Hi, My partner and I are in the planning stages for a bike ride from Budapest to Paris (2015). We would love to hear from anyone that may have done this ride before or has a suggestion on a route to take, We have been looking at the Eurovela Route 6 because it is the only one we have found a so far.
We intend to hire or buy our bikes on arrival in Budapest - anyone have a favourite bike shop they can recommend.
Many thanks Jenny and Adam
Budapest to Paris
Thu, 2014-08-14 00:12
#1
WS Member
Budapest to Paris
Hi Jenny & Adam,
try this page:
http://radreise-wiki.de/Radfernweg
The E 6 is maybe the shortest and flatest connection. Mostly at the river Danube. It depends of Your most interests. Cities? Mountains? Culture? Sports?
Good ride Sebastian
Thanks for your feedback. We are not our to break any records or push ourselves to hard. We definately want to see a mix of scenery but the "flatest route" sound pretty inviting to me.
Any ideas how many Kilometres in total?
Jenny
Hi Jenny, I can offer a few comments. This route is one of the more popular Eurovelos. The section Vienna to Passau is especially busy in the summer and is probably one of the most popular bike routes in Europe. (Though I cannot say, I have never ridden it)
However, I did do most of the EV6 in France a few years ago and it was very nice. Plenty of services focused just on cyclists.
In general, the route follows rivers, meaning very flat and after many days of riding, might get a bit boring with just waterside scenery. On my trip through France, I was not keen to ride into the mountains in the south. After 2 months, I finally decided to and that region ended up being the most beautiful and rewarding.
Here is a great map/guide to the cycle routes in Germany:
http://www.germany.travel/en/leisure-and-recreation/cycling/cycling.html
The route from Munich across the south of Germany is nice, but river. Black Forest is nice as well and would require a detour. Lake Constance in the very south of Germany is also pretty.
If you are just coming from the UK, why not just bring your bikes along with you?
Hi,
as we live on EV 6 we also find it sometimes boring following the river - why don't you combine serveral EVs eg from Vienna to Prague http://www.eurovelo.com/en/eurovelos
One idea: in Europe the wind is mostly from west to east - do you really want to start in Budapest and go west?
Greetings
Michaela
Thanks Michaela for your feedback.
we will try and mix the ride up a bit and use a few of the other routes if we can and yes we have been warned about the head wind but we have our hearts set on riding ino Paris to finish the trip.
I guess it will test our fitness.
Jenny
Hi, Jenny and Adam. My wife and I and good friend have recently completed a ride from Istanbul to Paris, going through Budapest on the way. Our journal is at
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/sealby2014
We followed Eurovelo 6 nearly all the way and loved it. Yes, it's quite flat and easy and not as spectacular as going over mountains but it is beautiful all the same. The prevailing winds are against you, so be prepared for a gentle headwind most days and occasionally stronger. We loved Budapest, maybe our favourite city on the whole route. We didn't ride directly to Paris. Eurovelo 6 continues along the Loire Valley (think all those beautiful chateaux!) to the Atlantic coast. We then took a train up to Bayeux and cycled into Paris from there, via Dieppe.
We had our bikes serviced in Budapest. I can't remember its name but it's in Dozsa Gyorgy Way, opposite the big city park. It's in the corner of a building and downstairs after you walk through the gates from the footpath. The staff there speak excellent English and were very reasonable, ie cheap, in their charging for the service. They rent bicycles there but I would think it's only for riding around Budapest. They also sell bikes. I would recommend them from my experience, though that's not to say there are not other reputable bike shops in Budapest.
Wow thanks for the information. The details on the Bike shop are great and as we will need to buy our bikes it is good to have a shop that is recommended.
I can't wait to get onto your web site and read about your travels. How long was your journey.?
We appreciate you taking the time to respond.
All the best,
Jenny
Our trip from Istanbul to Paris took almost 3 months. Probably just under 2 months from Budapest to Paris but it would have been less if we'd gone directly there, instead of going all the way to the Atlantic coast before heading back to Paris. We stayed at the Silver City Hotel in Budapest. It was a reasonable price for a capital city. I think 3 of us shared a room for 60 Euros. It's quite central and about 15 minutes walk from that bike shop. We booked it on the recommendation of some touring cyclists we'd met earlier.
Hi Joe,
I've had a read of your travels and got some good tips and ideas. Thanks it was interesting reading.
Were you able to buy a detailed comprehensive map covering the EV6? I've been searching for months and can't seem to find anything that covers the lot. Seems to be books for each section but we don't want to have to carry 5 or 6 books. Or is there a I Book or maps that we can download?
I tracked your blog and worked out it was approx 2400km from Budapest to Orleans where we will head north to Paris.
Happy travels.
Jenny
Hi, Jenny and Adam. The short answer to your question is 'no', we didn't have maps of the entire EV6 route. I had a set of the maps of the French section, ie Basel to Atlantic coast, but unfortunately left them at home. When we left Budapest we were flying blind, just trying to navigate by using the bike path signs. I became frustrated because of inconsistent signage, so when I saw a family coming from the opposite direction I stopped and asked them about their route. It turned out that they lived in Budapest and no longer needed the map they were carrying, which covered Budapest to Vienna. I offered to post it back to them but Lazlo declined. I think I still have it at home. I can check and post it to you, if you would like. This experience was repeated a couple more times. Cyclists who had finished with maps for particular sections passed them on to other cyclists.
Just before we left Hungary we ran into an American/Australian couple who volunteered their Bikeline book of the Vienna to Passau section. They had been looking for someone they could pass it on to. Then in Passau we ran into an Irish guy and a Dutch family who gave us maps and a Bikeline book to get to Donaueschingen. We were mindful to try to pass these resources onto other cyclists who may have needed them. In Donaueschingen we had to find a map that would get us down to Schaffhausen on the Rhine River. I visited a bookshop and found a map of southern Germany that had all the bike paths marked on it, so we were able to ride that section on bike paths and quiet roads. This got us to Basel, and once there, I was able to find a bookshop with the same set of EV6 maps as the set I'd left at home.
Other cities that had bookshops with Bikeline books of the EV6 route were Passau and Regensburg. So my long answer is that you don't need to carry maps of the whole route. You will find bookshops along the way and you will experience the camaraderie of fellow cyclists, who will pass on to you resources that they are finished with. I hope this helps.