Esztergom to Budapest

 Ride day 14: 55.3 miles, 1089’ climbing

Lodging:  Hotel Medos

We had a very nice breakfast at our hotel in Esztergom.  Part of what makes the determination of very nice is the coffee, and it was a good Americano.

After breakfast we readied the bikes and set off back across the bridge from the day before and out of town towards Budapest.

We rode about 30 miles on some roads shared with cars and on the Eurovelo bike path along grassy fields and trees, stopping along the way for a snack at a Coop grocery.  Then we arrived at an option in the town of Vac to take a ferry to a large island in the middle of the Danube or we could continue along the south/west side of River.  As luck would have it the ferry was just finishing loading, and we got aboard as the last passengers a minute before the ferry departed.  The whole trip to the island took maybe 5 minutes.

We crossed to the west side of the island, looking for a place to have lunch and stumbled upon a craft fair in a field with music and food.  We parked our bikes and went in, it felt like a wholly local event, and we got some lemonades and some mutton sandwiches which were a little questionable in quality. But the bread and lemonade were great.

After lunch we continued on and got closer to Budapest traveling on a nice path that got more and more populated with other rider and pedestrians.  The Sunday afternoon pedestrians here don’t really care much about the bikers or pay much attention to where they are going or who they might be blocking, so things got quite slow for a bit.  After a stop for a Coke at a cafe along the path, we made our way into Budapest, crossing the Danube, and onto streets to our hotel.  The traffic was occasionally intense, but helmetless scooter riders didn’t stop or hesitate in the face of cars, and we followed.  Directions got confusing and stressful, but we made it successfully. Our hotel faces a small park which is a quiet corner in the city.

After showering, we headed out for an evening boat tour on the Danube.  We decided to take the metro (subway).  The ticket system is a bit confusing, we purchased tickets at a kiosk but it never printed actual tickets, and we were never asked for tickets. The boat was one of those large tour boats, but we were able to get a seat on the upper deck in the cool air.  As night fell and the city lit up it was quite beautiful to see. The weather was perfect, and views were memorable. Budapest was full of people enjoying the evening on a Sunday, and it extended over many parts of the city.

After the boat ride, we grabbed dinner at an outside table in an area right off the Danube where lots of people were wandering about or eating too.  Then it was back to the hotel after a long day. Budapest is very charming. While there are a lot of tourists here, it doesn’t feel like a theme park the way Vienna does. We look forward to exploring more.