Day 34 - Radvaň nad Dunajom to Budapest (76 miles)

Although a similar distance to yesterday, I expected today to be slower: stopping at junctions, waiting for traffic, a less than flat route and less than perfect pathways. Each one, each time, would add a little to the day and I was expecting quite a lot of these delays by the time I reached Budapest. 

The day started well as the first twenty miles were effectively finishing yesterday’s leg with the same good track and the same views of river and countryside. It took me to the border town of Šturovo, with Hungary and the city of Esztergom across the river, its Basilica sitting high above the city and dominating the view, even from Šturovo.

Esztergom Basilica 

But I didn’t cross into Hungary here, it would have taken me onto the section I needed to avoid with the discontinued ferry. Instead I stayed north of the river in Slovakia for a while longer following an alternative route, created I think to address the ferry issue. This would explain why that, although there were signs, the cycle path itself set new lows in quality for anything I have experienced to date: a fair bit on loose gravel tracks and on road formed from slabs of rough reinforced concrete, badly joined and with some of the steel reinforcement showing - I guess some communist era idea of a country lane which may suffice for tractors but was bone jarring with a loaded bicycle.

I had one last coffee in the euro zone then crossed over the narrow Ipoly river and I was in Hungary and back on the official route. Crossing a river shouldn’t make so much difference but I left a small undistinguished town and was suddenly on a path through meadow and rich green countryside. On one side woodland hiding the Danube, on the other hills in the near distance, separated from me by uncut pasture and grassland. I cycled a beautiful stretch in shaded woodland as the path followed the river which, now without the constrictions of its canalised concrete banks, made wide, sweeping loops as if enjoying its new found freedom. And I cycled through a small waterside village with red roses planted along the river bank and releasing their fragrance into the air. Hungary, here at least, appeared very natural and very peaceful.

The river had now looped south - a direction it would now take me for a few days before heading eastwards again - and before long I was in Vác where the route was to take me by ferry to the opposite bank. However, I had missed a boat by five minutes and it turned out I would have to wait forty minutes before it came back and then it would be fifteen minutes more on the slow journey across. That was nearly an hour of cycling lost on a long and slow day. There were signs for an alternative route my side of the river that I could be following so after lunching in the shade of trees in the riverside park I made my decision to forego the ferry; whichever side I followed I would be on the Danube, in Hungary and bound for Budapest. The first hour was in the dappled shade of woodland. Then quiet streets through small communities would appear separated by short stretches of wood or countryside. Slowly the countryside reduced and the urban communities expanded until they eventually merged; the Budapest suburbs. Finally I was alongside a fast road leading to the city but making slow progress due to the lack of cycle path, using a very rough pavement and having to stop at every road junction, all the time surrounded by the noise of Friday afternoon big city traffic.

Eventually I got away from the road and onto a cycle path. A stretch by the river, onto an island, through a park then back onto a bridge, and there a mile distant was the city as I had seen it in so many pictures: its impressive Parliament building, castle, ornate architecture and chain bridge stretched along the Danube. It wasn't long before I was in my accommodation, a large bedsit apartment a short walk from the old town and the river. Some washing and admin done, I set off to see a bit of the city and find something to eat before an early night and proper sightseeing tomorrow. My first impression: it's a very busy place.