Yesterday I think was a very important milestone for cycling in Serbia. It saw the opening of the first section of the Danube Cycle Route/Track/Donauradweg in Serbia. In the last month or two, 360 signposts have been erected, from the Hungarian border at Bački breg along a stretch of almost 400 km down to Novi Banovci, near Belgrade. A pleasantly modest ceremony in Novi Sad, held at waypoint number 960, in front of the Customs barge on Novi Sad’s Quay, declared this first stretch of the Serbian Danube Cycle Track… open! (click for full-size picture).
The project is the result of cooperation between the Executive Council of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the GTZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit - German Association for Technical Cooperation) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Cooperation and Development. Its aim is to connect Serbia with the rest of the Danube Cycle Route and in the near future, the plan is to extend the route all the way down through the Djerdap National Park to near the Romanian border and eventually into Bulgaria.
Why is this so exciting? Well, as I keep reiterating on this blog (see my blurb about the EXIT Festival, too), Serbia has just been way off the map for too long. Simply put, no-one has been coming to Serbia since the early 90’s - when I hear anyone speaking English around Novi Sad, I still sometimes turn round, and the number of people coming to Serbia as tourists is still very, very small. So to see Serbia actually investing in its tourist infrastructure (with the help of the Germans) and in cycling at that, is very encouraging. Serbia, relatively speaking, has very few cycling enthusiasts (I think all 20 of us were at the opening ceremony!) and connecting the Serbian stretch of the Danube with the existing Donauweg infrastructure is a master stroke! I hope and expect to see a massive increase in the number of cyclists coming through Serbia in the coming year or two.
Some more information about the Serbian section of the Danube Cycle Track/Route: this poster-presentation, shown off at the opening ceremony, gives you more of an idea (I wish they’d asked me to correct the English though..!):
According to this, upon entry to Serbia (no visa required), you will be greeted by a big sign like the one at the top of this page. This is a revolution for Serbia, for a start - I mean, useful, friendly information for visitors at the border! Things have changed… You are then guided along the Danube by the above-described signposts. The nice thing is that there are actually three routes. All three seem to cross the Danube at least once, in Novi Sad, though there might be room for debate about which side of the Danube the route should have been on. The Novi Sad-Belgrade stretch is along a not-that-nice old road which is quite a way from the Danube and suffers from bad traffic conditions. It might be possible to ride along the northern side (I have done so at least up to Titel and it is very nice) and only cross the Danube once you get to Belgrade.
In any case, the first route is for real enthusiasts and takes you as close as possible along the Danube, including stretches where there is no asphalt. I haven’t travelled the whole length, but as far as I know, much of the Danube trail is without asphalt and so this is definitely for those with a tougher constitution who don’t mind it being bumpy. And you would have to be riding an MTB or sturdy touring bike, I don’t think this is for more sensitive machines, although I also suspect that they probably haven’t kept to the riverside trails ALL the way - some sections are very rough.
The second route (”alternative route”) is an “easier” route, which only comprises asphalt roads and does not always take you alongside the river. In fact you probably won’t see it a lot of the time! I question whether this is a better option as you might miss some very beautiful stretches of the Danube, and also the driving on Serbian roads leaves much to be desired. There is a very real danger from cars - drivers are simply not educated to deal with bikes. Personally I would much rather ride along the riverside trails…
The third route gives you the option to stop off at various sights and sites of interest along the way, which I am sure you will want to do, if you want to actually see anything instead of just riding, riding, riding! For example, if you are passing through Novi Sad, it would be a shame not to climb up onto the Fruska gora and traverse a length of Novi Sad’s beautiful “mountain”, or stop off in historic Sremski Karlovci.
The signposts should keep you on the right track, and you can always buy the printed maps - there are some 4 or 5 maps to cover the whole of Serbia. No GPS maps are available as yet - we were told, strangely, that the Garmin people are not currently involved in this project.
Did I mention I thought all this was quite exciting? Well, I am a mountain-biker at heart, though I do some Danube-side rides occasionally, but I still think this is a huge boost to Serbian tourism, especially cycle tourism, and I can’t wait to see the results!
Welcome to the Serbian Danube Cycle Track!
P.S. The official site is www.danube-info.org, but at time of “press” there didn’t seem to be any fresh info there.
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Posted on July 2nd, 2007 by markowe
Filed under: Biking - general, MTB Serbia (All)
Dear visitors,
I would like to have some information about possibilities how to return in Budapest from Belgrade at the end of the “Danube by Bike Tour”.
3 friends of mine and me we would like to return in Budapest in the evening of 27 of June with 4 bikes.
Can you send me some internet sides, e-mail adresses, advice how to find solution?
Thank you very much!
Marta
Hi Marta!
I have some experience with Beograd-Budapest with the bike.
I was always taking the train, and here’s how it goes:
- the morning train from Belgrade is InterCity, which means it’s nice and comfy,
First of all, bicycles are not officially allowed on trains in Serbia,
there is air conditioning and 220V sockets in some compartments so you can play with your laptop or whatever.
But, there is always a “but”
if they are not folding bikes,which are packet in a bag or a suitcase, and transported as a regular luggage.
But, depending on the number of bicycles, you may make a deal with the train personnel ( bribe, sort of) and they won’t make problems.
Also, if you really get the bike on the train, there is no official fee for the bike, since it is not allowed,
but they may charge you for extra baggage.I just payed 400 dinars from Subotica to Belgrade for my bike few days ago.
The passenger ticket was 680, and it was indeed on the IC train.
A yeah, about the tickets, it’s best to buy international, it’s called Budapest Spacial, and it’s 16 euros one way (i think)
Now that might sound just perfect, if you menage a deal with serbian conductors,
but, you will face problems on the Hungarian side, since they don’t allow bikes on the InterCity, if there is no bicycle carriage.
And there is non on the route, not even in Hungary, so you will have to get off the train in Kelebia, and take the next passenger train that takes bikes.
The other option is the night train. It’s a fast train, so bikes are not forbidden on the Hungarian side even if there is no bicycle carriage.
just make sure no one accidentally takes your bikes with them when they get off the train 
And you might get some sleep on the train
Of course, since there would be 4 bikes, you probably can’t fit them all on one side of the train,
so you may have to split in two.
Two bikes on the first car, against the end door, and two in the last car.
There are also sleeping cars on both trains, the Russian one in the morning,
and Bulgarian in the evening.
I think it is possible to buy the ticket for a sleeping car to Budapest only, but you might want to check on that .
In sleeping cars you could probably take some of the bikes into the compartment, and put them against the wall or under the bed.
Of course, the ticket would be more expensive.
There are some bus services to Budapest, but I have not used them.
It’s a real question would there be place for the bikes on the bus.
Ticket is about 30 euros one way, i think.
There are also minibuses that go to the Budapest airport, or to the Budapest it’s self on request.
They run very often, but not on a timetable. They adjust the time according to the passengers and there airplane takeoff times.
The ticket was 40 euros one way. I think they would take bikes with no problems,
as the mini buses are big, and not always full of passengers.
Not sure if they would charge extra for the bikes.
The agency that runs the buses is called Gea Tours. http://geatours.rs/eng/index.htm
so I suggest that you contact them and see what they could do for you, and at what price.
Cheers!
A, yeah, i forgot, if you’re looking for good maps+guide for the Danube below Budapest,
this might be the best place to get it http://www.donau-info.org
The paper guide and maps have just been updated this year with latest info.
More info on possible ways to get you and your bike back to Budapest, from Dušan Stojanović in Vienna:
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“There are two transport companies I know of for sure (I live in Vienna myself) who run buses with trailers and who I have used to transport my bike more than once. Last year they even transported my motorbike back to Vienna after a trip I made around the former Yugoslavia. The only limiting factor in this is that they do not enter Budapest, but take the southern ring road, the M0, where there are various and numerous off-ramps that make it easy to get to the Hungarian capital. Another point of interest is that they effectively drive THROUGH Belgrade, i.e. do not stop off at the bus station, but can stop at Autokomanda, Steko, Sava centar and the Zmaj petrol station by agreement. Their trailers are mostly empty in the direction of Vienna, so you can easily make a deal with them to transport bikes, and by my guess the trailer can take around 10-15 bikes. You can contact these companies as follows:
Nikolic prevoz (Negotin) 019/544 767
Zoran reisen (Jagodina) 035/274 256 i 035/228 404
They drive to and from Vienna every day, and the price of a ticket from Belgrade is around 30 EUR, plus a price to be agreed for the transport of bikes.”
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Thanks Dušan for this info. I would add that I guess someone must speak English, or maybe German at the above-mentioned companies, and this sounds like a pretty good and reliable way to get you and your bike home (other than cycling!)