2026 - 05- 31 Danube Revisited - Part II

This is the second part of a new visit to the River Danube.

We continue from where we finished part I: from Langenlebarn (LOXT) and head towards Vienna.

We overfly the City - including a circle over the town - and land at Vienna International Airport (LOWW).  It is Austria's largest airport and serves as the hub for Austrian Airlines. Departing to the east, we follow the river that flows broadly across a flat plain.

The Danube flows through ten countries and passes through four capital cities: Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, and Belgrade. The next stop gets us to the Slovakian capital, Bratislava. The landscape is low and marshy — this is the edge of the Pannonian Plain, where the river begins to slow and spread. After the Danube emerges from the Hungarian Gates Gorge near Bratislava, the river stream slows abruptly and loses its transporting capacity, causing enormous quantities of gravel and sand to settle, forming a network of islands on both the Slovak and Hungarian sides of the river.

We overfly Bratislava Castle. Its roots date back to 907 AD. The castle building features four towers — one on each corner — and a courtyard with an 80-metre-deep water well. The largest and tallest is the Crown Tower on the southwest corner, dating from the 13th century, which for approximately 200 years housed the crown jewels of Hungary. We land at Bratislava's International Airport (LZIB). Slovakia's capital sits gracefully along the Danube with a beautifully preserved old town, Baroque architecture, welcoming squares, and a hilltop castle watching over it all.

Now we cross into Hungary and head southeast. The Danube here divides into multiple arms and channels, forming the Szigetköz wetland on the Hungarian side — a floodplain maze of river branches, oxbow lakes, and poplar forests that is now a protected nature area. We stop at Győr (LHPR). The Town sits at the confluence of the Danube, Rába, and Rábca rivers in northwest Hungary's Western Transdanubia region, earning it the nickname "City of Rivers."

We depart for a short southeastward leg to reach the ruins of Tata Castle. It stands on the shores of Öreg Lake (Old Lake) in the town of Tata, Hungary. Built between 1397 and 1409 by King Sigismund of Luxembourg on the foundations of an earlier fortification, it became one of the king's favourite residences. During the Ottoman occupation, the castle was an important fortress of the Hungarian borderland defensive system. Today, it houses the Kuny Domokos Museum.

Rejoining the Danube, the route now enters one of the most dramatic stretches of the entire river. The flat plain is left behind as forested hills close in on both banks. East of Komárno, the Danube enters the Visegrád Gorge, squeezed between the foothills of the Western Carpathians and the Hungarian Transdanubian Mountains, where the steep right bank is crowned with fortresses, castles, and cathedrals of the Hungarian Árpád dynasty from the 10th to the 15th century. We pass Esztergom, with the Esztergom Basilica, the largest church in Hungary and the seat of the Catholic Church in the country. The next POI is Visegrád Castle, crowning a 333-metre hilltop above the Danube Bend, built following the devastating Mongol invasions of the 13th century and evolving from a defensive stronghold to a royal residence, serving as guardian of the Hungarian Holy Crown for nearly two centuries. Visegrád became the country's capital during the 14th century reign of Charles Robert of the Anjou dynasty. The Citadel was connected to a Lower Castle by a high stone wall that ran all the way down to the bank of the Danube, ending in a watchtower.

The sharp bend at Visegrád — the Dunakanyar — is the most photographed landscape in Hungary. Now the Danube widens again as the hills recede and the great Hungarian capital comes into view. We overfly Budapest, Hungary's capital city. Split by the Danube into hilly Buda and lively Pest, the city is an extraordinary mix of grandeur, grit, elegance, and energy, offering one unforgettable view after another. We pass the green dome of the Parliament Building and land at Hungary's main International Airport (LHBP).

South of Budapest, the river enters the Great Hungarian Plain — the Alföld — a vast, largely flat agricultural landscape stretching to the horizon. The Danube here becomes broader and slower. We land at Kalocsa (LHKA), Hungary's paprika capital — the fields of red peppers surrounding the town are one of the most distinctive features here.  Our next turnpoint, Baja, is at the meeting point of two large regions: the Great Hungarian Plain and Transdanubia, with the River Danube separating the two. Continuing south, the Danube crosses the Hungarian-Serbian border. The landscape becomes increasingly flat, and the river widens further, dotted with sandy islands. South of the border, we are in the Vojvodina region of Serbia. We finish the flight at Klisa (LDOS), an urban area of the city of Novi Sad, Serbia's second-largest city. Novi Sad itself is a major cultural centre and the administrative capital of Vojvodina.

The flight is 300 miles long with 5 landings. I will be in the A2A Aerostar. As always, please fly what you like. The flight plans are here.

Recommended scenery:

Langenlebarn – LOXT, you may have this airfield already

Vienna – LOWW

Bratislava – LZIB

Gyor – LHPR

Hungary VFR, we used this addon before. It is also available via ORBX

We try real weather. Please set your simulator for a 4 pm local departure.

Multiplayer Particulars:

Date and time: Sunday, May 31, 2026. 16:00 UTC

Microsoft Flight Simulator Multiplayer: United States East server

These flights are events posted at DigitalThemePark. For these Sunday flights, we use DTP’s Discord Server for communication.

If you want to help others enjoy the multiplayer experience, don't forget to enter your aircraft details on the multiplayer spreadsheet (linked here). Your courtesy will save others a lot of time and effort. Thanks!