Ráckeve-Danube to Dunaharaszti
Address
Budapest
GPS
47.436034411452, 19.089775085449
Level of difficulty 2 | Gastronomy 2 | Length 9.2 km | Time 1.5 - 2 hours
Budapest is not only one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, but also a paddling city. On the Ráckeve Danube, a branch of the Danube, you can paddle comfortably between reed belts and riverside houses and enjoy nature. You don't even notice that the 1.7 million metropolis is right next door.
General information
Navigation rules
There are hardly any swimmers here on the Ráckeve-Danube, but people paddle a lot here (SUP, kayak, regatta, etc.). Even private boats can stir up the water, so it is always important to keep enough distance and not block anyone's way. This also applies to the fishermen along the banks, who do not want to be disturbed.
Dangers and risks
From time to time you come across motorboats, then you have to watch out for their waves. Of course, the side arm is a popular paddling area for hobby paddlers and amateur athletes. So always keep enough distance from your sports colleagues! Fishermen are also abundant by the shores. Please avoid their cast out lines!
When the westerly wind picks up, you can expect a stronger headwind, but sometimes you can also enjoy a decent downwinder here.
Since the flow rate of the water is estimated at one to three km/h, you have to reckon with longer times when paddling against the current. This is important to know if the route is also paddled back to the starting point. Especially beginners should keep this in mind.
Directions
In principle, Budapest is easily accessible via all imaginable means of transport. National and international bus, train and flight connections can be found via the comparison portals Omio, Busbud as well as RailEurope.
Coming from Budapest by car, take the road Soroksári út along the left bank of the river towards the south (Dunaharaszti) to the district of Pestszenterzsébet. After the train station Pesterzsébet felső and the flyover bridge turn right into Csepeli átjáró Street, which you follow straight ahead for about 360 m to the water. On the left is the Pesterzsébeti Bath, on the right is the Gubacsi Bridge.
With the Budapest Card you can also use public transport for free and without any restrictions. If you travel by train, you arrive at Pesterzsébet felső station and walk the last part to the water.
Parking
Along the roadside in the area under the Gubacsi Bridge or on the parking lot of the Pesterzsébeti Bath.
Swimming
The Ráckevei-Duna is not particularly blessed with clear water, which is probably why there are hardly any swimmers in the water here.
However, in 2021 the SHO Beach was opend in Lágymányosi Bay, and it is the only lido on the Danube in Budapest. It offers not only sporting activities and entertainment but also great gastronomy. Otherwise, locals love bathing primarily in the countless public baths and spas. No other capital in the world offers as many healing springs and spas as Budapest and its suburbs. You can also experience unusual stuff, such as a thermal beer spa or a Late-Night Spa Party – both in the famous Széchenyi thermal baths.
Tour
From the Pesterzsébeti Spa at the Gubacsi Bridge downstream to the Hajóállomás ship dock in Dunaharaszti (250 m before the railway bridge Dunaharaszti vasúti híd).
Length
9.2 km
Time
1.5 - 2 hours
Start and landing
Start at the ship dock in front of the Pesterzsébeti bath.
Land at the ship dock Hajóállomás in Dunaharaszti.
SUP rental
Kolonics György Vízisport Központ (Water Sports Center)
Duna utca 61, 1215 Budapest
Phone +36 (0)30 936 0513
Kiteline respectively BudapestSUP
Batthyány utca, 1015 Budapest
Phone +36 (0)70 453 2414
SUPcsi
Latványsport Kft.
1203 Budapest Közműhelytelep 5 II/8
Phone +36 (0)30 530 9003
SUP the lifestyle
Népsziget 1-3 Budapest Evezős Egyesület, 1138 Budapest
Phone +36 (0)20 437 8733
SUPshop BudaPart
Napkelte utca 1, 1117 Budapest
Phone +36 (0)1 23 44 888
Paddle fun between Budapest and Dunaharaszti
Apart from its main artery, the Danube, Budapest also has a number of great areas to offer to paddlers. The two side arms are quite impressive. The Szentendrei-Duna branches off the Danube north of the Hungarian capital, is about 30 km long and largely untouched. On the northern outskirts of the city it runs back into the main river.
The almost twice as long Ráckevei Duna (also known as Soroksári Danube or Ráckeve Soroksári Duna) originates in the 9th district of Budapest and runs out of the city towards the south. Between Budapest and the village Tass the Danube main river and the Ráckevei Duna form the island of Csepel. The Ráckevei-Duna is sealed off by dams and locks, so the current of the Danube is hardly noticeable.
The water level difference between the two locks is a maximum of 30 cm, and according to Wikipedia, the flow rate on this Danube side arm hardly exceeds 0.4 km/h.
However, my personal visual assessment estimates the flow of water at around one meter per second. With a somewhat pessimistic calculation, we are talking about 3 km/h, which would also explain why I am able to complete today's SUP tour so fast despite the headwind.
Interactive satellite images have become an indispensable tool in my tour planning, but unfortunately they cannot capture everything up to date. The plan originally was to get on the water under the Kvassay Bridge and to paddle 12 km to Dunaharaszti from there.
Thanks to Street View, however, it became clear that no good access was possible on either bank because they were either fenced off or it was unclear how big the difference in height from the road down to the water really is. There were also unexpected road construction sites, including roadblocks, which made it impossible to investigate the local conditions more closely.
So, without further ado, another tour start had to be found, preferably as close as possible to the originally planned starting point, so that I wouldn't lose a lot of paddling distance.
Here, too, the interactive satellite image including street view was required again, and I found promising access to the river in the area of the next bridge (Gubacsi Bridge) downstream by the Pesterzsébeti Bath, which was renewed a few years ago.
If you don't want to visit the public bath anyway and thus park on its own parking lot, you can park your car by the roadside in the area under the bridge. The lawn in front of the reeds offers enough space to unpack and inflate the boards and in just a few steps you are at the small shipping pier, from where the tour starts.
Of course, the old steel bridge in the background also contributes to the urban flair of this location, especially since it is heavily frequented not only by cars, but also by rail vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. However, this impression disappears after the first paddling meters when you discover the duck families in the water and slowly paddle towards the increasingly densely overgrown shore sections.
On my left there are rowing & regatta clubs passing, while I see a long stretched park stretching out behind the reeds and the waterfront promenade. There is hardly any sign of the metropolis anymore, and the noise of cars gives way to lively birdsong from the green belt. Some of the flora reminds me of the waterways on the Adriatic in northern Italy, although here I am paddling through well-populated areas.
After about 2.5 km, another smaller sidearm branches off and thus marks the beginning of the popular Molnar Island (Molnár-sziget) in the suburb of Soroksár. It is named after the fifty or so mills (molnár means miller in Hungarian) that ground Soroksár rye grown on the island into flour here in the 19th century.
Today, this two kilometer long and narrow island is a popular leisure destination with nearly 500 privately owned properties on it (according to Wikipedia, 2022). Only a small concrete bridge from the early 1960s connects the island to the mainland. I don't pass by it, however, as I keep paddling on the Ráckevei-Duna and keep looking at the nice spots on the front of the island.
I will definitely paddle the back side of the island - the Soroksári Duna - another time and circumnavigate the island in doing so. If you come to the region without your own board, you can, for example, rent one about 1.5 km away at the Nocsac Bar and go exploring the surroundings from there.
Looking at the map, you will notice that there are a number of bars on the shore, or at least in the second row. A refreshment break is therefore possible at almost any time, and you can enjoy the view over the reeds and water.
In general, the region is well-developed and the left bank in particular (in the direction of flow) can also be easily explored on foot and by bike. Many beautiful waterfront homes pass me, and I'm amazed at how fast I'm making progress. However, it is a good idea to keep an eye out for fishermen and avoid them on sight so you don't run over their lines or scare away potential catches.
Suddenly, the second big bridge already appears in the distance above the channel, which tells me I'm already in Dunaharaszti. Shortly after the bridge and thus shortly before my destination, the Danube divides again because an elongated reed landscape forms two islands in the middle of the water. The wetland stretches over 1200 m in length and even forms a small 20 m wide channel, which of course I roam through right away. What a wonderful natural experience you can only marvel at from the water!
Just after the reed island and about 250 m before the railway bridge, I land at a jetty (Hajóállomás) on the left bank. The adjacent park offers ample space for parking and folding the board. If you don't have a pick-up option here, you either have to paddle back against the gentle current or walk almost a kilometer to the main road and catch the next tram to get a ride back.
I end my tour in the neighborhood with a wonderful lunch in the nearby Bacchus Pub. They have great food at fair prices and honest portions that certainly leave you well-fed.
Alternatives: The tour can be extended as long as you like, especially since there are countless moorings on the next 40 km of the Ráckeve-Danube. However, it is advisable not only to study the satellite image in advance, but also to check on site where you can land. The banks are partly overgrown with reeds and parceled out, so that many private properties make it impossible to get out.
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