped on a tram, crossed the river, made a loop around Pest, then crossed the river again, back into Buda, and the ship. Although we spent less time in Pest than in Buda, our experience was perhaps richer: sitting among the locals heading home from school and work; the working-class neighborhoods flashing by; while an unseen voice announced the tram stops in Hungarian.
The SE Manon turned around in Budapest and began its upstream voyage back toward our starting point in Germany, moorings arranged so that we would cycle the portions we had slept through on the way down, and vice-versa.

Day 5

We woke in Visegrad and began the 30 km ride to Eztergom. This scenic stretch included the "Danube Bend", (or "Hungarian Wachau"). At times, the path left the river and took us through a landscape so familiar we might have been in Pennsylvania or Ohio.

Then we would find ourselves in a tiny village, with Hungarian signposts, and we would remember we were far from the American mid-west!

We had cycled through villages, over beautiful landscapes, and past curious onlookers; people and places forgotten and left behind as the world moved on.

We met the ship in Esztergom, Hungary, one of the oldest cities in all of Europe, believed to be inhabited since the end of the Ice Age, some 20,000 years ago.

We wandered the empty, quiet streets of historically significant and once-wealthy Esztergom. We brushed against a rough stone wall and noticed an engraving that seemed almost prehistoric. And well it could be.

Day 6

Moored about 5 km north of Vienna, it was a short walk to the light rail station and a train into Vienna.

Day 7

Our last biking day. Heavy rain was forecast to arrive by early afternoon. The race was on!

The 55 km ride took us through villages, apricot orchards, and vineyards, past castles, monasteries, and ruins.

But first, a little Americana…

The storm hit about ten kilometers from Pöchlarn. Cycling in the rain doesn’t have to be miserable. “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad gear!”
By the time we reached the mooring spot, the rain had stopped. A riverside stand offered coffee, beer, and rich, creamy, best-ever soft-serve ice cream. An odd treat to cap a rainy ride, but we have learned it helps to be flexible.

Our last evening was bittersweet as we gathered before the farewell dinner.

Afterward, the crew surprised Ron with a birthday cake, and the best gift of all:

About the Author

Linda was born in the American mid-west and spent her adult years practicing law and raising her children on Florida’s east coast. She met her husband, North Carolinian Ron, on a ski trip in Colorado in 2010, and they have been on a non-stop adventure ever since, traveling, cycling, and making friends and memories all along the way!

Looking to create your own memories like Linda? Take a look at our Along the Danube - Four Country Tour or other tours on the SE-Manon.