Wee bit late with the last days update – was absolutely wiped out when we got to Budapest, and just a bit overwhelmed by the whole trip to write anything really.

We set out from Esztergom pretty early on Friday and against some advice given to us by the hotel owner decided to take the south bank to the ferry on the main road and then switch to the north bank of the river. This would mean we would miss the view of the Danube ‘knee’ he said we should’t miss – but would also mean we would miss the climb up to that view and benefit from decent cycle paths on the North side of the river.

Prior to leaving Matt wanted to check out (bag) the Basilica – so we had a wee look around there first.

Very much The tourist attraction of Esztergom and indeed many Budapest tourists take day boat trips up to see this. When they get there they will be created with a man dressed in historical/local attire, playing 2 recorders at the same time – very nice and sounded quite genuine until he started playing the Harry Potter theme tune and When the saints go marching – Odd!!

The decision to take the North bank was a good one, as the South bank follows the main road and is not pleasant. We took the ferry over at Szob and were quickly rewarded with amazing paths – such a shame all the Cycle paths in Hungary are not like this.

We stopped for some lunch in Vac and then caught another ferry back to the South (West) bank. By this point the Danube had completely changed course and after the ‘knee’ is now running North/South.

The final leg of the journey was pretty exhausting and pretty stressful. Firstly we were largely on main roads, and very busy ones the closer we got to Budapest. Secondly the signage for the EV6 had pretty much gone to pot and we were sort of navigating by feel. Was a great moment for me when we got to the city limits sign.

But also a moment of very mixed emotions. That feeling of having arrived after 3 weeks of pretty hard cycling was amazing, but almost immediately followed by a low, realising the journey was over.

This was very much about the journey and not the destination. Indeed the final destination for me will be Constanta on the Black Sea and my mind almost immediately turned to that. Planning will begin in earnest.

Really appreciate people reading this and following me – will write up a summary post later today.

Cheers