Passau Off The Beaten Path

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Cruising at a leisurely pace 450 kilometers from Passau to Würzburg with the Swiss Crystal.
Rising in the mountains of Germany's Black Forest, the Danube winds its way through romantic gorges and vineyard-clad valleys, flowing by castles, monasteries and picturesque, medieval towns and villages.

Although there is a bus that goes from Rathausplatz up to the Veste Oberhaus - walk the path up if you can.
The path is well kept and although the stairs could be a bit much for either the very young or very elderly - if you can manage it go this way.

About an hour's drive east of Passau is Schlogen where the Danube makes its unbelievable turn. Although the boat trips down the Danube pass by here - if at all possible come here by car, bike, bus - whatever!
There is nothing really here except a lovely Wellness Hotel and a Marina but you can park your car and take a half an hour walk up the mountain for this view.
It is one of those sites that takes your breath away and really makes you sit back and just admire.

Inside the castle Oberhaus you may walk around on your own to many places without paying anything. Only for the exhibitions and museums you have to pay a seperate fee.
On the very top of this tower you may find the best view-point for a picture of the castle .
You may walk up there against a seperate entrance-fee of 1 Euro.
The next 2 pictures were taken from that viewpoint on top of the small tower !

The platform on the tower is open daily:
Monday till Friday : 09.00a.m. - 05.00p.m.
Saturday, Sunday and Holidays : 09.00a.m. till 06.00p.m.

When you walk along the Danube downstream from the citycentre you will easily get to the small peninsula, where the river Inn flows into the Danube - shown on my picture. This peninsula is used for several open-air-festivities during the summer and it is also an interesting place, as you may walk down the Danube and walk back to the city along the river Inn.
This place is also a perfect point to take pics of the cruiseships sailing down the river Danube and maybe to wave goodbye for your friends taking a cruise.

At many places you may still see parts of the medieval fortifications of Veste Oberhaus, from where all invaders approaching from the city-side could be easily pushed back by stones and rocks thrown from above.
Click on my picture and see the great landscape below the castle - in the back of my picture the river Inn. You may as well see the cathedral of St.Stephen in the centre and the old townhall and Rathausplatz on the left of my picture. On the left below you may also see the old corridor, where gunmen could watch out for enemies approaching and kill them right away.

On my picture you may see the castle of Oberhaus, as it looks from the view-tower. This part of the castle was the living-quater of the prince-bishop in the old times, and it is an interesting museum today.
In the innercourt you will find a lovely garden-cafe today as well.
On the left of my picture the draw-bridge that could be removed in times of danger, so the inhabitants of the castle were safe against invaders who might have come through other gates already, but could not get into the real castle.

Schlögen in Austria is about 35km downstream from Passau . It is a small place, consisting of a big hotel and a very few houses, and one of the most spectacular places along the Danube:
The Danube will make a big bend of about 270 degrees there.
Unfortunately all the cruiseships will pass by there only, without offering the possibility to get outside and view this great place from above, like I did . A walk of almost 1 hour will take you uphill and offer a great panorama-view on the valley of the Danube.

For more infos and pics - please click on my link below and see my page about Schlögen !