We recorrer Danube River, the longest river in Europe from the beginning to the end and passing through big imperial cities such as Vienna and Budapest.
We start our route in Donaueschingen, at the birth of the Danube river, we will use the 1200 km long greenway to get oriented, but we will have to abandon it occasionally in order to visit some of the different monuments in the way.
Even thought it is not a ver difficult trip, there are some parts of it, like the entrance in Vienna, which can be messy and is not well signposted, so it is better to hav a GPS or a guide near by.
The trip can be divided in 3 different sections: from Donaueschingen to Passau, from Passau to Vienna, from Vienna to Budapest.
During our trip we will be able to see incredible forests, lovely small towns and a lot of places to stop, rest a bit, and go on with the adventure.
In our first setcion, from Donaueschingen to Passau, we will be able to visit the Source of the Danube, a beautiful round monument where the river starts, by the confluence of two minor rivers: the Birgach and the Breg.
Ulm is, for the visitor, an unknown city, but once you get there and get to know its streets and people, you don’t want to leave aymore. Moreover, its spectacular protestant church, the glorious townhall and the lovely white and wooden houses make you realise not everything is as simple at it seems.
In this German adventure we will be lucky enough to visit Regensburg, a beautiful little city which keeps all the charm of the Bavarian cities and where it is located the Monument of the Walhalla, in honour of the Germanic Laureate People and whose model was the Greek Parthenon and Saint Peter’s Cathedral, one of the most perfect examples of German gothic architecture. Another interesting place to visit, yet not very known, is the City Theatre, whose decoration seem to locate us in any of the big Opera Houses in Europe.
Then, we will reach Passau, the house of the biggest organ in Europe and the Museum of the toy, which will make travelling with kids (and not that kid anymore) easier.
Once we have visited Passau, tasted the wonderful German sausages and its beer, we start our trip to Austria, until we reach one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, Vienna.
During our trip to Vienna, it would be very enlightening to pay a visit por the concetration camp of Mauthausen near the city of Linz, one of the biggest in Europe and where nearly 10.200 people died in their gas cameras and 3.000 of them after suffering from being showed under cold water for hours. This monument is now remembrance of the human cruelty and an example of what should not be repeated by the next generations.
After some kilometers, we reach to Vienna, imperial city and delight for evry visitor of the city, not only because of its lovely coffeesor its famous Opera where the ‘maestro’ Mozart played several times, but also for its incredible palaces, like the Belvedere, the Schönbrunn and the Hofburg. Also, it is very beautiful to see the monument in honor of Mozart, the incredible Austrian musician and composer.
In our last stage, we will have to travel the 370 km from Viena until we reach another one of the imperial cities in Europe which is Budapest. This city is very impressive, yet the people may seem a little bit cold and grumpy, but you can easily fall in love with its beautiful bridges which keep the ancient cities of Buda and Pest united, like the Birdge of the Chains, the Buda Castle or, if you want to see something really impressive, the incredible Hugarian Parliament, crowned by 365 spectacular towers and whose view from any of the river cruises at night is fascinating.
Also, is this city we will be able to relax due to the high amount of thermal waters the city has, the most famous one are the baths in the Hotel Gellért, and is also an incredible ocassion to get lost within the narrow streets of the Jewish neigbourhood, just next to the incredible sinagoge.
Germany, Austria and Hungary have a very interesting gastronomy, in germany the huga variety of sausages is a must-taste for food lovers, meanwhile in Vienna the most delicious dishes like the Apfelstrudel and the famous Sacher cake are desserts. Finally in Budapest, stews like goulash halászle are the stars, as well as goose pâte and tokaji wine.
All the three main cities have very good public transportation structures, specially their underground structures. In Budapest, for example, there are stations from 1891which are still working daily.
