Ahhh, the mighty Danube!

I’ve had an obsession with the idea of kayaking the second-longest river in Europe – after the Volga – since 2013. In 2019, that dream came half-way true.

Jonas and I began paddling at the source in Donaueschingen, Germany. From there we continued downstream to the border with Austria, which we crossed. Then we paddled a short distance in Slovakia, followed by a lengthy stretch in Hungary. The original plan was to end in Budapest, but we had enough summer days left to continue another 200 kilometers. We came to a stop in the last Hungarian town on the Danube: Mohács.

We planned to continue this trip in 2021 after 18 months of traveling in Asia, but then 2020 happened. One day, the trip will continue into Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, a touch of Moldova, and Ukraine.

To the Black Sea. That’s where this river ends.

I wrote about each and every kayak day, which resulted in some 50 Danube-themed articles. I recommend you to start at Day Zero in Donaueschingen. If you’re searching for the statistics of our trip, look no further than the interactive Danube kayak map page with our spreadsheet. We did this entire trip while also working online on our non-paddle days, hence the name Kayak+Work.

The first half of the Danube trip was a literal dream come true. I can’t wait to continue this journey once the world opens up a little more again.