Passau

Introduction

Passau is a small and quaint university town on the Danube in Bavaria, southern Germany. If you are going there chances are you are either a) under 30 and a student or are visiting friends who study at the university or you are b) part of the 50+ plus crowd of Japanese and North-American tourists who take a cruise on the Danube from Passau to Vienna and Budapest. Another important crowd are the people who visit Passau as part of their cycling holiday along the Danube.

Passau

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Sights and Activities

Passau has three main attractions: the joining of the rivers Danube, Inn and Ilz, the old town with the cathedral sandwiched in between and the Veste Oberhaus castle overlooking the city from the other side of the Danube.

Passau Cathedral is especially famous for its Organ and during summer there are daily organ concerts.

A typical tourist visit to Passau would involve visiting the cathedral, attend an crgan concert in the cathedral, taking a 3-River-Cruise, going for a stroll around the old town and visit the Veste Oberhaus museum.

Events and Festivals

Getting There

By Plane

Nearest aiport is Flughafen München Franz Josef Strauß (Franz Josef Strauss International Airport) (MUC) near Munich. To get from the airport to Passau take the train.

By Train

Passau is easily reached by train from Munich and Linz. Check the Deutsche Bahn (DB) website for more information about schedules and prices.

By Car

Passau is located on the A3, the main road from Nuremberg to Vienna.

By Bus

There are some bus connections with the local bus company RBO into the surrounding villages. The most interesting of them is the connection to the village Haidmühle because it allows you to cross the German-Czech border on foot and continue through the Sumava National Park to Cesky Krumlov.

By Bike

Passau is an important waypoint of the Danuble Cycle Pathway. The most popular stretch of the Cycling Pathway starts here and goes to Vienna and Bratislava respectively.

By Boat

There are countless cruise companies going up and down the Danube. The easiest to use for short services will be the Wurm+Köck service. There are two boats per week to Vienna and an almost daily service to Linz. The boat carries bicycles and for this reason provides a popular alternative to the train when travelling back to Passau from Vienna after cycling along the Danube.

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

There are some local buses in the city, but for exploring the old city you'll have to rely on foot.

By Foot

The old city between the train station, the university, the Danube and the Inn is actually pretty walkable. There are some steep inclines and some stairs to climb so it is not for the infirm, but apart from that you'll be ok.

By Bike

Despite being on the Danube Cycling Pathway your options on getting around the city by bike are limited. The steep inclines of the hills surrounding the city and the cobblestone streets make cycling impractical unless you stick to the cycling paths along the Inn and the Danube.

Eat

• Zum Bayerischen Löwen, Dr.-Hans-Kapfinger-Straße 3, 94032 Passau

Traditional "Wirtshaus" with over 200 years of history serving local beer, wine and regional specialities. Most mains are around 9 EUR, but some snacks cost less.

Drink

Sleep

Property	Address	Type	Phone	Popularity
Veste Oberhaus	Veste Oberhaus	Hostel		-
Rotel Inn		Hostel		-
Hotel Weisser Hase	Heiliggeistgasse 1	Hotel		-
Jugendherberge Passau	Veste Oberhaus 125	Hostel		100

Learn

• Passau University

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Post

Germany's postal system is very efficient, their logistics branch DHL is one of the best companies in this field world-wide, with domestic post or within a radius of 400 kilometres, send within a day. The website of Deutsche Post has an online calculator for postage fees as well as a post office finder. Within Germany, sending postcards costs €0.45 and standard letters €0.55, within Europe it is €0.65 for a postcard, standard letters to places in Europe cost €0.70. Outside Europe, the prices for sending a postcard or standard letter are €1 and €1.70 respectively. Although you will find the old post offices (mainly in the city centre), most of the smaller neighbourhood post offices are part of a small tobacco shop or grocery store.