Danube by bike, following EuroVelo 6 - self-guided

The trip starts at your hotel in Belgrade, a 3 star hotel in the city centre. Booking an extra-night is possible to enjoy the city before your ride.

The bikes are coming, so get ready to hop in the saddle! Today you start the bike ride on the Danube, the second longest river in Europe that was once the border of the Roman Empire. You will spend the night in the city of Smederevo, host of a mighty fortress and an appealing centre to explore. ~65 km. B

You will continue our cycle day on the Danube, admiring this majestic river which ran through so many countries before arriving here and assaulting the mountains. The flat ground slowly starts to turn hilly as you approach the gorges. But for the time being you will end the day going through a very green area. ~55 km. B

The day will start with a short bike ride and a very interesting ferry crossing of the big river, in a small ferry. Once on the other side you will resume following its course until reaching an impressive fortress sandwiched between the steep hillside and the river: Golubac Fortress or the Devil’s Fortress. You will spend the night in the town just before it. ~45 km. B

There come the gorges. Continuing to cycle along the Danube, you might expect it to be agitated and torrent-like as it enters the gorges, but you will find it calm and still. In the 1970s, the Romanian and Yugoslav (at the time) governments decided to build a dam on the Danube in order to increase electricity production and also to make the river easily navigable. This is what we call today the Iron Gates. You will see the results of this all through the day when riding along the shore of this reservoir created by the dam downstream. On the way, a treat: the possibility to visit the archaeological museum at Lepenski Vir, a Paleolithic site with exquisite items to see, just on the river shore. After going through several tunnels, the end of the ride today will find you in a small town tucked at the mouths of a tributary to the big river. ~55 km. B

On through the gorges, the river will turn wider, looking more like a big lake: a sign that you get near the dam. After passing by the second such big stretch of water, lake-like, you have to imagine that in the middle of the river there used to be an island where a traditional and very conservative community of Turks used to live before the dam was built and the island submerged: Ada Kaleh. You will carry on an slowly the valley will become more open, the slopes will turn smoother and you will see the big dam to the left. A straight and flat road on will take you to the end of the ride in Kladovo. A small town and with a dozen or so of small restaurants and joints selling the pljeskavica, a rich, hamburger-like sandwich. ~65 km. B

This morning you will return the bicycles and the tour will end with a transfer across the river and border to Drobeta plus a train ticket to Bucharest. If however you wish to carry on cycling, you have the option of carrying on along the Danube from Simian (border crossing transfer needed from Kladovo to Simian) to Calafat - Turnu Magurele - Giurgiu, or of having a transfer back to Belgrade. B