into the eastern part of the Danube
Delighted to offer you a NEW fully guided version of the famous Danube Bike Trail. This tour visits no less than 5 countries: Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Serbia. And we sail on Romanian parts of the Danube as well, so you may count that in as well.
The river cruise ship Primadonna sails mainly during the night and lets us explore and cycle to the next destination during the day. The scenery changes every day and cycling is part following the Danube, part to and through the beautiful cities. Castles and beautiful villages and the great cities of Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna and Belgrad await us. Sometimes it is a round trip, returning to the ship at the same docking.
The ship we are on for our tour is an elegant and luxurious vessel. It’s a catamaran, all cabins have a river view and the upper and promenade deck offers bigger rooms with a balcony. You can always visit the front of the ship for a panoramic view from the bar area, or you enjoy the large sundeck. Indoor there is a jacuzzi and sauna, and great dining awaits you! As we will be with our small group, we will be seated together for breakfast and dinner. During the day we will go with our guide(s) and cycle. We invite you to be part of this new way of cruising and guided cycling!
The tour itself gives us the option to cycle on the most beautiful part of the Danube river, which stretches from the west of Germany and ends in the Black Sea! It’s a very popular bike path up until Vienna or Budapest and for most Europeans one you must have been on once, at least! So we are excited about taking you there to show you its beauty. On this particular departure, we will even go beyond that well-known path and go to the more off-the-beaten-path areas in Hungary and Serbia. Here we will experience the cultural differences between the west and the east! The Danube is a border for many countries, and we end at the Romanian part, at the Iron Gate.
Here the river separates the southern Carpathian Mountains from the northwestern foothills of the Balkan Mountains. On both sides, there are national parks, the Serbian side is even declared a Unesco global geopark. The gorge is very deep and narrow here, we will sail through it, turn around and be dropped off for a bike ride later on the day.
This trip takes us to places we have not been to before, so it will be an adventure. We know from previous experiences that the cycling infrastructure is the best in Austria, and everything outside of Austria is OK, but not always as smooth. But on this tour, it seems we are on cycle paths most of the time, so we expect this to be good!
In case you are looking for perfect cycling conditions, we would advise you to look at the Austrian Danube trip with the Primadonna. If you are in for more adventure and you want to explore the eastern part of Europe, this is your trip!
It certainly exceeds the other Danube trips, looking at the amount of time to spent on site seeing.
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Day-to-day
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Arrival at Passau, boarding the ship
We are welcome on board at the end of the afternoon. First, we will meet to go there between 3 and 4 pm at a location close to the Railway Station of Passau. From there we will go to the docking spot of the Primadonna, where we will check out our cabins and have our first dinner on board. Our guide(s) will welcome you and explain what’s ahead, talk about safe biking and other info about what’s to be expected in the upcoming days. The ship will start sailing while we are preparing to go to our first dinner and sails through the night
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Wachau: the most beautiful part of the Austrian Danube: Grein to Spitz 63 km
Our bikes will be fitted at Grein and off we go! Our first ride is a very good one: we cycle along the Danube and we can visit the Abbey of Melk, a Benedict Order still active. We will have a guided tour there, and continue cycling to Spitz to join the ship again.
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Bratislava 48 km
Today we will start with a walking tour in Bratislava, the capital of Slowakia. It is a charming town with a rich history due to its location in the former Hungarian/Austrian Empire.
After that we will go on a cycle trip to Danubia Meulenstein or to Devin and castle Hof.
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Puszta, the Hungarian Plain 58 km
Here we are in rural areas, after a visit of the Cathedral of Kalocsa. It is the famous cattle area, we hope to see horses as well. The ride is easy on mainly quiet country roads. Our goal for today is Baja, with a baroque city center.
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Belgrad 45 km
Today we can explore Belgrad and its surroundings on bike, or join a bus tour in the morning. There are cycle roads and even a cycle bridge to explore!
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Sailing through the Iron Gate, Cycling to Srebrno Jezero and back 41 km
Our day starts with our ship cruising through the Iron Gate, a small and deep gorge where the Karpathian Mountains meet the Balkan Mountains. After this impressive part of the Danube, the ship returns to Golubac, where we can visit the cathedral and start cycling to Silbersee (Srebrno Jezero) and back.
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Novi Sad 46 km
Once, this town was the capital of Southern Hungary, nowadays it is an important town in Serbia. The historic buildings remind us of former days. It offers nice cycling options, we will ride on car-free roads to a restaurant, and back to the ship.
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Mohacs
We are now at the border of Serbia and Hungary, here we have the option to go cycling through the national park and visit a former battlefield, or we go on a bus excursion to Pecs, a (now) baroque city, with a rich history. It started as a Roman settlement and became an important town in this southern part of Hungary. The University was founded in the 16th century, and was the 5th in Europe. Later the Ottomans took over, and ruled for 120 years. After they left, Serbs and Germans moved into the abandoned city and started building in the baroque style, so popular in the 18th century. Maria Theresia was of importance by giving the town special rights.
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Budapest 24 k
The capital of Hungary consists of two parts, divided by the Danube: Buda and Pest. We can cycle on cycle paths, so we will use our bike to go site seeing!
In the afternoon the ship starts sailing again to have a short stop in Visegrad at 8 pm.
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Hainburg - Vienna 56 km
We will be back in Austria in the course of the morning, passing Bratislava, and will cycle to Vienna today! The cycling will start around 12 am so this morning you have time to relax.
Through the Nationalpark Donau-Auen (56 km), we will cycle along the Danube (Donau in German!) and follow the cycle path on the Danube Island to get to the docking of the Primadonna to the south of Vienna. Dinner will be served late. We might decide to go into the city and have some food there!
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Vienna
A whole day in Vienna! We are expected back at the ship at 6 pm.
We will offer a cycle tour into the city, which is a very special experience, since it is a cycle path next to the original Danube, with no stoplights at all. You cycle very safely into the heart of the city, from where you can walk to all the highlights! We will guide you until lunchtime, and you can spend the rest of the day at your own convenience and cycle back to the ship at around 5 pm.
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Mauthausen - Linz 39 km
Mauthausen, yes, that is the name of a town but also of a concentration camp of the Nazis in WWII. We will pay a visit to commemorate.
We will arrive at Mauthausen in the course of the morning. After the visit to the camp, a ferry will take us to the other side of the river, from where we will cycle to the oldest town in Austria and onwards to Linz. We have the afternoon to do so. This is our last day of cycling!
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Passau, auf wiedersehen!
The last night on board brings us back to Passau, where all the fun started. Passau itself is definitely worth spending another day, but between 8.00 and 10.00 we need to disembark. If all goes according to plan, a bus takes us to the train station, where we will arrive at around 10 am.
Looking back on 13 days of cruising and cycling on the prettiest river of all, the impressive Danube, following its path through 5 countries.
Photos
Accommodations
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Our rivercruise ship the PRIMADONNA
The PRIMADONNA is a beautiful fully updated river cruise ship. It can take up to 160 guests and has options on different levels of cabins and comfort. The standard cabins we offer as a price example offer two low beds and a small window. Like on the IRIS more or less. There are upgrades available to more spacious cabins on the Promenade and Upper Deck which offers cabins with a small balcony and wall to ceiling sliding doors.
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Standard cabin
The PRIMADONNA has 4 levels of cabins on offer. You can check the different prices at “what’s included and optional”.
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Superior cabins on Upper and Promenade Deck
Upgrades possible to Upper and Promenade Deck
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INDOOR Jacuzzi
Every cabin gets one free Hydro Jet treatment and also one free Beard Shave per cabin.
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Outdoor Jacuzzi
A nice way to spend some time on the ship at the sundeck
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Days where we will see our ship sailing
our group on its way to the next stop!
Please ask for our info sheet about the trip to know all about the details of the ship, the cabin, the services and the inclusions!
On this tour, offered by BikePlanet Tours on the PRIMADONNA, the following is included:
Welcome snack on arrival
12 days of sailing, breakfast buffet (American style), lunch/packed lunch and 4-course dinners on PRIMADONNA
Afternoon tea/coffee on board including Kuchen (cakes!), in case we are there on time (4 pm)
Daily midnight snack at the Panorama bar
2 hydro jet massages of 15 minutes per cabin for 1 guest. And 1 free beard shave or hair wash and dry.
City tours: in Vienna, Belgrade, Novi Sad, Budapest, Bratislava
Guided tours in the Monastery of Melk, the Dom in Kalocsa, the Palace of the Bishop in Kalosca, the Emperor’s Castle in Eckartsau and the Abbey of St. Florian.
Excursion to Pecs with a guided city tour
1 Tour guide for 18 guests, cycling with the guests + maps
Panniers, waterbottles and helmets
OTHER CABINS:
The price mentioned on this tour page is the price for a Standard Cabin on the Main Deck. The window can’t open on the lower part of the ship.
There are two more spacious cabins with a balcony and floor-to-ceiling doors: the Promenade Deck and the Upper Deck. The Upper Deck is below the Promenade Deck and above the Main Deck.
The pricing in 2023:
Standard cabin Main Deck (mid/front)
(sharing a double cabin) per person € 2400.–
Deluxe cabin Upper Deck
(sharing a double cabin) per person € 3400.–
Deluxe cabin Promenade Deck
(sharing a double cabin) per person € 3550,-
SINGLE-USE PRICES:
Standard cabin Main Deck (mid/front) € 3165
Deluxe cabin Upper € 5220
Deluxe cabin Promenade Deck € 5400
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE REGULAR BIKE RENT IS INCLUDED,
AND THE RENT OF E-BIKES IS 150 EURO EXTRA.
ORDER AHEAD OTHERWISE THIS CAN NOT BE GUARANTEED.
Optional:
You are allowed to bring your own (regular or e-) bike to the ship.