31 May 2020

Experiencing the idea of the European Union on a bike ride: The Austrian part of the Iron Curtain Trail bicycle route goes along the borders to Hungary, Slovakia and Czechia

Several years ago in 2018, the Iron Curtain Trail - a bicycle route along the former border between East and West Europe reaching from the Barents Sea (Norwegian-Russian border) in the North to the Black Sea (Bulgarian-Turkish border) in the South, was presented at the Architecture Biennale in Venice (article) for celebrating the development of Europe to a quasi borderless zone where people can easily make literally 'cross-country' bike tours and get through exhibitions and memorials a lively impression of the history of Europe before the fall of the Iron Curtain. Now due to safety measures during the pandemic, borders were used for controlling the virus - seemingly with success as the countries of the EU are currently planning to ease the measures concerning traveling. So it's very probable that the trail can be toured in its full length soon.

The so-called 'Iron Curtain' divided East from West Europe until 1989 in Austria. The country's 700 kilometers long part of the 'Iron Curtain Trail' reaches from Gmünd in Lower Austria to South Burgenland and goes along the borders to Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. At austria.info, a collection of bike routes - inclusively the Iron Curtain Trail - is published inclusively maps and links for closer information.