Biking on Danube
Our Blue Danube tour is October 2024. Does Tauck have enough bikes for everyone who wants to ride ? Are there electric bikes available ? How early on the river cruise should you sign up for bike ? Thx in advance!
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Our Blue Danube tour is October 2024. Does Tauck have enough bikes for everyone who wants to ride ? Are there electric bikes available ? How early on the river cruise should you sign up for bike ? Thx in advance!
Comments
To follow up on my question- I understand the Day 4 bike ride is 26 miles and 4-5 hours. Can a 70 year old in decent shape, who hasn’t ridden a bike for years handle this ride ? Thx
_No. _
I biked in my late 70s on a different Tauck cruise. You will be asked in advance of your tour for your excursion preferences and you will confirm or deny once onboard. Yes, they will have enough bicycles based on the interest. These are generic bikes for leisurely rides. Helmets will be provided. There will be plenty of rest stops along the way. Unless changed, no electric bikes.
Only you can attest to your fitness, stamina and balance. Good luck.
Sealord - I agree with you. 26 miles too much like work and sore buns for a guy who hasn’t biked in years. Especially since biking appears to be available 4 more times for shorter city rides. So on Day 4 you can find me on deck sampling German brew ! Thx for reply.
I was 68 when I did it some years ago. I hadn't biked in years but swam regularly. In the two+ months leading up to the cruise I biked 5 - 7 days a week. I started with shorter distances but didn't consider myself ready until I could do 26 miles without stopping. I wasn't concerned with time.
We were on the eastbound cruise and biked from Englehartszel to Aschach der Donau (26.3 mi / 42.3 km). (my wife did the much shorter bike ride from Durnstein to Weisenkirken and back) As I mentioned in an older thread, the peloton split into 3 groups- the younger jackrabbits way out in front, the middle group- working hard but not necessarily going very fast and not gaining on the leaders (just me!
) , and the tail-end charlies with a TD. Each group arrived at the "finish" a half hour behind the group in front. Two reps from the bike rental company continuously cycled from first group to the last. Except to board a second ferry, we made only one stop at a gasthof. We could buy refreshments if we brought money- nothing was set up by Tauck. We should have had more rest breaks. A number of bikers mentioned that in their critique so I think that issue was resolved during later cruises. The trail was relatively flat and all asphalt. It ran along the river except when we passed through a little town and where we crossed the river by small ferry. (There is a trail on both sides of the river.) Frankly, there was not a lot to see along the river banks. I saw one castle-like estate on ridge off in the distance- see photo.)
I did it just to say I did it, because I wasn't interested in the 'Birds of the Wachau' briefing scheduled to be given on the ship while we biked, and I needed to burn off some the the riverboat food we had been eating.
I had the best experience riding a bike along the Danube and through a vineyard. The TD announced that the boat had to be moved to another dock to accommodate another riverboat. There was a limited amount in the boat’s storage and i signed up for one. We left before the boat departed and arrived in the next village before the boat arrived. E-bikes we’re not popular then and I had prior experience riding my bike in the city of Graz, Austria.
I'd love to try out an ebike even if they don't do as good a job at burning off pastry calories.
I vote no to the original post.
I am an avid biker. I bike ~25 miles/day (with a 1000-15000 ft vertical gain) 5-6 days/week when it's not ski season (mid Apr to mid Nov). About 7 years ago (at age 60), my daughter came for a visit. She rented a bike and we went up to the mountains. She plotted out and talked me into, a 60 mile ride with a vertical gain of about 6000 ft. The next day, I could hardly move..
Don't risk ruining the rest of your trip. You're clearly not in shape for biking, no matter how slow or how flat it is, 26 miles is a long way to go.
thx for all the responses and photos. with more relaxed and shorter distance biking available 3 other day - those will be our rides.
We will arrive in Prague 2 days early. Any fun restaurants near the hotel worth checking out ? anyone try Sad Man's Tongue Bar & Bistro ? With Tauck taking us through the Prague Old Town on Day 2, any recommendations for Prague early days free time ?
It really depends on what your interests are. Museums, cultural events, history, exploring neighborhoods?
Outdoor food markets are plentiful, but unless changed many are only open on the weekend.
I don’t know if Tauck will take you to the Museum of Communism in Prague, but we found it quite interesting. It’s a good wlking city but parts are hilly. I stopped for a beer while my wife hiked bac up to the Cathedral.
we arrive on a October Friday afternoon. so we have until Sunday 5pm to explore. we enjoy walking to visit historical areas. want to catch sites not on Tauck excursion - Sealord's museum sounds interesting. must sample local food markets each day. appreciate the ideas.
Which direction are you cruising? We did eastbound. I don't remember whether I did a trip report, but don't think so, but I posted a number of times about things to do in Prague and how to maximize what you see.
On Day 5 we had a choice of staying in Linz, or taking an excursion to Cesky Krumlov or Salzburg. Though we had been there before, we wanted to do Salzburg, but also wanted to see Cesky Krumlov. We went early and hired a Prague Walker guide to take us to one of the Prague Tauck options (Jewish Quarter?), then the next day to take us to Cesky Krumlov. We saw the another Prague tour option and went to Salzburg with Tauck. It worked out great. See my old posts from April/May 2018 for details and photos.
I also did eastbound. We arrived in Prague 3 days in advance of the TAUCK portion. We did what Alan did - opting to do Cesky Krumlov with praguewalkers.com on one day. We also hired praguewalkers.com for a private tour Jewish heritage tour. We wanted a more thorough visit than what TAUCK was providing. (We then selected TAUCK walking excursion of the old city’s architecture when TAUCK offered a heritage tour).
We also did a food walking tour with tasteofPrague.com and an electric tricycle tour of the city (it was fantastic!) - it was with etrike.com
We also got tickets for a classical music evening concert at the Spanish Synogogue. I agree with Sealord- the Museum of Communism was a must-do and it is around the corner from the hotel.
I downloaded the app for BOLT- this is similar to UBER - but more widely used in Prague and Budapest. It was indispensable because cabs were not always available. Finally, you must try a chimney cake while in Prague!!
Prague is a wonderful walking city - but be prepared for cobblestones!
If you go to the Museum of Communism you might notice a picture of Aya Zonova (American name) on the wall of people who defected. She and my wife skated together as the two female principles of the Ice Capades. My wife was a teenager, and Aya Zanova was quite a bit older so they were not really friends. I don’t think the guide believed us when we told her that story. My father once noticed me watching Eloise on TV and said, “You think she’s kind of cute, don’t you?”. I said, yes. And, forty years later I married her.
thx for great photos AlanS ! we are eastbound tour. and thx NancyCohen. - Jewish heritage tour sounds great. appear to be very close to Communism Museum. want to get some Charles Bridge photos in the evening. Anyone try Petrin lookout tower for city view ? - there is an evening walking tour of Prague that stops there.
Did not try the Petrin tower nor did we seek out a nighttime tour, but it is a safe and great city to walk at night. The Charles Bridge is a must and very popular place to visit in the evening.
While in Prague I went to a classical music concert at the Klementinum where theres also a library and astronomical clock, very worth visiting and taking the tour, this is next to Charles Bridge which made for a great evening, walking across the bridge and all the churches and buildings around it as shown in Alan's pictures above, I was by myself and felt very safe.
I believe the Klementinum is the brightest building in the center of my first photo in this group and the third photo from the bottom. There is a lot of stuff going on there at the foot of the Charles Bridge.
Alan S - thx for great night photos of Prague !
Monday we get our Blue Danube excursion options. looking for opinions for: Day 6 - Burnstein - Tauck walk vs cycle to wine region ??? also wonder if you bike, is there time to walk Burnstein during PM free time. Day 7 - Vienna - Tauck walking tour vs bike thru town. ??? again free PM to explore. Day 9 - Bratslavia - Tauck walking tour vs bike to "Iron Curtain" ( not much info on this so far). Day 10 - Pest side - Tauck walking tour vs bike thru city. again PM free. Appreciate any feedback / photos from these days. As always - thx so much !
For Prague component please see my previous post The Blue Danube, Prague practical tips. We did this tour last year Eastbound. Durnstein: We did the walk including the optional hike up to the fortress(it's a steep climb and hike). It was great. The bike report was flat and on e-bike. Sounds like the walk was a better option. No free time to explore Durnstein for the bikers. Vienna: unless you like urban riding with lots of cars and traffic, take the walking tour. Both days you will have 3 or 4 hours of free time in Vienna for lunch, shopping and touring. Pick one museum per day. We had plenty of time to walk through the Sisi Museum and take in a cafe. Our tour guide's favorite ride is the Iron Curtain ride. Bratislava is cute and interesting. We did have the afternoon free to walk around the town and spent most of the time walking and around the Bratislava Castle. We also walked around the Old Town the evening before after docking. Not sure if that is still the general docking schedule. Our Pest day was somewhat of a washout and the agenda appears to have changed. We started with a tour of the Opera house. But to understand Pest you really need to have a tour with a guide. In the afternoon you easily walk back to see St Stephen, the Parliament building, Dohany Street Synagogue, Central Market, shoes of the Danube, walk across the Chain Bridge... Hope this helps.
If you want to tour the interior of Parliament, you need to secure a timed ticket. It was very well worth touring! The tour was approximately 1 hour.
Ben - truly appreciate your posting - most assuredly helps !