Serbia · Eastern Serbia · Premium route guide
Iron Gates Danube Road
The Danube squeezed between cliffs, a fairy tale fortress and 8,000-year-old villages.
Belgrade, Smederevo, Ram, Golubac Fortress, Lepenski Vir, Donji Milanovac, the Kazan narrows, Tekija and Kladovo. Built from our own track, on the Serbian bank only.
- Distance
- 273.4 km
- Peak elevation
- 278 m
- Elevation gain
- 1,718 m
- Best months
- Apr–Oct
- Serbia · Eastern Serbia
- One-way
- 100% paved
The route
Out of Belgrade on the old road to Smederevo and its huge riverside fortress, then east to Ram and Golubac, where the Danube enters Djerdap National Park. Road 34 then follows the river through the Iron Gates gorge, past the prehistoric site of Lepenski Vir and the Kazan narrows, to the dam at Kladovo. The track never crosses into Romania.
Works with Garmin, TomTom, BMW Navigator, Calimoto, Kurviger, komoot, MyRouteApp. Import as a track to ride the exact line. Road data from OpenStreetMap (ODbL); elevation from SRTM.
Track vs. route, how to load this into your GPS
What you are downloading is a GPX track, a dense, road-snapped breadcrumb of the exact line, with elevation on every point. It is not a GPX route (a short list of turn waypoints your device re-plans between). Tracks preserve our road choice; routes let the device pick its own way and can send you down a boring motorway shortcut.
How to use it on your navigator:
- BMW Navigator / Garmin Zumo / zumo XT: import as a track, then Convert to Route (or Trip Planner, new trip from track) if you want turn by turn prompts. Keep Recalculation off so it stays on our line.
- TomTom Rider: import the GPX in MyDrive, it loads as a track / itinerary. Enable Follow the exact route so it does not re-plan.
- Calimoto: open the GPX and choose Import as tour, Calimoto follows the track line.
- Kurviger / komoot / MyRouteApp: open the GPX and pick Import as track to keep the road choice. Only choose Import as route if you want the app to re-plan for your bike profile.
- Google Maps / Apple Maps: these do not read GPX. Use the map on this page for turn cues, or import the file into a GPX capable app first.
Rule of thumb: if your device asks "track or route?", pick track to ride our exact line, pick route only if you want the device to re-plan.
Elevation profile
From ~40 m at the base to 278 m at the top, 1,718 m of total climbing across the route.
Our track is 273 km with about 1,720 m of climbing, roughly 6 to 7 hours of riding without stops. Heading downstream you reach Lepenski Vir before Donji Milanovac, so our track visits them in that order. We leave Belgrade on the old Smederevo road through Grocka rather than the A1 motorway.
Why ride it
Golubac fortress rising out of the water, the narrowest point of the Danube at the Kazan gorge, the Decebalus rock face on the Romanian bank opposite, and quiet riverside villages with grilled fish.
Hazards
Narrow, unlit rock tunnels near Golubac, trucks on the main roads out of Belgrade, livestock and slow farm traffic in the villages, and few overtaking spots along the gorge.
Fuel
Fuel in Belgrade, Smederevo, Veliko Gradište, Golubac, Donji Milanovac and Kladovo. The gorge section between Golubac and Donji Milanovac has very few stations.
Best months and difficulty
April to October. Difficulty: easy.
What to see along the way
- Belgrade - Start of the route.
- Smederevo - Huge medieval fortress on the Danube.
- Ram - Small Ottoman fortress above the river.
- Golubac Fortress - Restored fortress at the gate of the gorge.
- Lepenski Vir - Prehistoric settlement and museum.
- Donji Milanovac - Riverside town, fuel and food.
- Kazan Narrows - Narrowest point of the Danube.
- Tekija - Village below the gorge.
- Kladovo - Iron Gates dam, end of the route.
Rent a bike
Rent a motorcycle or scooter for Iron Gates Danube Road
Flying in? Pick up a bike near the start of the route. We've pre-filled the pick-up city with Donji Milanovac - change it if you're basing elsewhere.
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