Caro woke often; Hugo slept more soundly despite the green night light glowing in the compartment. We only discovered later that it could also be switched off.

When we woke, the train was in Vienna. We snoozed a little longer on the lower bunk until breakfast arrived at 07:30. We could choose seven items each. The portions of cheese, salami and ham were so generous compared with the two buns that breakfast looked more like a pair of burger patties with bread as an afterthought.

Afterwards we snoozed some more, occasionally looking out of the window as Austria gave way to Hungary. We reached Budapest at about 09:36, on time.

Caro looking through the train window while crossing the Danube in the morning
Morning on the train as we continued towards Budapest.
Caro carrying both backpacks inside Budapest Keleti railway station
Backpacks on and ready to navigate Budapest.

Google Maps got us through the M3 and M4 metro lines, onto the correct platforms and heading in the correct directions. At the bus stop, the bus to Visegrád was already waiting. Hugo bought the tickets on his phone just as we climbed aboard, and we settled into the back for the hour-long ride up the Danube.

In Visegrád we walked to our accommodation and managed to check in at around 12:15. Our host, a very friendly older lady called Ági, spoke no English and only a little German, while our Hungarian consisted of considerably less than that. Between us we nevertheless worked out the keys and the important details.

The flower-lined entrance to our guesthouse in Visegrád
Our guesthouse in Visegrád.

Then, after bicycles, trains, metros, a bus and one night of interrupted sleep, we immediately fell onto the bed and took an afternoon nap. Hungary could wait a few hours.

The sunny dining nook inside our Visegrád guesthouse
Our little base for four days in Visegrád.
Hugo working at the kitchen table in our Visegrád guesthouse
The kitchen also doubled as Hugo’s office.

After the nap, Hungary could not wait much longer. We had read that Solomon’s Tower was going to close for a while from 10 August, so we decided we had to see it that afternoon. This meant hiking up in the heat of the day, with the temperature sitting at 36°C.

The name is slightly misleading. King Solomon was imprisoned at Visegrád in the 11th century, but the tower was only built as part of the Lower Castle in the mid-13th century. Over the centuries it served as a fortress, an administrative residence and a royal residence.

Looking up at the massive stone exterior of Solomon’s Tower beneath a clear blue sky
The massive exterior of Solomon’s Tower.
The stone gate and tower of Visegrád Lower Castle in bright afternoon sun
The formidable stone entrance to the Lower Castle.
Hugo standing beneath the portcullis at the entrance to Visegrád Lower Castle
Hugo beneath the portcullis on the climb to Solomon’s Tower.

Most of the displays were only in Hungarian, so we mainly looked without fully understanding what we were looking at. The permanent exhibitions cover the history of Visegrád and include a 14th-century ornamental fountain from the Royal Palace, but the view from the top needed no translation.

We walked back along the Danube, running from one patch of shade to the next.

As it was Sunday, most of the shops were already closed. We went to a pizza restaurant for dinner instead. The pizza at least had paprika on it to make it a little more Hungarian, and we washed it down with Soproni Hungarian draught beer.

By 21:00 we were already asleep.

Steps: 9,054