I'm currently very much leaning toward switching the trip to the Moselle (but will need to see what my co-travelers want to do as well), and will email you when you return in November. Thanks for the recommendations!
The Po Valley in northern Italy is pancake flat. Lots of history and AMAZING food. If for some reason you need to bail on a day of riding, the rail network is excellent.
Apologies if this is sounding like a broken record, but the Danube was the first place to cross my mind, as well. To travel with the flow, which I assume is with a tailwind, you will want to travel in an easterly direction. We rode in the westerly direction, against the flow of cyclists. The only thing I’d be wary of is its popularity. It might be over-subscribed? The Mosell is another thought, also very nice to cycle.
Happy planning,
Anne
I held off replying because you've had a bunch of good input. But I've got to agree with Anne, above. The Danube is a great choice for a flat ride. We did it a few years ago, from Passau to Vienna and there's a journal on this site that covers our trip.
It's really, really flat, unless you choose to ride up the sides of the river valley. There's very little car traffic and the bike path is in great condition. The infrastructure was great - bike ferries when you need to cross the river, benches to take a break (with trash cans!), and restaurants and cafes all along the route.
We used a company (Austria Radreisen) that booked the hotels, handled baggage transfer, and handled transport from Vienna back to Passau where we left our car. We did the ride on our own tandem, but they can also provide e-bikes. The price seemed remarkably low to us.
There ARE a lot of people who do this ride, but we never felt crowded or pushed. We did the ride in early June. I think if you were to do the ride in mid-summer it might be busier. If it were me, I'd aim for an early September ride - after school has restarted in Germany but before the colder, wetter weather starts.
Brent, have you biked that stretch recently? My wife and I did the Danube to Budapest in 2019, and it was scary, primarily because of the lack of bike path east and west of Esztergom, which forced us to ride on the busy Highway 11, something I have no interest in ever doing again.
Like I said, it was 4 years ago we did it, so the Hungarian authorities may have completed the bike path system since then. If so, my criticism is no longer valid.
We rode it in 2011 but I don't remember bad traffic. But I don't remember our route, either.
Mark, I wrote an article on flat routes in hilly Europe on Crazy Guy a few years ago. You might find it interesting.
https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3d2&doc_id=13669&v=2u
I don't bother with Crazy Guy anymore, so missing from the article is the best ride I have ever had. After biking to Budapest, we took the train to Graz, Austria, then rode through the Austrian Alps from there to Salzburg. In a nutshell,
1. Bike up the Mur from Graz to Bruck and on to St. Michael on the Mur radweg.
2. At St. Michael, ride up the Austrian bike route R15 over Schober Pass (amazingly level) and down to the Enns River.
3. Bike up the Enns River to Radstadt.
4. Use bike paths to find your way to Eben im Pongau.
5. Ride Austrian Highway 99 to reach the Tauern River. This sounds scary, but it wasn't too bad because #99 parallels a motorway, so most traffic takes that and it is about 25 kilometres of downhill, so you aren't on it very long.
6. Ride beside the Tauern into Salzburg.
The trip took about a week. When we rode it I was thinking I would include it in my Crazy Guy article, so I watched how often I used my granny gear; I needed it a few times, but mostly for about 100 meters at a time; the longest one was 500 m.
NB! This route was NOT flat, it just didn't have any serious uphill sections. I am sure it would not be as enjoyable going in the other direction.
Thanks, Bob. I took a look at the routes and it looks like you've done your research. Very helpful information!
Thank you for confirming my point, John! However, when we left Nijmegen it was a bit chaotic with the “unawares” in the road, and bike lanes. Must have been something about that “famous bridge” which causes tourists to stop and gawk. The Velorama museum directly across the street is worth visiting if you wish to escape crowds.
1 year ago