Szigetkoz

The Szigetkoz is the Hungarian half of a large inland delta where the Danube, leaving the mountains, spread into a fan of branches across gravel it had carried down, building a flat country of side channels, willow and poplar forest, oxbows and hundreds of small islands between the main river and the Mosoni-Duna. It is walked, cycled and above all paddled, with kayak routes through the branches and boat hire in the villages. A hydroelectric diversion upstream in 1992 took most of the flow out of the old bed, and the branch system is now supplied through a weir and managed channels, which changed the ecology and remains the central issue for the area's wildlife.

What you actually see

• Branch channels through willow forest - the paddling routes of the inland delta.
• Gravel islands and oxbows - the shifting ground the river built.
• Managed water supply - the weir now feeding the old branch system.
• Flat cycle routes - the dyke tracks between the villages.

When to go

May to September for paddling and cycling. A day or two. Water levels govern which branches are passable; ask locally. Mosquitoes are heavy in summer evenings.

Honest expectations

Water levels in the branches are artificial and vary, and some routes dry out. Mosquitoes can be severe. The villages are plain with limited food. Signage on the water is poor and a guide is advisable for longer paddles.

Nearby

Gyor is south-east; the Slovak border runs along the main Danube.