Kladovo-Belgrade-Budapest Travel Days

Kladovo-Belgrade-Budapest by Bus and Train

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Kladovo-Belgrade-Budapest by Bus and Train

World > Europe > Serbia > Kladovo – map
World > Europe > Serbia > Belgrade – map
World > Europe > Hungary > Budapest Fovaros > Budapest – map

Kladovo to Belgrade by Bus-7-17-14

A mechanical day. A 5.5 hour bus ride back to Belgrade. Bus left Kladovo at 10 am. Only a few passengers so loaded the bikes without folding. It is always up to the driver to decide if he will take them. It always helps to get on at the start of the route. He charged $2.00 extra for the bikes.

The route went along the Danube as far as Golubac before turning inland. Fascinating to see the route we just cycled. The bus sure climbs the steep grades with a lot less effort!

Day in Belgrade: Logistics Again-7-18-14

The train and bus stations are next to each other in Belgrade. On checking about train to Budapest, we discovered the bike compartment for the next morning was already full, so we had to wait until Saturday morning to go. No problem. We rode the wonderful bike paths in Belgrade for a little exercise and prepared to catch the train next morning.

Belgrade to Budapest by Train: Easy, and Comfortable-7-19-14

We only have 60 days left in Shengen countries so we have chosen to ride as much of Euro Velo 6 from Budapest to St Nazaire, France as we can rather than ride through Hungary which is very rural in character. It is 1,666 miles from Budapest to St Nazaire. Of course, many cyclists can make the distance in 60 days with no problem, but, we like to go slowly (around 30 to 40 miles a day) to see all the things of interest along the route.

The train service from Belgrade to Budapest is excellent. There are two trains every day. The morning train leaves at 6:45 am and has a bicycle compartment. The night train leaves at 9:00 pm and does not take bicycles. It is best to buy the ticket ahead as we discovered the bicycle compartments do fill up from time to time and you would have to wait for another day. It is a very comfortable 8 hour journey into Budapest.

We stayed in Belgrade at The Big Hostel. It is very clean, with big rooms, and very helpful and friendly staff. We chose it because it is so close to the EV 6 bike path along the Danube. We could ride the bike path between the hostel and the train or bus station and not have to go through city traffic. So, at 6:15, we were at the station. The attendant helped us lift our bikes into the compartment and we chose seats nearby.

Kladovo-Belgrade-Budapest-Train to Budapest

Bicycle compartment

There was a dining car as well, so if you did not bring food, at least you could purchase items.

We met three other cyclists from Switzerland. They had ridden EV6 from Budapest to Belgrade and were returning home.

Marko is a Serb. He joined us in our seating compartment. He spoke excellent English as he was an economist and had traveled all over the world in his working years. He was delighted to meet us as he expressed a warmth and friendship. When we talked of traveling in Montenegro, his face went sad. “Montenegro is Serbian.” he said emphatically. “We are closely connected. I don’t like American presidents, especially Clinton. He forced us to separate from Montenegro; he bombed us!”

We didn’t wish to inflame Marko’s passions so we switched subjects. But he is the third Serb we have talked with who blamed America for bombing Belgrade. No mention of Nato, no mention of the terrible war Serbia inflicted on Croatia and Bosnia. That part of the story seems to have gone away.

In Budapest, we had already made reservations at Maverick Hostel. It had a very high rating. It was super easy to ride there from the train station through the busy streets of Budapest because the sidewalks were super wide and the majority of curbs were sloped for bicycles.

Kladovo-Belgrade-Budapest-Maverick Hostel

Maverick private room with bath cost $60. But no chairs in the room.

Budapest: Exploring the City-7-20-14

We discovered the hostel is located in the heart of the night life with hundreds of bars and restaurants. It was filled with people at 9:00 pm as we were on our way back to go to sleep!

Kladovo-Belgrade-Budapest-Budapest nightlife

Bicycling-Hungary-Budapest-old town

Bicycling-Hungary-Budapest-street scenes

Budapest is filled with historic monuments, buildings and ruins of considerable significance. We decided to spend 2 full days in the city to explore. Our main focus was to see the local streets of the old section, St Stephen’s Basilica, to visit Buda Castle, and to enjoy the famous Szechenyi Baths. It’s a big city. Things are spread out. Our first day, we attempted to walk around to see our list of sights. The second day, we were much braver and found some of the bicycle paths that lace through the city and explored that way.

Museum of antique vehicles; Mike’s next bicycle. He is kind enough to have a sidecar for Anne