Countries visited: Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine
Cycled mileage in August: 1,568.9km
Cycled mileage per country: 13.3km Italy, 352.1km Slovenia, 65.7km Austria, 195.9km Hungary, 337.5km Slovakia, 119.7km Czech Republic, 436.8km Poland, 47.9km Ukraine
Total cycled mileage incl. August: 55,762.7km
August mileage not cycled 219.6km (walking, train)
Days per country: 2d - Italy, 7d - Slovenia, 1d - Austria, 2d - Hungary, 8d - Slovakia, 3d - Czech Republic, 7d - Poland, 1d - Ukraine
Days cycling: 22d
Technical failures: 1 Tyre, 1 Chain Connector
Link to this month's route
On July 31st we had arrived in Trieste in the very north-east of Italy. Our dear friend Elisabetta had invited us to visit her and we had kicked off our visit with a night out at an Osmiza, sort of a seasonal restaurant serving home-made food and wine.
After breakfast the next morning Elisabetta took us out to her favourite cafe where we learnt about yet another Italian coffee speciality – Schiumato, an espresso topped with milk foam. From the cafe we went into the picturesque old town of Trieste. Right in its centre lies the impressive Piazza Unità d'Italia. From the Piazza we continued to the Roman theatre at the foot of the San Giusto Hill. While Elisabetta returned home we climbed up the hill to see the remains of the San Giusto Castle and the adjacent Cathedral of Trieste. Both were quite worthwhile as was the view from the top of the hill! In the early afternoon we returned to Elisabetta's flat and were treated to some delicious lunch. The weather was still scorchingly hot and Elisabetta had recommended to go for a swim to the La Lanterna beach, a small stretch of beach near the city centre. We followed the recommendation and had an enjoyable afternoon swimming in the Mediterranean. In the evening we met up again and went out to taste the best pizzas in town. And delicious they were! We rounded off the day with some more chatting and went to bed way too late.
Initially we had planned to continue our journey the next morning but it was raining when we woke up and it basically kept raining for the rest of the day. Elisabetta invited us to stay and we happily accepted.
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| Exploring Trieste together with Elisabetta |
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| Piazza Unità d'Italia |
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| View from San Giusto Castle |
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| La Lanterna beach |
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| One last pizza in Italy |
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| Evening stroll with Elisabetta |
The next morning the weather was back to sunny. We had breakfast together with Elisabetta, had one last coffee together at a nearby cafe and then Elisabetta saw us off. Trieste is right at the Italian – Slovenian border and we headed straight to the border crossing. There was a fair bit of climbing but eventually we reached the end of our Italian adventure. After more than four month and nearly 6,000 cycled kilometres it was time to say Arrivederci Italia!
The first few kilometres in Slovenia were still sunny but soon clouds appeared. When the first rain started we found shelter at a bus stop. The rain continued for half an hour or so. For the rest of the afternoon it remained cloudy with on-and-off rain showers. Still we continued to Predjama Castle and when we got there the sun broke through for a few minutes. Predjama Castle had been a recommendation from Elisabetta and it was totally worth it. A stunning renaissance castle built within the mouth of a natural cave. From the castle we continued towards nearby Postojna. On the way there we came across sort of a folk festival. We didn't really understand what was going on but the fact that there were food stalls with traditional dishes were reason enough to stop. It was delicious! Just when we left the festival another rain shower started. There wasn't much shelter anyway and so we just powered on. Eventually we reached Postojna and called it a day.
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| Arrivederci Italia! |
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| First kilometres in Slovenia |
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| Waiting out a rain shower |
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| Predjama Castle |
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| Folk festival on the way to Postojna |
We got an early start and soon after leaving town we reached the landscape park Rak Škocjan, a rugged river valley with interesting rock formations and dense forest. Even when we left the park things didn't get boring. The terrain remained undulating with forests, small villages and picturesque churches. In the late afternoon we reached the outskirts of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana. On the flat road into town Dominik noticed a weird noise from his rear wheel. On closer inspection there was a blister on the side of his rear tyre. The same one we had bought about 1,500 kilometres earlier in Italy. Bummer! With drastically reduced air pressure we managed to reach our accommodation in a student's hostel that rented out rooms to tourists during holidays. It was Sunday so there wasn't much we could do to find a new tyre and so we just spent the rest of the day relaxing in our room.
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| Ruins of a church in Rak Škocjan |
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| Cycling towards Ljubljana |
After breakfast the next morning we went to a number of bike shops in the suburbs of Ljubljana and ultimately we found a suitable replacement for Dominik's rear tyre. Back at the hostel we installed the tyre, gave both bikes a quick service and in the early afternoon they were just about roadworthy again. The rest of the day we spent strolling around the historic centre of Ljubljana. We had been in the Slovenian capital before when tourism was just about to take off. There were so many more tourists this time around! We wandered around aimlessly, took some pictures of the famous Triple Bridge, the Town Square and the Baroque Town Hall. In the evening we returned to our accommodation and prepared everything for an early start the next day.
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| Changing Dominik's rear tyre |
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| Ljubljana old town |
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| Triple Bridge |
We actually did get an early start and soon we had left Ljubljana behind. The route we were following was part of the Eurovelo network and genuinely pleasant to cycle. Little traffic and beautiful nature. Only downside was the undulating terrain which made cycling physically challenging. After more than 100 kilometres we eventually reached the town of Celje, found somewhere to camp in the outskirts and called it a day.
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| Cycling to Celje |
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During the night there was a bit of rain and the next morning also started rather overcast. We had to wait for our tent to dry and didn't leave particularly early. It didn't matter anyway as we were aiming for Maribor which was only 70 kilometres away. The route was less pleasant than the day before. There was more traffic but at least the terrain was mostly flat and we made good progress. In the early afternoon we reached town and checked in to another student's hostel. We dumped our stuff in the room and then we set off to explore Maribor. There was a picturesque old town with the usual selection of churches and historic town houses which made for a nice backdrop of what we found the most amazing landmark: Stara Trta, the world's oldest vine. Planted over 400 years ago it still bears fruits which are used to make a – reportedly - rather mediocre wine.
We had planned to cycle on the next morning but when we woke up it was bucketing down. Luckily we could extend our stay. For the rest of the day we mostly stayed indoor and used the fast internet to stream TV.
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| Maribor old town |
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| Stara Trta, the world's oldest vine |
The next morning we continued from Maribor pretty much straight to the border – with Austria in that case. And borders pretty much remained the prime topic for the next three days as we partly followed the Iron Curtain Cycle Trail. From Slovenia we went to Austria, cycled through the endless pumpkin fields of Styria region and spent the night in the spa town Bad Radkersburg.
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| Crossing into Austria |
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| Pumpkin fields in Styria region |
We briefly returned to Slovenia the next day and ended up in Hungary in the early afternoon where we changed pumpkin fields for sunflowers. For the night we resorted to a paid camping ground where the owner insisted we paid more than a caravan because our tent would damage the grass more than a caravan would. Well, to use Mark Twain's words - “Never argue with stupid people'.
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| Next border - Hungary |
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| Changing pumpkins for sunflowers |
The next day didn't bring any border crossings as we stayed in Hungary for a rather uneventful day. In the afternoon we passed through Szombathely, Hungary's 10th largest city. After a coffee break in town we couldn't find the motivation to continue much further and called it a day when we reached a motel that had been recommended to us as brilliant value for money.
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| Cycling rural Hungary |
The next morning we briefly returned into Austria before we cycled back into Hungary to visit Sopron. Not only does the town feature a remarkable well-preserved medieval centre, it also was a rather important place in Germany's recent history. While the Iron Curtain was already crumbling in late 1989, the so called 'Pan-European Picnic' was held near Sopron. During that event a border gate between Hungary and Austria was to be opened for three hours. More than 600 East Germans used the opportunity and fled to the West. Today these events are thought to be a major milestone on the road to German reunification.
From Sopron we continued once again back into Austria. We were now in the region Burgenland, famous for its wine-growing tradition. Most of the afternoon we were cycling along vineyards. Eventually we reached a community-run camping ground and called it a day. The lady at the reception even donated two cans of ice-cold beer. Just when we were preparing dinner the wind started to pick up. There was no rain nor a thunderstorm but strong gusts kept blowing throughout the night.
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| Exploring Sopron |
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The wind was still fairly strong the next morning. Needless to say it was headwind. The going was tough but the forecast was for heavy rain in the afternoon and we still had 70 kilometres to get to Bratislava. It was a slog but eventually we reached the Slovakian border. The outskirts of Bratislava basically started right after the border and soon we could see the Nový Most ('New Bridge'). The bridge connects the modern part of town with the historic centre and is a quintessential landmark of the Slovakian capital. Actually we had last seen this landmark more than three years ago at the beginning of our journey. Which made Bratislava the first place in Europe where we crossed our own tracks. We continued across the bridge and into the old town. When we got there we were shocked about how touristy everything had become. Before we had embarked on this bicycle journey we had been avid backpackers. Bratislava had always been one of our favourites and we had visited it quite often over the course of the last decade. It had always had a charming authenticity to it but now we felt like all of it had been sacrificed on the altar of mass tourism. Being tourists ourselves we were obviously in a weak position to complain but still we felt disappointed. Instead of taking a hostel in the crowded city centre we elected for staying in a Soviet-day holiday park in the outskirts. We checked in to a cosy – if slightly ramshackle – wooden hut and soon later the forecasted storm broke loose.
It rained throughout most of the night and we figured it had been a wise decision to take a day off the next day. We didn't do much at all except for some shopping in a nearby supermarket.
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| Slovakian border |
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| Nový Most |
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| Bratislava |
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| Sleeping in a wooden hut in Bratislava |
The next morning it was back to sunny and we got an early start. Right at the edge of town lies a nature reserve and conveniently there was a bicycle trail leading right though it. Less convenient was the fact that there was quite a bit of uphill as well. Still we made good progress and by early afternoon we had left the nature reserve behind and were back on a secondary road. For a secondary road there was a lot of traffic and unfortunately most drivers couldn't be bothered to give us space. It was quite unpleasant cycling and when the evening approached we were eager to call it a day. But things didn't go to plan. At that point we were cycling through open fields and we just couldn't find anywhere to set up camp really. According to our map there were some guesthouses in the next village and we settled for staying indoors. At the first guesthouse a grumpy lady made us wait. What for we didn't know and she spoke no English. After 15 minutes we asked what was going on. She replied something we didn't understand and showed us a room rate that was ten Euros higher than what she had initially offered. We got a bit angry and she told us to wait again. After a few minutes we approached her once more and she gave us a price that was yet ten Euros higher than before. We looked at her in disbelief and left. At the next guesthouse nobody answered the bell. Strangely we saw somebody moving about behind the windows. We rang them up up on a phone number we found on the door but whoever answered the call hung up after a few seconds, called us back and then again hung up after a few seconds. We continued to another location where we were told that they were booked out. Which left us with one last guesthouse in the village. A sign asked to phone them. We did and they immediately replied they were booked out. Conveniently that guesthouse was the only one that was also on booking.com and so knew there was one room available. We confronted the owner with this fact and he reluctantly gave us the room. What a struggle! In hindsight we wondered if people had mistaken us for refugees given how used and dirty our bikes looked. Whatever the reasons, we were pretty fed up with Slovakia at that point.
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| Cycling a nature reserve near Bratislava |
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| On our way through Slovakia |
The next morning things had brightened up a bit. Or rather our mood did. The weather was still rather changeable and for the first time in a while it was almost too cold. The landscape remained exceptionally nice with rolling hills, rivers and every now and then we would pass picturesque castles and villages. This scenery remained pretty much the same for this day and the next and we quite enjoyed the cycling. On the afternoon of the second day we reached Trenčín. We found a camping ground on an island of the Váh River. After setting up camp we returned to the old town. It was quite a picturesque collection of historic houses gathered around a large square and topped by a medieval castle. We rounded off the day with a few cold beers at the camping ground.
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| Sooo many castles in Slovakia |
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| On the way to Trenčín |
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| Exploring Trenčín |
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| Trenčín old town |
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| Trenčín castle |
Despite the beers we got an early start. Our sleep hadn't been particularly good as we both seemed to have caught a cold. After the pleasant cycling during the last two days we had been optimistic about the way to Žilina but unfortunately it became quite a slog. We didn't feel all too fit and the traffic was rather crazy. On a particularly narrow stretch of road the oncoming traffic was queuing behind a stopped bus when suddenly the driver of an SUV decided this was just the right place to overtake the waiting cars. The SUV hurtled towards us and missed us by just a few centimetres. We just couldn't believe that the driver had performed her dangerous stunt while giving us a broad smile. WTF?! Eventually we reached town. Without an actual accident but pretty pissed off.
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| Setting off to Žilina |
Žilina wasn't the most exciting place which was probably a good thing as it meant we got to take a proper rest instead of doing extensive sightseeing. Still we enjoyed an afternoon in the picturesque old town with its lovely town square.
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| Žilina castle |
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| Old town |
Three days after arriving in Žilina we left and backtracked for a few kilometres before we turned towards the Czech border. The weather was still rather changeable and the low-hanging clouds and the mist gave the mountainous area around the border sort of a mystical feeling. Also it meant that we didn't sweat too badly on the steep uphill sections! The way up the last pass was particularly steep and we were so breathless that we merely missed the fact that the top of the hill was the border between Slovakia and the Czech Republic. No border controls, not even big signs, just a modest concrete block with an 'S' (for 'Slovenská Republika') on the one and a 'C' (for 'Česká Republika') on the other side. From the border it was mostly downhill through dense forest. It was quite a beautiful route that even the light drizzle didn't ruin. In the late afternoon we reached the small resort town of Frýdlant nad Ostravicí where we found a rather ramshackle Soviet-era hotel.
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| On the way to the Czech border |
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| The actual border |
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| First kilometres in Czechia |
The next morning it was back to sunny weather and we had quickly bashed out the remaining 45 kilometres to the Czech Republic's third largest city Ostrava. On our way into town we briefly stopped at the medieval Silesian Ostrava Castle. In Soviet times Ostrava was a centre of coal-mining and metallurgy and so there is only a limited number of historic sights. Other than the castle there is the modernist New Town Hall, which we visited next. The last sight on our list was the Masaryk Square with its – mostly baroque – town houses. With all sightseeing done we checked in to yet another student's hostel and called it a day.
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| Silesian Ostrava Castle |
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| Ostrava's New Town Hall |
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| Masaryk Square |
The next morning we got an early start. We wanted to visit the town of Olomouc about 120 kilometres to the south-west of Ostrava thus far off our route – but only about one hour away by train. Train tickets in Czechia are dirt cheap and so we hat settled for that option. Around 10am we reached Olomouc. From the train station we walked to the Gothic Saint Wenceslas Cathedral, continued to the Upper Square with the impressive, UNESCO-inscribed Holy Trinity Column and spent a couple of hours aimlessly wandering around the sizeable old town. In the late afternoon we returned to the train station and in the evening we were back at our hostel in Ostrava.
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| Saint Wenceslas Cathedral in Olomouc |
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| Olomouc old town |
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| Holy Trinity Column |
We got an early start the next morning. Soon we had left Ostrava behind and followed a well-maintained cycle way along a river. After not even two hours we reached a narrow bridge – the Polish border. Thanks to Schengen there were no border checks and if it wouldn't have been for some road signs we might have just cycled across the border without noticing. After the Polish border we cycled a rather random selection of designated bike trails and secondary roads. And basically our route remained like this until we reached Kraków 2.5 days later. The riding was quite enjoyable but also rather uneventful.
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| Polish border |
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| On the way to Kraków |
When we reached Kraków it was a bit too early to check in to our hostel and so we sat down in a cafe and passed some time. Eventually it was about time to go to our accommodation, check in and dump our stuff in the dorm. For the rest of the afternoon and for the next day we aimlessly wandered around the old town. We had been in Kraków before but it is just a lovely place that doesn't get boring. Strolling around the Main Market Square with the renaissance Cloth Hall, the Gothic St. Mary's Cathedral and the historic town houses was quite enjoyable. As was a visit to the famous Wawel Castle, the Saints Peter and Paul Church or a walk through the Planty Park that replaced the medieval city walls.
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| Cloth Hall in Kraków |
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| Main Market Square |
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| Saints Peter and Paul Church |
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| Wawel Castle |
Two days after our arrival in Kraków we left. We didn't get a very early start but the route ahead was mostly flat and led across dedicated cycle paths. Only the last kilometres into the town of Tarnów were a tad stressful. Which was more down to the threatening dark clouds than anything else. We arrived in a light rain shower, pitched our tent and by the time we had had our dinner the clouds had luckily passed.
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| On the way to Tarnów |
The next morning we left early, did a bit of sightseeing and then pushed on towards the Ukrainian border. There wasn't all that much to see in Tarnów but there was a nice Market Square with an impressive cathedral. After Tarnów the landscape became pretty hilly as we reached the Carpathian foothills. Cycling was a slog with steep ups and downs. But the landscape made up for a it. We cycled across ramshackle bridges, through picturesque villages, past wooden churches and we even passed the reconstruction of a wooden fort. Two days after leaving Tarnów we reached the border town of Przemyśl in the late afternoon. We checked in to cheap a Soviet-era hotel and called it a day.
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| Tarnów old town |
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| Cathedral |
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| Wooden church on the way to Przemyśl |
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| Reconstruction of a wooden fort |
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We got an early start the next morning. Before pushing on to the border we wanted to explore Przemyśl. There was an impressive Rynek (market square) with an equally impressive cathedral. Also there were heaps of bakeries and we couldn't resist to try some of their products for a second breakfast. From the old town we continued to the border crossing. About five kilometres before the actual crossing the line of cars, buses and trucks started. We felt so lucky to be with a bicycle and simply cycled past the waiting vehicles. The border guards weren't really sure how to deal with cyclists but in the end they decided to send us to the counter for bus passengers. A grumpy Polish immigration officer stamped us out, the customs officers totally ignored us and continued smoking their cigarettes, and a smiling Ukrainian official stamped us in. The whole process didn't take much longer than 20 minutes. Great! With the border crossing we also reached yet another time zone and were now one hour ahead of Central European Time. Even though we 'lost' one hour we could have pushed on to Lviv but we really couldn't be bothered. Instead we found a nice motel halfway to Lviv and this was where we finished the month of August.
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| Exploring Przemyśl |
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| Made it to Ukraine! |
