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Danube Cycling - Part 3: Hungary

Oliver Parsons has the third part of his travelog of his cycling tour on the Danube.

By Oliver Parsons

8 Feb 2012, 09:30

Sorry for the brief interlude in getting this out to you.  Unfortunately I have no excuses of cats spilling water on the laptop, I have just been a little bit distracted by work.

So I left it in Vienna and from Vienna we headed to the border with Slovakia and Bratislava.  The Austrian cycling infrastructure taking you out of Vienna was fantastic.  All segregated and beautifully paved.  The only complaint I could have were all the nudist areas down the DonauInsel and the canal.  Having lots of middle aged Austrians jumping out on you in their birthday suits is something of an eye opener first thing of a morning. 

We continued through the forested national park, where we saw our first taste of the horse and cart driving alongside us.  Bar almost having a terribly middle class disaster (Zoe nearly broke her kindle when one of the bags fell apart) it was a beautiful ride.  We then passed over the biggest bridge so far into Hainburg and through the Vienna Gate and off into Slovakia.

Bratislava is a funny old place, clearly beginning to thrive from EU membership but somehow tainted in my mind by all the rumours of stag dos tearing it up.  However just outside of the main city we found a beautiful secluded lake where locals were enjoying their Sunday, as it was now the afternoon we took a dip.  Refreshed we set off for Mosonmagyarovar and our first taste of Hungary.  The trip their was bizarre as our previously well sign posted route simply disappeared to become random green arrows painted on rocks.  After arriving a hotel we quickly realised Euros weren’t going to cut it, and after attempting to withdraw £2,000 without luck I managed to get my head round the exchange rate.

Mosonmagyarovar was fairly underwhelming but certainly different.  The next morning after eating chili peppers for breakfast we set off for Gyor.  Gyor had an incredible town hall that was the backdrop to our lunch before we set off for a detour to the town of Tata.  It was our first long term break from the Danube, and involved a steep climb to reach.  The town was set on the banks of three beautiful lakes.   Despite the beauty of the town, our well-deserved dinner was not so nice, despite a big recommendation by our hotel.  Hungarian food is a complex business, when good it is great but our first few meals left a lot to be deserved. 

From Tata it was on to Esztergom, a religious strong hold in Hungary that was a strong area of rebellion during the communist years.  A stunning cathedral on the top of the hill overlooks the town, and we managed to take a dip in the municipal pool at the foot of the hill.  I haven’t mentioned, as we went through Hungary slowly the temperatures began to soar.  We were riding in temperatures over 30 degrees at lunchtime far higher. 

Once back on the road we happened to stumble across a beautiful B&B right next to the river at Pilismarot.  Here we decided to call it a day and swim in the river and stay for the night.  However our hosts were an amazing couple, he spoke English, she spoke German.  They pulled out all the stops for us making traditional food and providing us with much beer.  We ended up staying three nights.  By the river itself was a café serving fresh fish delicious deep-fried and battered straight from the river.  This was clearly a secluded Hungarian holiday spot.  We spent the days swimming, well probably more drifting down, the river.  We could have never left; the home cooked food was a refreshing change from restaurant food, whilst it was a welcome relief for the saddle sores.  But this wasn’t to be the end.

We went onward to Szentendre, one of the most touristy but beautiful places in the whole of Hungary, worth a visit if you ever happen to be passing.  From here it was on to the capital Budapest.  Throughout the day we saw the river in a new light we passed a large bend that brought home the natural wonder of the river and its deep history. 

Riding into Budapest opposite the grand Parliament, was brilliant.  I happened to be reading Dracula at the time and it really resonated with me.  You were beginning to feel a different Europe on the road ahead.  But Budapest itself felt like a history lesson, despite having studied history I had never really spent any time on Hungary.  However the museums provided the narrative, it is a country that arguably suffered like few others during the 20^th Century.  Oppression was rife, and they have made a very moving museum in the building that formerly housed the secret police.  We spent three days in Budapest.  Our only real concern was that we had run out of maps and were unsure where to get more (written in English).  It happened to be St Stephen’s day, a national holiday so nothing was open.  We enjoyed the fireworks and festival atmosphere but we needed to book our flights home and plan where we were going to go.  It definitely created an air of panic.  Could we carry on without any maps?  Well you will have to wait for the final installment.