Mr Bushby, now 57, told crowds in the city centre: “There has never been a welcome home quite like this.”
The former paratrooper set off from the southern end of Chile in 1998, when he was 28, vowing to walk all the way home without using any form of motorised transport.
On Monday, he made the penultimate stop of his epic journey in the centre of Hull, where he was greeted by hundreds of well-wishers outside the City Hall.
He was mobbed and cheered as he walked into Queen Victoria Square wheeling his cart, before telling the crowd: “There has never been a welcome home quite like this, I’m sure.
“This is absolute madness. After 28 years, you couldn’t ask for more than this.
“This is the last, last few steps.”
Mr Bushby was greeted by the Lord Mayor and Hull East MP Karl Turner, who read out a message of congratulations from Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
1. Karl Bushby
Karl Bushby (centre left) at a civic welcome in Queen Victoria Square as he arrives back home in Hull following his 28 year walk from Chile. Photo: Annabel Lee-Ellis
2. Karl Bushby
Adventurer Karl Bushby on the move between City Hall and his home in Hull, at the end of his 31,000-mile (49,890 km), 28-year trek from South America to Hull. Photo: Tom Maddick / SWNS
3. Karl Bushby
Bushby, now 57, set off from the southern end of Chile in 1998, when he was 28, vowing to walk all the way home without using any form of motorised transport. Photo: Annabel Lee-Ellis
4. Karl Bushby
Bushby left Chile in 1998 to head home to the UK without breaking two self-imposed rules: not to return until he had fully completed his feat - and not to use transport to advance. Photo: Tom Maddick / SWNS