And now through Donje Podunavlje – by bike 🙂

The Danube Cycle Route (EuroVelo 6) and the Iron Curtain Trail (EuroVelo 13) go from Ram to Negotin, and after Negotin, you will continue via EuroVelo 13. Both routes are marked with cycle route signs.

You first set eye on the fortress in Ram, which offers a fantastic view of the breath-taking spectacle of the Danube. (If you arrived from the direction of Banatska Palanka – you have already been stunned – the moment when the ferry sets sail from the confluence of the Danube – Tisa – Danube canal – is unforgettable.)

The ferry stops in Ram, where you can set off on your two wheels towards the distant Black Sea, following the basin of the vanished Pannonian Sea.

The path along Silver Lake is the most attractive at the beginning and end, as it passes through a narrow lane between two water flows. If you have time, move away from the Danube for a short time and stop in the village of Kisiljevo, at the very southern tip of the lake: with a bit of luck, you will feel the atmosphere from the story about the first “official” vampire in the world, Petar Blagojević; if you’re a bit unlucky, you might run into Petar himself!

It is worth spending the night by the lake (there is a wide range of standard accommodation units and a camping option). The charming little, and yet Veliko (big) Gradište is only 4 km away. A quiet road leads across the confluence of the gold-bearing Pek river, and on the last 8 km from the village of Vinci to Golubac, you will enjoy the new bike path that leads right along the river. When you pass the village of Usije, enjoy the splendour of the Danube at its widest: it is almost 6 km to the Romanian embankment! If you look carefully across the water, in the slight haze of the distance, you will notice a stone gap between the green hills – this is the beginning of Djerdap Gorge, and right next to it, you will catch a glimpse of Golubac Fortress for the first time.

Golubac offers a grand promenade with restaurants. A little beyond the town, stone vaults in the first cliffs of the gorge will lead you to the fortress (Golubački Grad) and the entrance to Djerdap National Park. A visit to the fortress city is a must before you continue breaking through the jaws of the gorge.

In Donji Milanovac, you should visit the great natural history exhibition in the information centre of Djerdap National Park, where all the specimens of flora and fauna of the park are displayed. It is also an opportunity to organise a visit to the Ploče viewpoint, located 25 km downstream in a protected zone, and which requires a ranger’s supervision.

After exiting the 13th tunnel on the section to Donji Milanovac, you will leave the main road and go down to the Lepenski Vir museum parking area. After visiting the museum, follow the EuroVelo 6/13 signs at the bottom end of the parking area, they will take you along the beautiful old road above the river and then through the short but fantastic canyon of the Boljetinska river.

Behind the canyon, the route returns to the main road, and there is the first of the two gorge climbs. This one will take you to the pass on Boljetinsko Brdo, where you can enjoy the view towards Milanovac and then the approximately 3 km-long descent.

After Donji Milanovac, the road enters the mainland, going around Porečka Bay. The bay is unusually long and, well, confusing 🙂 So you’ll probably, at some point, mistakenly think that what you see on the other side is the Romanian coast, when it is, in fact, the bay. Keep going, and enjoy this cute trick of nature 🙂

There is a magnificent section of the cycle route and the river between the villages of Golubinje and Tekija, with Mali and Veliki Kazan the most attractive part of the route on the entire Danube for its natural beauty. Enjoy it slowly, and as you pass through the narrowest part – a gap less than 200 m wide between dizzying cliffs – remember that all those 6 km near Golubac are now compressed here!

After the first tunnel after Milanovac, you pass a well-maintained spring (amazing cold water) and 700 m further on, at the ramp on the right, the forest road diverges. After about 3 km of steep ascent, it takes you to the fantastic Ploče viewpoint. (As we previously mentioned, registration for visiting the National Park is mandatory.)

At the exit from Mali Kazan, the ascent to Belo Brdo begins – the second of the two significant climbs we mentioned earlier. At the end of the first third of the road, there is a resting place and “Decebal” viewpoint, which offers the best view of the 40 m high face of the last Dacian king, carved into the cliff on the Romanian bank of the river.

At the entrance to Tekija there is a lovely sandy beach where it is worth taking a break (perhaps even camping?), and in the centre, there is a well-stocked store. Then, about 13 km further on, you will pass along the dam (and border crossing), HPP Djerdap 1.

The well-preserved remains of the Roman castrum Diana are just a few kilometres further, about 300 m left of the road, and Fetislam Fortress (known to have been built by the Turks) is at the entrance to Kladovo.

After Kladovo, there are several smaller climbs to pass to get to Brza Palanka. At the large intersection 2 km from Brza Palanka, follow the signs for EuroVelo 6/13, and they will take you to a beautiful old road, which mostly hides just a few meters from the Danube.

This 17 km long, very easy section to the village of Kusjak near the HPP Djerdap 2 dam is one of the most beautiful on the entire Danube route in Serbia, but keep in mind that it has unpaved sections (the rest are mostly good macadam roads), especially in the first part – up to Mihajlovac village.

Between Kusjak and Negotin, you will pass the typical “Gastarbeiter” (guest workers) village of Samarinovac, so if you have only read about the magnificent houses in which almost no one lives, here is your chance to see some for real.

In Negotin, we recommend the Krajina Museum and the pedestrian zone, and in Mokranje village (where you descend after overcoming the rugged hill on the way out of Negotin), pay attention to some of the beautiful houses representing the old architectural style. Finally, at the entrance to the village, you can turn to Mokranjske Stene, a fascinating scenery with karst that looks as if it was just thrown into the gentle surrounding greenery (you can also bathe there in the summer).

Behind Mokranje, near the railway line to Zaječar, there is an intersection where the main EuroVelo 6 route goes left (and continues through Bulgaria via the nearby Bregovo border crossing). However, here you turn right: the EuroVelo route 13 will take you to Zaječar, 43 km away.

This fateful turn (every good tour must have at least one of these!) introduces you to an undulating, lush green landscape where the road gets narrow and seems almost abandoned as if it is not sure where to go, so it constantly intertwines with the railway. This is also the area with the best-preserved Negotin Pivnice, stone settlements built in the 18th century by local residents in order to be closer to their vineyards. The first of them, Rogljevske, is located right next to the road. To reach the most famous, Rajačke Pivnice, diverge a bit from the route and go uphill for about 4 km – an effort that is absolutely worth it!

The picturesque greenery continues beyond Rajac, so you will have to conquer several steep climbs to get to Zaječar. Beyond the village of Šipikovo, you pass along the Bulgarian border, so check your brakes and do not rush in the curves. Not far from the road, in the fields behind the forest, are the only signs that this is where the European Union begins – a border made of low bushes and a few tall watchtowers left over from the Iron Curtain times.

And here we are, in Zaječar already (which deserves a separate story…) A total of 310 km from Ram… was it really that far? And all those days on the road… wait, how long did it actually take?

But it flew by quickly, beautiful, blue and green, wasn’t it? 🙂

The distance from Golubac to Kladovo along the EuroVelo 6/13 route is 120 km. Almost this entire route is located in the national park area. It is conveniently divided into two parts of nearly equal lengths: 57 km from Golubac to Donji Milanovac and 63 km from Donji Milanovac to Kladovo. (These are the only significant centres in the gorge – good to keep this in mind when planning where to purchase your supplies.)

The only two substantial climbs on the entire path from Ram to Negotin accentuate this symmetry: there is one on each of the mentioned sections of the route. Both climbs are about 4 km long, and the heights are also almost the same: 160 and 200 m.

Severni Kučaj rises above the river in the first section, and in the second, Miroč. A grid of hiking and biking routes on both mountains makes it worth staying in the national park area. (There is more detailed information available from local tourist organisations, especially in the information centre of the Djerdap National Park in Donji Milanovac.)

On the first road section, a part with 15 unlit tunnels begins after the village of Dobra. For some cyclists, it can be an unpleasant experience, but one should keep this in mind: only three tunnels are slightly longer than 200 m, while the rest are short (70-100 m), and there is sufficient natural light in all of them. (Of course, front and rear cycle lamps should be used here.)

Those already used to long bike tours will enjoy the shelter from the summer heat offered by the tunnels, as well as how they complement and enhance the atmosphere of the rugged scenery in the gorge.

The second section also has tunnels, but only four. However, the first is about 350 m long (the longest in the gorge) and the second about 260 m. The other two are short.

The traffic is heavier in the first section from Golubac to Golubački Grad and gets lighter towards Donji Milanovac. After that, the road gets slightly steeper up to the Djerdap hydroelectric power plant’s dam, and from there to Kladovo, it is more intense.

There are a dozen designated rest areas in the gorge (tables and benches with canopies).

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