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🇪🇺 Four Countries

More than a 2 500 km journey through remote and scenic landscapes, it is a ride through the layered history of Central Europe. After the countries were united for over a hundred years, most of the 20. century was about their borders: First between fascism and democracy then between democracy and communism.

See the remains of this past while you "rope jump" the borders of today.

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⏱️ 3 days 📅 May 2024

Start: 🚉 Břeclav 🇨🇿, 0:30h by train from Brno

Dest.: 🚉 Vasegerszeg 🇭🇺, 1:30h by train from Győr

Website GPX Distance Ascend Net Ascend
Day 1: Malacky 🇸🇰 mapy.com 53.8 km 53 hm -3 hm
Day 2: Neusiedl am See 🇦🇹 mapy.com 103.4 km 103 hm -49 hm
Day 3: Vasegerszeg 🇭🇺 mapy.com 90.7 km 173 hm +39 hm

Day 0: Brno 🇨🇿

If you want to arrive a day earlier, I recommend to stay in Brno.

Sights

You can find an exhaustive list of sights on gotobrno.cz. Here are the most important ones:

Food and accommodation

There are lots of restaurants. Stopkova Plzeňská Pivnice1 offers good food and beer.

If you are looking for a unique experience I recommend staying in the 10-Z Bunker2. websteiner.com 🇩🇪 has a lot of impressions and a perfect summary. Personally I am glad I spent one night there - though I wouldn't spend another one. Bicycle storage: Behind the locked fence, in front of the bunker.

Day 1: Břeclav 🇨🇿 - Malacky 🇸🇰

Pass through countryside and villages before following the river March and turning east towards Malacky.

Sights

Food and accommodation

There are not many options for food along the route - I recommend to have breakfast in Brno. Dobrota kafe3 in Břeclav offers very good coffee and sweet pastries. Bäckerei Karl Bauer4 in Hohenau an der March has a breakfast menu or you can have a coffee at Kaviareň Lavazza5 in Malacky.

VALLA penzión & reštaurácia6 has super-friendly staff, modern rooms and fantastic food. Highly recommend! Bicycle storage: Shelter in the locked courtyard.

Alternative route

A more sporty route (92.9 km | 170 hm | -184 hm) includes a church on an island. Just exit the train from Brno a few stations earlier in Pouzdřany.

Day 2: Malacky 🇸🇰 - Neusiedl am See 🇦🇹

Continue along the March until you reach the Danube near Bratislava. From there continue over (mostly) flat land to Lake Neusiedl. The longest part of the tour is rewarded with a fast downhill, right before the end.

Malacky to Jakubov

The cars drive quite fast on the road between Malacky and Jakubov. If you want to avoid this part of the route, you can go back to Gajary and turn south to Suchohrad. Alternatively go south to Zohor and from there west to Vysoká pri Morave.

Sights

Food and accommodation

Before Marchegg and after Bratislava are almost no restaurants. Gasthaus Nagl-Hager7 offers good, traditional food. The Stadtgasthaus am Nyikospark8 also serves Austrian food - a bit more expensive, but very good.

25h SPA-Residenz9 offers a spacious, clean room with two pools (out- and indoor). You need to book ahead! Bicycle storage: Parking space in the garage.

Alternative routes

You can avoid the road between Malacky and Jakubov by taking this route (110 km | 79 hm | -50 hm) along the river or a direct route (86.1 km | 66 hm | -50 hm). Please note: By default, neither does pass by Hof Palace (you can include it though).

Instead of seeing Devín Castle, you can also take a more sporty route through Hainburg an der Donau. There is an option along the river (106 km | 144 hm | -49 hm) and a direct (92.7 km | 155 hm | -49 hm) one.

Day 3: Neusiedl am See 🇦🇹 - Vasegerszeg 🇭🇺

After cycling along the eastern shore of Lake Neusiedl you cross the border to Hungary. There you see lots of small villages in a beautiful countryside.

Keep an eye on the schedule of the Vasegerszeg train station.

Ivàn to Nemesládony

Road 84 short before Nemesládony is a main road. While it is only a short stretch, you might encounter lots of fast cars. Alternative routes would be via Csáfordjánosfa in the east or Lócs and Sajtoskál in the west. The direct way (south of Ivàn) contains a path through the woods that was impassable by bicycle (and most cars).

Sights

Food

Grab a great breakfast at Bäckerei Naglreiter10 in Neusiedl am See. Mexikópusztai Betérő11 offers - despite the name - solid Hungarian food. Vadvirág Csárda12 is an excellent restaurant - and worth considering a detour.

Alternative route

If you want to go a bit further, you can extend the route to Sárvár (108 km | 173 hm | +41 hm).

Alternative tour

The initial plan was to go from Pouzdřany via Lake Neusield to Győr. Full route (298 km | 345 hm | +58 hm).

The second plan was a two day tour (without Lake Neusiedl) and three options for the destination. I planned to overnight in Marchegg, but had to change due to a lack of accommodations.

Another option for a (much less challenging) two day tour is to start in Vienna 🇦🇹 - making it two countries:

  1. Stopkova Plzeňská Pivnice, 5, Česká 163, 602 00 Brno ↩

  2. 10-Z Bunker, Husova, 602 00 Brno ↩

  3. Dobrota kafe, J. Palacha 2921/3 690 02, Břeclav 2 ↩

  4. Bäckerei Karl Bauer, Hauptstraße 6, 2273 Hohenau an der March ↩

  5. Kaviareň Lavazza, Malé námestie 5000, 901 01 Malacky ↩

  6. VALLA penzión & reštaurácia, Družstevná 2053/26, 901 01 Malacky ↩

  7. Gasthaus Nagel-Hager, Hauptstraße 30, 2293 Marchegg ↩

  8. Das Stadtgasthaus am Nyikospark, u. Hauptstraße 59, 7100 Neusiedl am See ↩

  9. 25h SPA-Residenz, Seestraße 37, 7100 Neusiedl am See ↩

  10. Bäckerei Naglreiter, Hauptpl. 5, 7100 Neusiedl am See ↩

  11. Mexikópusztai Betérő, Sarród, Fő u. 4-5, 9434 Hungary ↩

  12. Vadvirág Csárda, Bük, Termál krt. 1, 9740 Hungary ↩