Sultans Trail in Croatia
Beautiful hiking trail in Croatia. The map below
shows the route of the Sultans Trail in Croatia.
Stage In Croatia the trail winds through the lesser-known region of Slavonia, known as the Golden Valley to the Romans. This area is where the Danube, Drava, and Sava rivers converge, showing great nature with stunning sunflower fields and thriving grapevines.
Kopački Rit Nature Park, also known as the Amazon of Europe, is a well-preserved wetland featuring a diverse landscape of lakes, forests, and meadows, and is home to the majestic white-tailed eagle.
The stage Mohás – Osijek is about 80 km. long. Stage Siklos – Osijek is about 55 km. long. The stage Osijek – Ilok is about 100 km.
CROATIA
Stages
In the Croatia region Slavonia the has the following stages:
Section 3 Budapest – Belgrade
ST-341 Mohác – Osijek (draft)
ST-345 Osijek – Vukovar (draft)
ST-347 Vukovar – Ilok (draft)
Section 8 Balaton – Pécs – Osijek
ST-820 Siklos – Osijek (draft)
General information
The
Start point
The main entry point for this region is Osijek.
How to get there
Although Osijek has its own airport a better option is from Belgrade. Šidexpres Šid operates a bus from Belgrade to Osijek once daily, and the journey takes 3h 30m.
Other nearby airports are Budapest and Zagreb. Check for option Rome2Rio
GPX/KML files
The Digital Information Package, available in our webshop contains the GPX/KML files for navigation, a trail description, including accommodations, landmarks and background information.
We also provide the Sultans Trail App from Google Playstore.
The navigational tracks are free for our members, who also enjoy other benefits, like the Sultans Trail passport.
Formalities
Croatia is an EU member and part of the Schengen zone.
The currency in Croatia is Euro. Credit cards and bank cards are readily accepted, but “cash is king”.
The main language is Croatian. English and German are occasionally understood.
Route Updates
The route through Croatia is still under development.
Connecting countries
Landscape
The Prolog runs down the sloops of the Wienerwald, bordering Vienna to the north, through the many wineries.
The main route passes through the fields using country roads and field tracks. The Leitha river is bordered by woods, providing sun shelter in the summer.
The landscape contains many wind-turbine.
When the Danube curves around two large hills, the Hundesheimer Berg and the Braunsberg, the trail runs close to the river. In springtime, the track can be flooded. When it does, a short detour is recommended.
From the Danube bent the trail follows the Danube on a towpath (Treppelweg) until Bratislava.
Nature
The Danubian wetlands (Donau Auen) between Vienna and Hainburg are an National Park.
The Leitha river is a Natura 200 site and makes good fishing. It is home to several bever families. In summer, the area is also rich in musquitos.
The Braunsberg and Hundesheimer Berg are rich of game.
In the area around Vienna, some good wineries are found.
The shores of shallow Neusiedlersee are cover by reeds, making it an ideal habitat for wildlife. The lake itself is a vital resting place for migrating birds.
Food
Lower Austria produces some outstanding wines. A typical drink is Most (grape juice) and Heurige (young wine).
Burgenland is known for its cereals, especially spelt, used in bread, cakes and even beer, and fish from the lake, like Zander, Eel, Pikes and Carp.
Typical food of Lower Austria is: a potato dumpling called Mohnnudels, the Wachau apricot dumpling and Mohnzelten, according to the Taste Atlas.
Culture
The wineries around Rauchenwarth take turns in offering Heuriger (or Buschenschank) where this young wine is served together with a limited selection of food in a very simple and sociable setting. Ask locals for the calendar.
Bad Deutsch-Altenburg is a popular Spa resort with iodine-sulphur springs.
Brief History
People have lived in this area since 8.000 BC. Around 400 BC, Celtic tribes settled here, and from 15 BC, the Romans dominated the region. German tribes took over in the mid-500s, and around 800, Charlemagne, king of the Franks, ruled.
In the middle ages, the Babenberg family possessed the lands and later the Habsburg family.
In 1529 the Ottoman arrived at the gates of Vienna. During the next 150 years, they would fight with the Habsburgs for control over the area. Eventually, they lost, and Austria entered the lush Baroque era, challenged only briefly by Napoleon in the early 19th century.
Monuments
Vienna, capital of the Habsburg empire, reflects the grandeur of this empire, with Schloss Schönebrunn, the Hofburg Palace and the Imperial palace and above all, Belvedere Palace.
Outside the city, we find Roman Carnuntum in Roman times more important than Vindobona (Vienna), located at the crossroad of the Amber Route (trade route between the Baltic and Adriatic sea) and the Roman Limes (border defence road).
Bruck/Leitha still has some preserved medieval walls and towers. Here we pass through Schloss Prugg and its beautiful arboretum.
In Bad Deutsch-Altenburg we find the beautiful 12th-century sandstone Marienkirche.
Hainburg still has fully intact medieval walls, gates and towers, and the Heimenburg (ruins) on top of the hill behind the town.
Kapitenovo camping, We had such a warm welcome in Croatia, thank you everyone for making it so memorable! If you are on the Sultans Trail, when in Croatia don’t forget to visit Dinka Juricic she and the Captain’s Camping is a gem on the Sultans Trail, you can swim in the Danube, play with the dogs and enjoy the amazing community room that is quickly developing into an amazing library. Many stories begin on this very spot. Ilok has an old hamam and cesme (drinking fountain) from the Ottoman period. We like to thank everyone again for making us feel so welcome and appreciated in Croatia.
