I (Rob
Foster) had planned to do this long trip, but needed some company; fortunately
fellow CTC Midweeker Steve Ratford agreed to join me. So in mid June Turkish
Air flew us and our trusty touring bikes, plus a lot of loaded panniers, to
Istanbul. After a day sightseeing in this fascinating city, we were off. The
plan was to cycle from the Black Sea, back across Europe to the North Sea on
the German coast, over 8 weeks or so.
To avoid city
traffic we took a ferry up the Bosporus to Sariyer, passing under the famous
bridges. Then onto what we would call B roads north west across Turkey. All was
fine until we met some road works, where the narrow shoulder had cones along it;
foolishly I clipped a rear pannier against one and was thrown off the bike
hard. Luckily nothing broken, but several good grazes and bruises! That night
we stay at a small hotel in a small town for about £12 each. (We are carrying camping
kit, but these eastern Europe hotels are such good value we use them a lot).
Navigation –
we had a paper map of each country, not very detailed but ok most of the time.
Steve has sat nav which is great for the detailed bits. And a compass!
Three days
later, we enter Bulgaria, after some scenic hills and a monsoon which we
avoided in a bus shelter. Before descending to the river Danube, we have to
cross a big range of hills, but this goes pretty well as the road was quiet and
well graded, though Steve was always ahead. Veliko Tarnovo was a nice overnight
stop, in a guest house with a balcony overlooking the pretty river and old
town, with good grub nearby.
On day 10 we
reach the mighty Danube, but Steve is unwell with gut rot, but after a
morning’s rest bravely continues via the ferry into Romania. Shame he missed an
excellent breakfast! An easy day to Alexandria, wet evening, nowhere to eat,
but only one of us was hungry.
Romania is a
country of contrasts, possibly the most interesting of the trip. It has an old
rural feel to it, helpful locals (one shop keeper gave us bread etc. and
refused payment), feral dogs, many horses and carts, and mad drivers. The main
problem was the rough minor road surfaces which needed a mountain bike, not our
tourers. So we were forced onto the bigger roads, which have heavy truck
traffic, not pleasant. The plan was to go via Transylvania, which is circled by
big mountains, to Brasov. My planned minor road was unusable, said the locals,
so we switched to a ‘B’ road, via a lane that petered out into a muddy field!
We pressed on, and had a ghastly time pushing uphill as the bike wheels clogged
with mud – mudguards off, and into the next river to clean up us and the bikes.
But Brasov was a fascinating rest day; we also went to Bran by bus to visit
Dracula’s Castle. On via Sighisoara, then at last we had some excellent cycling
following a river into the hills in fine weather for two days, before
descending the other side into Hungary.
Hungary is
nice and flat, but a bit boring. There are cycle lanes (a policeman ticked us
off for not using them), but most main roads ban cycles – this is a problem if
you want to go a big distance, like us. So we muddled through to Budapest,
where we rejoined the Danube. Another rest day here, with an excellent guided
walking tour of the fine city. The heat was terrific in Hungary, up to 37 C,
thank God it was flat cycling.
We now follow
the Danube for a few days, on the Cycle Trail, crossing into Slovakia. Another
good walking tour of Bratislava, then into super-efficient Austria for one
night before entering the Czech Republic. 4 countries in 4 days!
Czech has
rolling hills, but good cycling in nice scenery – very empty, with ripe grain
crops and woods. The Czechs all smoke like chimneys, but we enjoyed some good
local food and beer at a brewery in Trebic. At Melnik we camp for 2 nights to
fettle the bikes and do some washing, which dries fast in the heat. Now we have
joined the river Elbe, which we will follow all the way to the sea. Up here it
has made a gorge through the hills, the ‘Bohemia Gateway’, which is lovely.
Day 36 we
enter Germany, though there is no border post. The Elbe bike trail is now better
signposted, mainly smooth (except for stretches of blasted cobbles!) and
traffic free, but we seem forever to be into a headwind – one day this was so
strong it blew small branches off the trees. But mostly flat. You don’t
actually see the river much, because of the big dykes, but get glimpses, and
there are ferry crossings from bank to bank. We were camping in not cheap
Germany, all busy in the holiday season, and your German camper likes to drink
beer and make a lot of noise!
The best bits
were in the south – ‘Swiss’ Saxony has terrific rock scenery, then you get
restored Dresden, then we visited Meissen to see how the porcelain is made.
Further north it got a bit all the same, though pleasant enough and easy
cycling (if the headwind eased). Some rain showers but nothing too bad. By now
we started thinking of the rail & ferry journeys back to the UK, so called
into a bahnhof to buy tickets, and an
internet place for Stena (free wifi is easy in east Europe, but rare in
Germany). So steadily we progressed – Hamburg had interesting old docks but the
infamous Reeperbahn was very tame at 1 pm! A final crossing of the now huge
Elbe, and we were into Cuxhaven, the end of our epic journey, where you meet
the North Sea.
After a
celebratory dinner it was up at 6 to get our budget trains, all six of them, to
the Hook of Holland (8th country), and a comfortable overnight ferry
to Harwich, where Steve was met by some of his family. I took the train home.
Total
distance was about 3,600 km over 47 days (3 rest days). Ascent say 18,500
metres. The bikes did well – no punctures or broken spokes (thanks Geoff!) but
mudguards suffered in the mud.
The total cost was £1850 each.
