The Tour International Danubia – The TID
The Tour International Danubia, the TID, is the world’s longest and toughest water trek. The TID starts every year at the end of June in Ingolstadt, and after 11 weeks and 2,516 kilometers it ends at the beginning of September in Sfântu Gheorghe on the Black Sea.
The political significance of the TID is great and the most important goal of the TID is to get to know each other and accept the life and culture of all participants, regardless of all political, cultural and religious differences. The aim is to forge friendships and promote friendship and peace between the peoples of the Danube countries in particular.
The participants cover between thirty and sixty kilometers a day – regardless of the weather, rain, storm or heat – and only about once a week is there a rest day, when there is time to recover, explore the cities, but also to wash clothes – even if usually only at a cold water tap -, dry wet equipment or, if necessary, mend the boat.
As a rule, around 500 participants take it upon themselves to travel the Danube on the TID, even if most of them only travel part of the way. However, every year there are also some who complete the entire distance of 2,516 kilometers to the Black Sea in eleven weeks.
The first TID took place in 1956 and covered 220 km from Bratislava to Budapest. With 123 participants, it attracted a great deal of media attention in both Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
The second tour in 1957 started again in Bratislava and led through three countries – the Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Yugoslavia – all the way to Belgrade, with 198 canoeists taking part.
The 4th TID started on July 26, 1958 in Vienna, crossing the Iron Curtain for the first time and ending again in Belgrade on August 16.
The 10th TID started on July 3, 1965 in Regensburg, and thus for the first time in Germany. This TID ended in Russe, Bulgaria, km 495, and thus connected six countries for the first time – the Federal Republic of Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.
In 1968, the TID started for the first time in Ingolstadt, where it still begins today on the grounds of the local folding boat club, and from 1969 to 2008 it ended in Silistra, Bulgaria, km 375.
Since 2009, the TID has also been running through Romania and ends in Sfântu Gheorghe on the Black Sea. Since then, it has connected eight of the ten countries bordering the Danube. Only Moldova and Ukraine are not yet participating countries.