Iron Curtain TourCycle from Berlin to Budapest

We carefully select the places where we stay based on their personality and the hospitality of our hosts.

Be it a hotel in the historic part of Bratislava that has been housing the heads of state for each political order for over 100 years or the Château de Frontière in the Czech wine country, we seek to connect you with the places we travel in through the accommodations we choose.

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, renowned restaurant and a 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.

We choose our restaurants because they are exceptional and unique.

Whether they are haute cuisine, local farm fayre or local game stew, every meal is guaranteed to be memorable. Our journey takes us through a number of different countries, all of which have distinct culinary traditions. We seek to embrace this diversity and give you a sense of place through the food and drink we consume along the way.

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.

We pride ourselves on providing the best picnics. These are always in spectacular locations, be it at a historical site or a breathtaking view. The produce will always be local, fresh and exceptional.

This tour travels through countries known for their hearty food. No-one will go hungry here. With little or no access to the ocean and long cold winters this area is known for its smoked, cured, pickled and fermented delicacies. Which of course includes some of the best beers in the world.

The Eastern part of Germany with its sandy soils and open forest is known for its buttery smooth potatoes, of which they have many varieties and which are often served with local bratwurst.

Vegetarians need not fear as Germany’s favourite dish is, in fact, vegetarian, Spätzle are traditional egg noodles served in a variety of delicious ways.

For those who enjoy their beer this entire route will not disappoint. Each of the countries we travel through will tell you their beer is the best in the world, made from the clearest water and finest hops, barley and wheat. Best you taste the best of the best and make up your own mind.

The rolling hills of the southern Czech Republic and northern Austria are known for their sparkling wine, while many of the small vineyards that dot the landscape along some of the rivers we follow produce wonderful rieslings and light pinots.

The Austrian Schnitzel is known throughout the world and has almost been absorbed as a national dish in Australia, however Austria is also home to an array of wonderful treats for those with a sweet tooth. Not to be missed is a Viennese-style coffee (hope you like whipped cream) and a piece of the famous chocolate Sachertorte cake (which has its own national day) in one of Vienna’s typical coffee houses.

The national dish of Slovakia is the Halusky; potato dumplings, which are like soft gnocchi and mixed with a slightly tangy, yet creamy Slovakian sheep cheese called Bryndza and, at its simplest, topped with fried bacon and chives.

Hungary’s breads and smoked sausages are fantastic, as are their meats, stews, sauces and desserts, but their most renowned dish is Goulash or, as Hungarians call it, gulyás, meaning “herdsman”.  It dates back to the medieval shepherds, then in the 15th century invading Ottoman Turks introduced a new spice to Hungary – paprika. This spice and the dish have since become defining elements of Hungarian cuisine and can be found in many delicious forms.

‘From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow’  – Winston Churchill’s ‘Sinews Of Peace’ address of March 5th, 1946 at Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri USA.

The Iron Curtain was defined in the West as the political, military, and ideological barrier erected by the Soviet Union after World War II. Its purpose was to seal off itself and its dependent eastern and central European allies from open contact with the West and other non-communist areas. In reality the term Iron Curtain had been in occasional and varied use as a metaphor since the 19th century, but it came to prominence only after it was used by Winston Churchill in his speech at Fulton in 1946.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the geographical landscape of Europe has changed dramatically. Up until that point the countries behind the Iron Curtain were Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania and Yugoslavia. A number of now independent countries were also within the USSR. We must also note the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1961 that divided the city into two ideological blocks in the heart of the old East Germany.

The Iron Curtain was finally lifted on June 27, 1989, at the border between Austria and Hungary by the foreign ministers Gyula Horn (Hungary) and Alois Mock (Austria), 43 years after Churchill’s speech. This first crack in the long border between the western world and the Soviet communist world was the beginning of the final collapse of communism in November and December 1989, and the first sign of the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The events that demolished the Iron Curtain started with discontent in Poland, and continued in Hungary, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Romania.