5 of 5 Edelweiss

Kings and Castles Tour - CKC230B

Sunday, August 20, 2023 | Uwe Hausleitner | Europe | 2 Comments

The first ride along the blue Danube

We are starting our tour through 6 European countries with countless castles, monasteries and wonderful riding routes. The group from the US brings a ton of experience and loves riding. This will be a whole lot of fun.

The Welcome Briefing, and so it begins...

The Tour

The group - engaged, interested and very interactive

Trying to give as much information as possible.

Riding day 1 - From Vienna to Budweis on Harleys (and a BMW)

Ready to go - out of Vienna

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The first meters

Group picture at the blue Danube, right in front of Stift Melk.

And one with the guide

The first border crossing into Czech Republic.

Our hotel in Budweis. Nice food included.

Riding day 2 - From Budweis to Prague

Starting our day with a little rain we found a way to have some fun inside.

Expecially the women had a lot of fun.

At the torture museum in Cesky Krumlov

Rest day in Prague - Visiting Castle Karlstein

Going up to the Castle in style.

Getting the full tour with a nice lady showing us around.

A lot to see and nice weather.

Inside the castle.

Karlstein kept the national treasure of the Czech people.

Riding day 4 - From Prague to Dresden

We started of with a little rain in the morning, but 2 hours into the day everything dried up and at lunch the sun came out an turned it into a beautiful day.

Entering Germany under a blue sky and bright sunshine

Visiting the Bastei near Dresden gives you a stunning view.

Even better with happy people in it. Having a lot of fun.

Rest day in Dresden - Still could not resist to hop on our bikes and go for a nice 190 km spin.

Getting ready to ride.

The road awaits us.

Arriving below Castle Wesenstein.

Happy riders. Fun fact, if you look closely at the castle, you might figure out something interesting about the windows.

As not everyone wanted to ride today, the girls and their bodyguard went sight seeing and shopping in Dresden.

They found the Frauenkirche, which is an amazing building.

Also the inside is stunning.

Famous for their details, the paintings on the roof are very special

Riding day 6 - Dresden to Lázně Bělohrad

Leaving Dresden with a few last views of it. Going on the German Autobahn, where the speed of 130 km/h is only a suggestion, you can follow, but you don´t have to. Entering Poland, entering Czech Republic, entering Poland again and arriving finally at our destination for the night in the Czech Republic. Great roads and a lot of fun.

Dresden is full of historical buildings.

Everything that looks like gold is gold.

This is, what you get to ride all day long.

Riding day 7 - Lázně Bělohrad to Starý Jicín

Our last day in the Czech Republic is a pure riding day. Hitting the back roads and the mountains on the Polish boarder. A perfect day in perfect conditions. Dry, sunny and not too hot.

Ready to go.

After our lunch, also our bikes demanded to drink.

The beautiful landscape surrounding our hotel.

Arrived and happy.

This is a dinner setting to remember.

Just look at the height of the room.

Riding day 8 - Starý Jicín to Kraków

Today we entered Poland and followed our route to the east. To Krakow.

The bikes are ready to go and clean again. Thanks to Ralph.

We saddle up and off we go.

Churches all over the place. A very holy country.

Having some coffee at a busy market place.

The bikes in the sun. What a nice view.

Rest day in Krakow - A dark chapter in History

On this rest day in Krakow our guests used the chance to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau. The impressions and information were breathtaking. After their return, we took the to the city center and had a very nice dinner right in front of the Krakow Cloth Hall.

Riding day 10 - From Kraków (Krakau) to Rajecké Teplice

We started in Poland and went south to the Slovakian border. Great weather and nice roads as we entered the Tatra Mountains. Despite some construction going on, we had a lot of fun on the mountain roads.

We started our day with some sightseeing with the wooden church in Dębno.

As you can tell from the bling of our bikes, best weather, blue sky and sunshine.

Entering Slovakia. The 5th country on our list. One more to come.

The whole group really enjoyed riding the Tatra mountains. Still perfect weather and a great view.

Riding day 11 - From Rajecké Teplice (Slovakia) to Budapest ( Hungary)

Starting in the hills of Slovakia and rolling over to the plains of Hungary. Another sunny day with empty backroads. And we are entering the 6th and last country from our list.

We couldn´t resist to stop by Bojnice castle. This was redone in the 19th century to resemble the castles of the french Loire valley.

We checked also the surroundings.

For our lunch, Ralph prepared one of the famous Edelweiss picnics.

Entering Hungary. You can tell, that the group is having a great time.

Rest day in Budapest - A beautiful and thriving city.

The group took the day off and explored Budapest and its wonderful sights. There is so much to see, that one day is not nearly enough. At dinner we had not one but 2 good reasons to celebrate. One of our guests and our van-driver had birthday. Not only born on the same day, but in the same year also. What are the odds...

Of course our birthday boy also received a present from Edelweiss. We hope you enjoyed.

Riding day 13 - From Budapest (Hungary) to Vienna (Austria)

We are starting our last riding day in Budapest and are heading to the north. Esztergom, the third biggest cathedral of all Europe is our first stop. Then we crossed the Danube und followed it upstream to the west. After a very nice littly icecream stop in Györ, we arrived at the Paneuropean Picnic place. This is, where the fall of the iron curtain and the Berlin wall started, even though it is quite a way from Berlin. After checking in for our afternoon icecream and a short stop at the Vienna Harley Davidson dealer, we arrived safe and happy at our final destination in Vienna. A great tour, great people, awesome riders and a lot of impressions. Thank you all. You have been such a great group.

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Starting the last riding day.