Cycleventures will meet you at the Budapest Airport and transfer you and your bike to our hotel. After setting our bikes up we’ll meet for our trip orientation and welcome drink. Dinner on your own tonight.

Located on the banks of the Danube, Budapest is regarded as one of Europe’s most beautiful cities. Its extensive World Heritage Site includes the Buda Castle Quarter, the Andrassy Avenue, Heroes Square and the Millenium Underground Railway. This afternoon we’ll take a guided tour of the Buda Castle.

Today’s easy ride takes us north along the flat shores of the Danube to the town of Esztergom, one of the oldest towns in Hungary and the capital of the country from the 10th to the mid-13th century. It’s cathedral, Esztergom Basilica, is the largest church in Hungary.

We leave the Danube and ride north across gently rolling farmland, through little hamlets to the town of Nitra. As early as the 7th century, Nitra was already a political and commercial centre of the Slav tribes and features a 17th century castle and several impressive churches. Dinner on your own tonight.

Continuing north in a large valley, we ride to Topolcany and nearby Tovarniky, a small town with a large castle built during the time of the Turkish threat. We continue to Trencin on the Vah River and its well-preserved historic center and 11th century Gothic castle. In ancient times Tencin was the site of the Roman military camp, Laugaricio. Dinner on your own tonight.

Up and over the Small Carpathians we ride (a low chain of old mountains) and into the Czech Republic and South Moravia, a region with a wealth of historic remains with lovely villages, imposing monasteries, castles and palaces. Tonight we bed down in Kromeriz, home to the UNESCO-listed archbishop’s palace.

Today’s gently rolling ride takes us to Krtiny, hidden amid forests and rocks, a small village and castle that’s home to the Church of our Lady, one of the crowning achievements of Moravian Baroque architecture. Boskovice, where we end up today, is one of the most beautiful towns in the region with two impressive historical sights, the 13th century Boskovice Castle and magnificent Boskovice Chateau.

Heading into North Moravia we go, across rolling hills, farmland and evergreen forests. You have two palaces to choose from on route – the Plumlov Palace or Namest na Hane Palace. Both feature beautiful gardens, lavishly decorated rooms, libraries and courtyards. Dinner on your own tonight.

Olomouc, one of Moravia’s oldest towns, is full of historic sights and a major cultural and educational center. Its historic town centre is second to Prague’s old town in terms of size and features the huge 15th century Church of St. Maurice, the Horni Namesti and it’s 13th century town hall and several other impressive churches. Dinner on your own tonight.
Today’s route takes us east to the town of Hranice and its late-Renaissance castle and the Baroque Church of Saint John the Baptist from 1763. Tonight we bed down in Stramberk, a small town with a unique collection of timbered houses from the 18th and 19th centuries.

Continuing east we cross into Poland in Cesky Tesin where the border was laid through town at the end of WWI using the Olse River. Just across the border is Cieszyn which is sometimes called Little Vienna, a picturesque town with an impressive town square and 12th century castle and 10th century Romanesque chapel.

An easy ride north on country roads leads us to Oswiecim and the site of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the former Nazi Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. If you wish, this afternoon you can visit the site and state museum.

Today’s ride is on a web of rural roads and farmland along the Wisla River and into Krakow. Dinner on your own tonight.

The royal capital for 500 years, Krakow is a treasure trove of Gothic and Renaissance architecture that emerged largely intact after WWII. What to see? The Old Town with it’s soaring Gothic churches and gargantuan Rynek Glowny (Main Market Square), the largest in the nation, and the former Jewish quarter Kazimierz and its silent synagogues. The highlight of Krakow though is the Wawel Castle, Poland’s most visited sight.

This morning your guides will drive you to the Krakow airport for your flight home.

Van assistance is available for those who wish to shorten the longer days.