Ilker's Blog

Robin, Ilhan, and I biked from Neratovice to Dresden in 3 days. It was the first time in my life to have bike holiday with multiple days. I really enjoyed it. The nature, small villages in both Czech Republic and Germany, Elbe, food, everything was amazing. I am already looking for next parts of Elberadweg (Elbe bike route). Photos below are from Robin’s strava.

Summary

• Route:
  • Day 1: Neratovice – Litomerice (67 km)
  • Day 2: Losovice – Dečin (49 km)
  • Day 3: Dečin – Dresden (69 km)
• Road condition:
  • 90 % well-maintained asphalt bike road, 5% car road, 5% gravel
• Logistics:
  • We met at Berlin main train station and took EC171 to Prague at 6:53 AM. It took around 4:30 hours.
  • From Prague main train station to Neratovice, we took a regional train. I can’t remember the train line. We used Můj vlak app to buy train tickets in Czech republic. It took around 45 minutes to reach Neratovice.

Notes

Day 1: Neratovice – Litomerice (67 km)

See the first day route on Strava.

• We took the train (EC171) from Berlin main train station to Prague. It departed at 6:53 AM. Waking up at 5:30 hurt but good news is there was no delay at all. It is very rare these days.
• The train station was very crowded so all Ubahn stations were. This city definitely does not sleep.
• We couldn’t buy anything for breakfast. There were long queues in all shops in the train station. The selection on the train was really poor, no sandwich at all. We ended up eating a fake Croissant. The personnel in the train’s restaurant was definitely not a morning person. I wished I wasn’t lazy and prepared my sandwich previous night.
• On the train, we booked our stay at a small hotel at Lovosice. We paid around 30 Euro per person.
• The train reached to Prague on time.
• We ate sandwiches at the Prague train station and waited the next regional train. Our goal was to Mělník (near Elbe river) and start from there. But the train wasn’t go there because of construction work. Then, we went to Neratovice which is a smaller town near Elbe and 10 km south-east of Mělník.
• It was the sunniest day of the tour but sometimes partially cloudy. The weather wasn’t consistent during the ride so we needed adjust our outfit couple of times.
• We started riding around 2 pm as planned.
• Riding along Elbe in Neratovice was so nice. It felt like a ghost Soviet city around Elbe. There were many abandoned factories. They would be immedietely turned into a techno club at Berlin.
• Mělník was also beautiful. You will have a nice view of Elbe from a small hill where Melnik was settled.
• I was surprised to see many people who were fishing in Elbe. Everyone was chill and enjoying their day. They were all well-equipped with cars, tents, and camping chairs. This was the moment where fishing looked peaceful, calm, restful activity to me rather than a boring waiting. Maybe I am getting older.
• We reached to Terezín at some point. I didn’t know city name during the ride and checked the name when I came to Berlin. Terezín was most interesting town to me. You will see the old concentration camp and Jewish cemetery in front of it. It appears suddenly. Then, we passed through abandoned factories and old citadel. There were only few people outside. The whole town was a bit spooky and charming at the same time. I would go there again at some point.
• We reached to Litomerice. It was the end of biking day. The town was also beautiful and looks so authentic.
• We ate dinner at Resturant Budvarka, actually it is a brewery. We got the soup of the day and goulash. The warm meal was all we needed.
• We were exhausted and too full to bike to Lovosice where our hotel was at. We took a train to go there. We bought the ticket from Můj vlak (my train) app. It was just a few euros.
• We walked to our hotel, rested and got ready for the next day!

Day 2: Losovice – Dečin (49 km)

See the second day route on Strava.

• We left the hotel around 10:00 and looked for some bakery for breakfast. There were limited options. We stopped at LOVO Cafe and had some improvised sandwich.
• From Lovosice, we took a short boat ride from here to other side of the Elbe. The boat was noisy, old-school, diesel motorboat. It was a fun ride. An old guy operates the boat and bring people to the other side whenever they show up.
• We had a lunch break at Ústí nad Labem and ate our snacks. We didn’t go to the city center. We were seeing it from the other side of Elbe. I think it wouldn’t worth to visit it so we want to keep our tempo.
• We arrived Děčín late afternoon and went to our hotel (Hostel Děčín Na Skřivánce). We booked the hotel a day before.
• The hotel was almost empty and they had a room for our bikes.
• In the evening, we ate hamburger as dinner and walked in the city. It was rainy so we couldn’t walk much. There was a small festival in a random street. It was a good ambiance with a local band playing.
• Then, we bought some snacks at a supermarket and went back to the hotel for sleeping.
• I also passed through Decin three years ago. That time I was saying “I am in a random town that I would probably never be visiting again”. After three years later, I was spending a night in Decin. Never say never.
• Decin was beautiful. I want to stay longer next time and discover the city center.

Day 3: Dečin – Dresden (69 km)

See the last day route (part 1) on Strava.

See the last day route (part 2) on Strava.

• I had an annoying pain in my knee. It got worse by every kilometer.
• This part was with the most beautiful nature, especially from Decin to Bad Schandau. The route was almost flat. The weather was nice.
• I wanted to stop and took a train at Pirna. My knee was bad. That’s why my Strava route is split into two. Then, I didn’t want to be a quitter and rode with pain. I think it was a stupid idea but I am happy I did it today.
• Last 5 kilometers until Dresden, we were beaten by wind. I was biking with walking speed. My knee was terrible.
• We reached to Dresden’s famous bridge late afternoon. It was really fulfilling.
• We went to our Airbnb apartment, took a shower, and walk in Neustadt. It felt like Kreuzberg.
• Then, we went to a random restaurant for dinner. It turned out it was a Czech restaurant (Grubers Welt) as well. The food was from local Czech cuisine amazing. We ate garlic soup, topinka, würzi, bauernschnitzel. I also wanted to try desert but had no space in my stomach. They have also good selection of biers. I would go there again.

Day 4: Dresden

In our last day, we explored Dresden. After having a good breakfast, we walked in the old town and visited Frauenkirche, Fürstenzug, Zwinger.

We took EC135 from Dresden back to Berlin.