Sultans Trail in Slovakia

Beautiful hiking in Slovakia. The map below

shows the route of the Sultans Trail in Slovakia

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The Sultans Trail offers some 170 km of easy hiking in Slovakia, between Bratislava and Esztergom. Bratislava to Budapest, is about 225 km long and, for the major part, stays close to the Danube, in Slovakia. Major cities along the way are Komárno (SVK) and Esztergom (HU).

At this stretch of the Sultans Trail, the course of the Danube is checked by two dams. Both will be used to cross the river. Between these dams, the original flood land is preserved, albeit controlled by permeable dams. The trail meanders through these natural wetlands.

After crossing the second weir, the trail stays close to the Danube in Slovakia until Komárno and Štúrovo. At Štúrovo the Danube is crossed by a bridge, and the trail enters Esztergom, the former capital of the Hungarian kingdom.

SLOVAKIA

General information

The Trail follows the Danube closely, mainly on the cycling path.

Start point

The trail starts in the historic main square (Hlavné námestie) of the old town (Staré Mesto) of Bratislava.

How to get there

Although Bratislava has an International Airport, many visitors chose the Vienna Airport as an entry point  because it has much more connections to the world. 

A fast bus service connects Vienna Airport to Bratislava on an hourly basis. Travel time about 1 hour.

GPX/KML files
GPX/KML files are available with guidebooks or as a digital package with your membership including Sultans Trail passport.
Formalities

Austria, Slovakia and Hungary are EU members and part of the Schengen zone (no border formalities between them).

The currency in Austria and Slovakia is Euro. 

The currency in Hungary is Florint, with a relatively stable exchange rate to the Euro. Currency code HUF. Credit cards and bank cards are readily accepted.

The main languages along the route are Slovakian and Hungarian, but English and German are also often understood.

Route Updates

Connecting countries

Landscape
The landscape is predominantly flat arable land on one side of the trail and the Danube on the other. The Danube used to meander through this lowland and flood seasonally, causing mischief to the people. The Water is now controlled by dykes and levees. But the former riverbeds are still visible in the landscape as trenches, backwaters and swamps, pools and puddles.
Nature
South of Bratislava, the flood-prone Danube has been brought under control by extensive canalisation works. The huge Gabčíkovo reservoir is a result of it. However, much of the old floodplain has been preserved on the Hungarian side of this reservoir, with many creeks, varying water levels, rapids and permeable dams.
Food
Pressburg (Bratislava) was famous in the Habsburg Empire for the aroma of great special dishes like the unique Tafelspitz, Szeged beef goulash, Pörkölt, oxtail, poppy pierogies or traditional Kaiserchmarrn.
Culture
Bratislava. The Celts built a fortified settlement on the castle hill and later the Romans. In the 8th century, the Slavs arrived, and the market place below the castle developed into a trade centre and became a free royal town in 1291.
Bratislava was the Hungarian capital between 1526 and 1784 when most of the middle Danube basin was in the hands of the Turks. The Hungarian parliament stayed to meet here until 1848.
The Habsburg rulers were crowned kings of Hungary in the city’s Gothic Cathedral of St. Martin.
In 1741 Empress Maria Theresa fled to Bratislava when French and Bavarian troop threatened Vienna. In 1805,  Napoleon and the Austrian emperor Francis II signed the Peace of Pressburg, here.
Bratislava has been the capital of Slovakia since the country became an independent nation in 1993.

Komárno, At the confluence of the Danube and the Váh, the Romans built a fortress. This fortress controlled trade and traffic in the lowlands and has been a stronghold against invading hordes such as the Tatar invasions, ever since. It has never been captured “NEC CARTE – NEC MARTE”, neither by trick nor by force.

Brief History
People have lived here 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
Historical sites in Bratislava are the old town, Michael’s tower-gate, Bratislava Castle, St.Martin’s Cathedral, Primate’s Palace and Grassalkovich Palace.

The rebuilt centre of Komárno is exciting, and the Fortress is worth a visit. 4km from Komárno, the trail passes the remains of the Roman Castellum Kalemantia.

In Žitava we find a monument commemorating the Zittau Peace Treaty, which ended the “Fifteen Years’ War” between the Turks and the Habsburg Monarchy.

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Gerhard Kowar

Director

Sultans Trail essentials

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