Vac-Esztergom_Hungary
Some of the most scenic cycling to date
28 miles (45 km)
Total so far: 257 miles (413 km)
Ascent: 804 ft (245 m); Descent 799 ft (243 m); Max Elevation: 458 ft (139 m)
- World > Europe > Hungary > Pest Megye > Vac – map
- World > Europe > Hungary > Komarom-Esztergom Megye > Esztergom – map
Bicycling-Hungary-Vac-to-Esztergom
Numerous sections are close to the Danube
Bicycling-Hungary-Vac-to-Esztergom
The inland portions are very picturesque
Bicycling-Hungary-Vac-to-Esztergom
After leaving Kismaros, the bicycle path turns into concrete and winds through lovely countryside. You don’t have views of the Danube, but it’s a very pretty ride.
Bicycling-Hungary-Vac-to-Esztergom
Kismaros
Vac-Esztergom-Kismoros
Bicycling-Hungary-Vac-to-Esztergom
Soon the path comes back down to the Danube. You’ll start seeing views of Visegrad Castle across the river. By the time you get to the ferry landing at Nagymoros you have splendid views of Visegrad Castle and the church across the river. This is the start of the famous Danube Bend section of the bike path. It is a very beautiful ride all day.
Distant Visegrad Castle
Vac-Esztergom-Visegrad Castle
Vac-Esztergom-Visegrad Castle
Visegrad Church
Vac-Esztergom-Visegrad Church
You can take a short ferry ride to Visegrad and explore this old city if you have time and interest. Best to return, however, to the left bank for cycling on paths instead of in traffic on the right bank.
There’s a pleasant café sitting on the banks of the river in Nagymoros just above the ferry landing.
Vac-Esztergom-Nagymoros Cafe
Vac-Esztergom-Nagymoros Cafe
We arrived in Esztergom in the early afternoon. The entire ride was truly one of the prettiest we’ve done and very peaceful for the most part. Esztergom has a giant Basilica and very old walls that can be enjoyed right from the bicycle path as you enter town.
Vac-Esztergom- Basilica
Vac-Esztergom- Basilica
Vac-Esztergom- Basilica
Vac-Esztergom- Basilica
We didn’t have Internet the night before, so we were unable to research a place to stay in Esztergom. We were hoping when we got there to find a tourist information office. After many questions and a lot of looking around, we discovered that there is not a tourist information office in Esztergom. We found a very nice hotel for €36 a night, but they were full. So then began the goose chase. That hotel told us about another hotel just 500 meters away. Every once in a while we would see a sign pointing to a bed or a hotel and it would say so many meters to the place. We chased around town for two hours. All the signs we followed led to private rooms where we could not find anyone to ask. So finally, someone told us of a hotel. We figured the hotel of course would be open; we could talk to somebody and get a room.
We seem to do this every day. It takes about an hour to two hours to find a place to stay. We try to book ahead or at least research ahead on the Internet, but sometimes we don’t have access to the Internet the night before. And of course, our phone has still not been repaired so if we find a café we have to dig out the computer and research that way. It’s very time-consuming and the most negative part of our day.
We found a hotel and there were many other cyclists arriving there at the same time. The cyclists are on a two week tour. They were bicycling from Passau to Budapest. But they did not carry their luggage. They had hired a transport service that carried their luggage for them. Apparently, this kind of tour allows them to choose their own route and choose how many days and what cities they wanted to stay in. Sounded like a very personal way to create a trip. All the hotels were booked for them and they even had vouchers for restaurants. Everything was prepaid. Hence they did not spend two hours every day looking for a place to sleep. However it was not exactly a budget trip!
We settled in for the night after a delicious Hungarian dinner. Boy, do we like their food!
Vac-Esztergom- Mojito
Vac-Esztergom- Floating Restaurant
Vac-Esztergom-Spicy pork tenderloin with dipping sauce
