Transdanube Travel Stories - Green Travel Product - The Last Danube's Heartland
29-08-2022
The last Danube's Heartland
5 DAYS
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
*Arrival to/Departure from Osijek is scheduled the day before/after the tour, by personal car, or by train, bus, river cruise ship, or airplane, individually or as part of a group package provided by a partner tourist agency. The tour could be shortened to last up to 3 days, combining either the Croatian and Hungarian areas, Hungarian and Serbian, or the Serbian and Croatian part of the region. Described route are intended for groups but can also accommodate individual travellers.
Visit to Nature park Kopački rit Croatia, Gornje Podunavlje Special Natural Reserve
Guided tour (in German, English or Croatian language)
Day 1
We will start our tour in Osijek, Croatia in the fortified baroque old part of the town named Tvrđa. Then we will head out to the city center of Osijek to explore it further and we will have a nice lunch at a riverside ship restaurant with a nice view of the city. After lunch and some free time for exploring we will head out to for the adventure in the wild, waiting literally “just around the river bend”. The next stop is Nature park Kopački rit, this “so-called” inner-continental delta is a 177 square kilometres wide forested water haven for almost 300 species of birds such as Cormorants, White and Black storks, countless mammals like the Wild boar and Golden jackal, as well as numerous fish, reptile and amphibian species. We will enjoy a boat ride to take us deep into the center of the wilderness and the Kopačko Jezero lake. After some relaxing birdwatching and recharging our batteries, we’ll head on to our next destination within the park – the Tikveš forest and the newly restored Presentation-education center Tikveš where we will see the unique multimedia and interactive exhibition that will bring all the most important features and natural phenomena of Kopački rit. In the not-too-far village of Karanac (with beautifully preserved architecture) in the Croatian part of the Baranya region, we’ll find lodging in one of the rural-family B&B’s Sobe kod Baje. But before we turn in for the night, we’ll have dinner in a traditional village restaurant Baranjska kuća, and have the first taste of the region’s typical cuisine. Fish-paprikash (spicy fish soup), Perkelt (venison-goulash), Carp-in-forks baked over an open fire or deer/wild boar steak, and for dessert home-made plum-dumplings, with a glass of region’s finest wine will serve as a nice treat at the end of the first day exploring the Last Danube.
Day 2
We’ll start our second day on tour with a hearty breakfast. Creamy fresh cottage cheese, smoked sausages like the European-protected “Kulen” Sausage, and a selection of cold-cuts, home-grown tomatoes, and bell-peppers, freshly baked bread and a nice cup of coffee will be just what we need for the big day ahead. Our first destination for the day will be not too far, just up the small hill. The Bansko Brdo hill is since ancient Roman times known as the Golden Hill, not for the precious metal but for something much more important for the people of Baranya – their lush fruitful vineyards and the golden drops of wine. After we enjoy the beautiful late-morning views from the sightseeing point located in the middle of their vineyards, we’ll visit the “Belje” Winery, one of the largest and oldest in the region, with their magnificent wine-cellar dating back to 1526. After that we will head out to our next destinations, wine-region of Mohacs-Villany in Hungary and the marshlands of Bačka region in Serbia with the nearby National Park “Duna-Drava” and Special Nature Reserve “Gornje Podunavlje”.
After we check in at the hotel in the city of Mohac, we will have lunch in Buso-Restaurant (Buso Etterem), there we will taste some of the local dishes such as Bean-goulash cooked in clay pots over an open fire, the Sarma sauerkraut-rolls, or catfish-Perkelt – a typical dish in the three-state central Danube region. After lunch some you will have some free time to explore Mohac we recommend „Buso Udvar“ museum that is located next to the restaurant. The museum display this region's typical carnival masks called “Buso/Buša” (Hungarian/Croatian) which are protected by UNESCO as intangible heritage. In the evening, not too far from Mohacs, we’ll visit the town of Villany, the center of the famous wine country, known for the UNESCO-protected typical wine cellars resembling small houses that seem to “grow” out of the hillside. Wine has been produced in this region since ancient Roman times as the Roman soldiers planted the vineyards along the Danube in the periods of peace between them on the southwestern side of the river and the pagan tribes on the northeastern side. After some wine tasting at The Günzer family winery and a light dinner, we’ll head on back to the hotel, to re-charge our batteries for another interesting day ahead.
DAY3
This morning after breakfast we’ll head on to the nearby village of Kölked, located in the Duna-Drava National Park, to visit the unique White Stork Museum. The day ahead of us we’ll spend on and very near the Danube as next on our itinerary will be the trip to the third on our list of nature parks, the “Gornje Podunavlje” Special Nature Reserve in Serbia. But to get there, first, we’ll have to cross the Danube River in Mohacs by a river ferry – an adventure on its own. In the Eco-centar Karapandža we will enjoy rides on the bicycle and explore nature on a catamaran. Lunch will be served there and after the peaceful rest in nature, we will go on the guided educational walk through the Eco-center Karapandža. Our day will end in the town of Sombor where we will enjoy some of the Serbian specialities like grilled meat or river fish and rest at the Hotel Barcode
Day 4
After breakfast, we’ll leave the beautiful nature along the Central Danube behind us, for a while at least, and use most of this day to get to know the way of life and rich history of the region. Our first stop will be the medieval town of Bač, the historical seat of the province of Bačka, shared between Serbia and Hungary. There we’ll visit the beautifully restored Franciscan monastery from the 11th century. It was originally built in the Romanesque style by the Knights Templar, later renovated in gothic style by Hospitaller Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem. Although the fortress was heavily destroyed in the civil war of 1704., the nearby old town of Ilok in Croatia is still the largest complex of medieval architecture in the central Danube region. Scattered around the marshlands, there are many traditional “Čarda” taverns where we’ll have a well-deserved lunch (this time we recommend that you try the grilled Sturgeon, a fish native to the Danube, sometimes called a living fossil as it is a species which evolved in the time of dinosaurs!), before we continue our trip. After crossing the Danube bridge in the town of Bačka Palanka (Serbia) we’ll make a short stop at the left river bank to enjoy the picture-postcard views of the medieval city walls of Ilok (Croatia). After the “coffee and cakes break” we’ll head up the hill to Ilok’s Upper Town and visit the old winery, the second oldest in Croatia (15th century). Ilok is one of the most famous wine destinations in Croatia, and also one of the few regions from which wines can be found even at the British Court. Their pride and joy is the sweet Traminer white wine, so we simply cannot leave this historical place without tasting a glass or two. And what better way to enjoy it but in the former royal countryside estate just outside town, in the wine-covered hills of Principovac. With the views of the vineyards, and driving along the river again, we’ll end today’s tour in Vukovar. Before we turn in for the night in Hotel LAV in the city center, we’ll spend the evening exploring this baroque city-pearl on the Danube, and get to know its recent troubled history when the city was rebuilt from ruins after the 1990’s Croatia’s War for Independence.
Day 5
We’ll start our last day of exploring the Last Danube’s Heartland located at the crossroads between Central and Southeast Europe. So far, we’ve seen three protected natural areas Kopački Rit Nature Park in Croatia, Duna-Drava National Park in Hungary and Gornje Podunavlje Special Nature Reserve in Serbia, travelling in a circle around the mid-section of the Danube. But even though this is the last day, our trip is far from being over. This morning we will return to the very beginning of human civilization in Europe’s Danube region and visit the Museum of “Vučedol” Culture near Vukovar to find out more about the way of life 5000 years ago when these ancient but culturally and technically highly evolved people inhabited the wild banks of the Danube. Getting nearer to the end of our Danube Tour, we’ll head on upstream to the village of Erdut located on a river bend resembling a peninsula with a microclimate that over the centuries made winegrowing one of the main economic activities in the area. Next to the ruins of the medieval fortress, we’ll take an educational walk thru the forest located on a hill stretching to the west along the Danube River. At the forest trail’s end, we’ll visit a Winery Erdut for some wine tasting and lunch overlooking the Danube. But, before we say goodbye, we have to take you to one more place - the confluence of the Drava and the Danube – the central point of the mighty river which we mentioned so many times on this tour. In this somewhat mystical setting, often hidden in the mist, it will be perfect to reflect on all the natural and historical beauties we encountered as well as the friendly people we met along the way. We’ll end this day with a celebration of the river Danube and all it represents to us, the modern-day Danubians from Croatia, Hungary and Serbia. We’ll return to the village of Erdut and visit Etno House “Stari Dud” for an intimate evening picnic party with delicious food, wine, and music – and friends, old and new, your everlasting connection with the Last Danube.
