Iron Curtain TourCycle from Berlin to Budapest

From charming boutiques to well-deserved comfort, our accommodations are carefully selected to reflect the unique character of each region. We favour places with a true sense of place over big chain hotels, ensuring your stay is as memorable as the ride itself. Depending on the stage, you’ll experience everything from luxurious retreats to functional stays, always selected with care to suit the journey. Below are a range of hotels we use on your tour.

Beautiful suites in an elegant 1902 former public bathhouse and one of the few buildings that were left standing after World War II.

In the quiet centre of Decin, above the Arrigo gastronomical complex. Wake to the smell of freshly baked bread the morning after experiencing dinner in one of the best restaurants in the Czech Republic.

In the very heart of one of the most beautiful medieval cities in Europe. Designer Eva Jiricna has managed to create a modern masterpiece, complete with its own in-house bakery, so you can begin your rest day with bread and pastries still warm from the oven.

A 19th-century castle set in beautiful gardens in front of a lake. Featuring an outdoor heated pool, a renowned restaurant, and, interestingly, a Charlie Chaplin-themed bowling alley.

In the middle of the city’s Museums quarter, behind the splendid façade of an old patrician house, one finds this stylish hotel, which is a favourite hideaway for art lovers, design aficionados and cultural insiders.

This journey serves up a generous cross-section of Central European cuisine: hearty, comforting food shaped by long winters, borderlands history, and a love of beer, wine, pastries, and preserved flavours. From Germany into the Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary, expect a route rich in smoked meats, pickles, dumplings, soups, cakes, and regional specialities that reflect both local tradition and the shared culinary threads of the former Eastern Bloc and its neighbours.

In Germany, the food is robust and satisfying, with excellent breads, sausages, potatoes, pickles and beers never far away. Crossing into the Czech Republic, you find a cuisine built for comfort — roast meats, dumplings, soups, dark beer and simple dishes done exceptionally well, with southern Moravia also introducing vineyards and a strong wine culture. Austria adds a slightly more refined note, from schnitzel and sausage to elegant coffee houses, delicate pastries and crisp local wines, while Slovakia brings rustic mountain flavours such as bryndzové halušky, rich soups and hearty potato-based dishes.

By the time you reach Hungary, paprika, goulash, river fish, pastries and bold, warming flavours take centre stage. Across the whole route, food is generous rather than fussy: designed to sustain, to welcome, and to tell the story of the landscapes and cultures you are riding through. And whether your preference is beer in Prague, coffee and cake in Vienna, or a bowl of gulyás in Hungary, this is a tour where eating well is very much part of the journey.

A restaurant whose elegant design, imaginatively prepared menu with an exceptional wine list, and impeccable service create an unforgettable experience for our first night in Prague.

The soaring vaulted ceilings in the old basilica’s cellar is just one of this contemporary dining room’s many attractions. Add an enticing menu of Hungarian and international dishes, the city’s best wine selection and you have one of the best restaurants on the Danube bend.

This hotel is located in the Château de Frontière, in the heart of South Moravia, our accommodation for our last night in the Czech Republic. The 8 course extraordinary gastronomic experience adds to the picturesque and peaceful environment of the castle.

Whilst the menu is varied and ambience delightful we unashamedly chose this restaurant for arguably serving Vienna’s finest Wiener Schnitzel. Be warned you might need wash it down with schnapps afterwards.

Our picnics are a highlight of the day, with fresh local produce, plenty of variety, and the freedom to enjoy whatever takes your fancy. While the setting might be a local park, a quiet forest clearing, a hilltop viewpoint, or a scenic roadside stop, it’s always a chance to pause, relax, and refuel. Whether you linger over good food and conversation or grab a quick bite before jumping back on the bike, it’s the perfect mid-ride reset.

The Iron Curtain was the ideological and physical boundary that divided Europe during the Cold War, separating the communist East from the capitalist West. Emerging in the aftermath of World War II in the late 1940s, it became a heavily fortified zone of walls, fences, and watchtowers that controlled movement and shaped life across the continent until its collapse in 1989.

Its impact was profound. Families were separated, freedoms restricted, and entire regions developed along very different political, economic, and cultural paths. It came to symbolise one of the defining tensions of the 20th century.

Today, while the physical barriers have mostly disappeared, their legacy remains visible. Along this route, you’ll encounter preserved bunkers, memorials and former border zones, and in many places you can still sense the contrasts in landscapes, architecture and infrastructure between what was once East and West, offering a powerful perspective on Europe’s divided past and a united present.