Product Description

A Cicerone guide to cycling the Danube Cycle Way from Donauschingen in Bavaria to Budapest. The most popular holiday cycle touring route in Europe takes cyclists along the route of the Danube river covering 1350km, in 20 stages, mainly on dedicated cycle tracks. Suitable for all abilities and ages. All route-finding and accommodation information included. Best suited seasons - Generally Easter to October. July and August can be very busy, with scarce accommodation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68778 in Books
• Brand: Cicerone
• Published on: 2006-06-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 168 pages

Review
The guide is clearly set out. Every place passed through is mentioned, together with essential information regarding facilities available. The guide provides a good source of information on which to plan your trip, and is small enough to carry with you. All that may be needed to add are some road maps to allow for excursions from the well-marked way.' Cycling World magazine / October 2006

About the Author
John Higginson has been a long-distance fell walker for many years. Having been a keen cyclist in his youth, he took up long-distance cycling in Europe a few years after he retired from the post of headmaster of a Cheshire primary school. He is now a writer and lecturer. He and his wife Andrea, who have also cycled both south-to-north and east-to-west across France and the length of the medieval pilgrimage route from Le Puy in France to Santiago de Compostela in north-west Spain, spent more than a year researching the historical traditions and the geography of the Danube Cycle Way before embarking on the journey that is described in this book.

Customer Reviews

A great journey
My girlfriend and I cycled from Passau to Budapest in 2006. We took only this book, the Bikeline map, a tent, and hired bikes in Vienna. The route is very flat and well maintained (on the Austrian side), suitable for all levels of cyclist. We had a great time and would recommend it to anyone.

Mr Higginson has done a fine job of covering the journey. Every village you pass through on the way has at least a couple of paragraphs dedicated to it, briefly describing the history of the town, sites to see, places to stay and eat, and maps for the larger towns. There are many interesting things to see along the route, so pace yourself - you could easily spend a whole week in Vienna alone!

There are a few minor inaccuracies in the book due to recent changes. Currency isn't a big problem - Euros and credit cards are usable in Austria and Bratislava, and there are plenty of ATMs. After crossing the border into Hungary the book warns that you will have no opportunity to get Hungarian Forints; the first town you pass through now has an ATM. The exit from Gyor is described as being unsignposted - now someone has helpfully slapped navigation arrows along a series of lampposts. The route into Budapest is described as being a "nightmare" through dangerous roads filled with busy traffic - now there is now a pleasant cycle route from Obuda into the heart of Budapest, which conveniently passes the Obuda campsite.

I only have minor criticisms of the book itself. The photos are too dark (cloudy/poor lighting). The focus is often on the local church and other historical attractions; it misses some of the more exciting attractions like outdoor water parks that may be interesting to younger cyclists. Maybe something for the 2nd edition!

Good in parts
I have just cycled from Vienna to Budapest using this book as my only guide. This is not enough! As in fairness the author does point out. A decent set of maps of the region will save you from the kind of navigational error that can cause morale to drop on a days touring.

The sections on border crossings are now out of date. Much of the route is now signed as European long distance route 6. No mention of this is made in the text.

The two main deficiencies I found were the lack of anything other than the most basic of maps and the habit in the text of referring to to a navigational point on the route without giving any context. The reader is left wondering if the vital left turn is 1 mile, 5 miles to 10 miles up the road. Perhaps the photographs of churches and rural scenes could have been replaced by some aerial images from Google earth showing the route.

Despite this it is a good little book. Some nice descriptive touches and generally good route and accommodation advice. Its modest size being a bonus, as one can cycle with it a pocket and with the odd wobble refer to it on the fly.