Overall:
I used this tour for a few days in Passau at the end of a week of Danube Impressions “biking and boating”. It suited this purpose admirably, and is a good complement to the Danube Impressions tour because it allows the tourist to complete the section of the Danube Cycleway, from Passau to Englehartszell, which the 2015 Danube Impressions tour omits.

This was a very enjoyable tour and I’d gladly do it again: there’s plenty more to see in and around Passau! I thought it was very good value for money.

Highlights

• Passau
• Schärding
• Vilshofen
• Cycling through meadows and woods

Regrets
No exploration of the third river, the Ilz.

Tour Dates: 2015-09-26/30 (4 nights / 5 days; my days were Saturday to Wednesday)

Materials Received

• Tour Guide Booklet
• Voucher for hotel booking
• Voucher for bike rental
• 3 vouchers for boat rides operated by Wurm & Kock (sight-seeing tour round Passau; Passau to Schlögen; Schlögen to Passau).

In the end, I didn’t use my vouchers for the boat trips to or from Schlögen; I had decided I would use these if there was a rainy day, so I could sit in the dry on a boat (I had been to Schlögen on the Danube Impressions tour). The weather stayed dry, so I didn’t use them.

Hotel Chosen: Weisser Hase (“White Hare”).
I chose this hotel as it appeared to have better reviews than the other one on offer and was not much more expensive. It is located about mid-way between Passau Railway Station and the Cathedral, pretty much in the centre of town. The hotel is evidently popular with tourists: it was packed for breakfast on Sunday morning, but they all seemed to be checking out an hour or two later. Then the business guests showed up early in the week (quiet for breakfast on Monday, busier on Tuesday, quiet again on Wednesday). The hotel staff were all pleasant, courteous and attentive. After a cabin on a boat, my room seemed positively palatial. The free Wi-Fi was easy to use. For bike storage, the hotel’s garage in the basement has a separate area equipped with stands for bikes, so the bikes are under cover and out-of sight. A ramp from a side street gives access to the garage.

The Bike
My hire bike was supplied by Fahrrad Klinik, which is located adjacent to Passau’s most easterly bridge across the Danube. It closes at 13:00 on Saturdays and is closed all day on Sunday, so this needs to be kept in mind when booking a tour — if you arrive late on Saturday, you may have to wait until Monday morning to be able to collect your hire bike. I was given a choice of 3 bikes in my size: a standard “gents” frame and two with step-through frames of varying height. I choose the “gents” and was delighted to find it was equipped with Rohloff gears, Magura hydraulic brakes and dynamo lights; in other words, “up-market”. I was also issued with an “over-the-rack” pannier set which I was also pleased about initially (plenty of storage space) but ended up not using on any of my rides because I couldn’t adjust it back far enough on the rack to not clip the bags with my heels on each pedal stroke (GB size 12; EU size 47 shoes!). For my rides, I bungeed a small backpack onto the rack.

Routes Cycled

• Passau to Engelhartszell and back (Danube east from Passau).
• Passau to Schärding and back (Inn south-west from Passau).
• Passau to Vilshofen and back (Danube west from Passau).

The arrangements are extremely flexible; the Guide Booklet outlines 4 routes (so, with 3 full days of the tour, choices have to be made), which are suggestions only — basically, you can do as you please, as much or as little cycling as you see fit, and in any order which suits you.

Day 1 (Saturday)
On my first day, having deposited my luggage at the hotel and collected my hire bike, I used the “3 River Sightseeing Tour” voucher to fill-in time until I could check in. Passau is an interesting town in its own right and (as the many sight-seers prove) you could easily spend a few days here exploring without the need to venture further afield.

Day 2 (Sunday)
For the first day’s cycling, I took the north bank of the Danube through Obernzell to the hydroelectric dam at Jochenstein. Here I visited the “museum” (hesitant at first, because I thought I wouldn’t understand a thing, but was won over by the option of an audio guide, and ended up spending a couple of hours there). Then, across the dam and on to Englehartszell to the Trappist monastery there. My return to Passau was along the south bank.

Day 3 (Monday)
The following day, taking advice from the tour booklet, I headed to Schärding along the Austrian side of the Inn river; mainly farmland and the occasional small, picturesque village. The revelation was Schärding itself. Entering through the main gate was a transformation. What a lovely little town! Then across the bridge to the German side of the river for the return to Passau. Again, farmland, but also meadows and woods; a joy to cycle through.

Day 4 (Tuesday)
My final full day took me west along the Danube to Vilshofen. The first section was more obviously urban than my previous rides, but at an underpass at which the route crossed the main road to run beside the Danube, the river and countryside became dominant. The high point was Vilshofen itself with that magical moment as you enter the main gate and the old town is revealed to you.

Day 5 (Wednesday)
I used my last morning to visit the Oberhaus overlooking Passau on the other side of the Danube. There are steps up to it from the bridge across the Danube (which, naturally, I didn’t realise until I had walked round to the River Ilz and climbed the ramp, only finding the steps for the way down). The views are terrific!

September Clothing
For weather at the end of September, I was quite happy wearing a short-sleeved base layer and cycling jersey with a pair of armwarmers (a little cold on the arms early in the day, but OK), with a waterproof jacket tucked away for if it got colder or started raining.

Photographs
My first photo is of Passau itself, taken from the vantage point of the Oberhaus high up on the other side of the river. For my second, it was an agonising choice between Schärding and Vilshofen; in the end, I chose the town square at Schärding because of the impression it had made on me when first I saw it.