Down the Danube

There is a traffic free bike lane that runs the length of the Danube river from Passau, Germany all the way into Hungary. Alot of people rave on about it. It certainly is pretty in parts ,but not everywhere. It passes through all kinds of annoying diversions, through a nudist area east of Wien and even skirts an oil refinery. Anybody can try it at any level, any daily distance. I passed old ladies, little kids and entire families as I cycled down and some of the old ladies were even as fast as me. Love it or hate it I'm glad it exists. As a quick, easy and safe way to cover distance you can't beat it but after 4 days stroking the pedals down flat, endless bike path I was glad to get off. At least you can garuntee a wash every night.





















































Slovak at last. I wasn't plannng on stopping in Bratislava but after seeing it from the border with Austria I was intrigued.
I was glad I did stop there. It's a great little city. You can cycle right off the Danube into the centre without facing any traffic..in how many capital cities is that possible? Historic, beautiful, colourful, not too busy and nice people. If you haven't been yet.....go there.





































The Slovak half of the Danube bike path is alot different from the Austrian side. Gone are all the tourists. Infact everything is gone. You will not see car or person for hours at a time. The occasional boat goes down the river. The view up the canal is endless and after 6 hrs of cycling out of Bratislava I could still see the city on the horizon behind me. At this point I'm thinking, why am am leaving Bratislava if it's so good? I guess its an obessive need to cover distance.