May 5, 2013
Vilshofen to Passau, 24 km (570 km total)
Sunny and Warm - 20C

Pension Goldenes Schiff €60 ($78) Double including breakfast


 
 
Vamos Vilshofen 
 
Breakfast was subpar at Gasthof Wolfertstetterbräu in Vilshofen. We decided to skip packing lunch. We had a short cycling day (only 20 some km) and planned to have lunch in a restaurant for a change.

 

Oh My, Blue Sky

It was by far the best sunny warm blue sky weather morning of our trip. At 9am, when we rode down the cobble stone streets of Vilshofen to the bridge over the Donau, the fields of bright yellow rapeseed were irresistible to us and we posed for pictures in the field. It was an easy ride plus we took our time, stopping to take closer look at nature often. 


 
Completing the German Donau and Feeling Genki!

By 11 am we rolled over the massive (and homely) dam at the west end of Passau's peninsula. Passau is a beautiful old city at the point where three rivers meet; the Danube, the Inn, the smaller Ilz.
 
We finished Bikeline Book #1 of the Donauradweg, our first 570 km, and in less than the 'book’ distance. We calibrated Dave’s computer from distance markers on the path and found it was running about 5% fast. Hiro seems to run about 0.5% low! We couldn't determine why we were shorter than our map distance. The few short cuts we took should have been offset by the times we took the longer way. In any case, everyone is happy with our progress and all are feeling genki!


 
Easy to Rent Bikes and Start Your Trip from Passau

We noticed a bicycle rental place adjacent to the Passau train station (which is very walkable from the center of Passau). A 2-week rental is about €9 per day and they'll pick the bike up from hotels in Vienna, or any hotel along the way, for €30 per bike. Not bad at all. They have several types of bikes. One couple we ran into were riding 8-speed bikes from them which are plenty of gears for this terrain.

More info at:

 www.fahrradverleih-bahnhof-passau.de



Passau and Vienna (318 km) - The Most Popular Cycle Route on the Planet

This stretch (between Passau and Vienna 318 km) is very popular. We ran into many loaded cyclists already, so early in the season. The nice weather brings them out. This is a good time of year to cycle any part of the Donauradweg.


Across the street from the Bahnhof (train station) is a Tourist Info office with loads of helpful (& free) brochures about attractions from here to Vienna with a super-friendly staff.

We asked about accommodations and chose Goldernen Sonne because it had a nice location behind the Cathedral and wifi (according to their listing.)  Dave called from the Tourist Info office on his phone to save the €3 they would have charged for the call. Once we found the place, we had to call again because the lady didn't answer our knock on the door. Junko and I hiked up the 3 stories to see the rooms. One was not cleaned yet and the rest of the house looked disheveled. Plus, the information listing had stated that they had wifi which she didn't have. Dave, in the meantime, had slipped away to check out Pension Goldenes Schiff, a few houses further up the street. It had an inviting terrace outside and a cozy and busy restaurant. And the woman at the pension said they do have wifi, at least if you have a computer.Dave came back and said we should look at the place with wifi. We did not want to mention to the Sonne lady that her place was just not up to par.
 
Again we hiked up to 3rd floor at Goldenes Schiff and checked out the lovely spacious rooms with shower and sink. The WC’s were shared the hall. We all agreed this was the better option and stayed here instead.

We stored our bikes down some steps in the cellar and went on mission to find some lunch. It was Sunday and a couple of options we had in mind were closed. We ended up on the lovely terrace of Asian Sensation for delicious stir fried meal. The waitress was great as was the weather for sitting outside. 

 
Castle in the Sky 
 


Next we decided to visit Passau’s #1 site, the fortress and castle Oberhaus. We had seen it on the hillside above Passau. You cannot miss it. It was built in 1219 by Passau's Prince Bishops in order to control commerce across the rivers. It houses the Oberhaus Museum now. We caught the little shuttle van in front of the Rathaus to the top of the hill. For me, the view from there was what I was after. And we learned at the ticket office that we needed to go through the museum to get to the best viewpoints.

 
The Oberhaus Museum is a surprising menagerie. It begins with straight forward displays on medieval life; rulers, church influence, torture and terrorism techniques of the day, etc. They continue with a large collection of sculptures by a 20th century artist, then back to the medieval chapel, and body armor and other rooms describing various aspects of castle life.

The sun was out and we were anxious to get to the views and we blew past most of the display halls. We got outside just in time to catch the end of the nice light before the clouds rolled in. The views were stupendous. We could clearly see the confluence of the muddy Inn and the bluer Donau creating a clear dividing line between the two.

   

Then we made our way toward the exit. Along the way were more ‘museums’ including the chemist, the porcelain, the fire brigade etc. It was certainly was a place you could spend much more time looking at the odd collection.



5/6 Passau - City Sightseeing / Rest Day

Markedly more loaded cyclists were zipping around . Of course, we have been lucky with the weather. Yesterday was the nicest of our trip. The day started with sunshine.

We bought Bikeline book # 2 (2012 edition & in English) Passau to Vienna. Tourist office here had the series and so much other great info and free brochures. They have a free Passau to Vienna book that is a slimmed down version of the bikeline book – probably all you’d really need.

Passau is beautiful city and worth few days.


St Steven’s Big Organ

We went to the famous noon time Organ concert in St Steven's Cathedral. Let me just say, we were not inspired to rush out and buy the CD. It was amazing to think it is the largest organ in the world (17977 pipes) and acoustically, the Cathedral is THE perfect setting for it. The Rococo angels, frills, gold and paintings on the ceilings were enough distraction that kept our interest peeked! Amazing really. The more history we read about the clearer it becomes how much power the church had. The truth is that the churches still dominate the lives of the people.


    
Town Hall Stop

Next we checked out the Rathaus with its rococo meeting room. Huge paintings grace the walls and beautiful dark wooden pillars, doors and ceiling work.


 
Organic Lunch

Went for great semi vegetarian and organic lunch at Der Grüne Baum near Rathaus. I had millet pie on top great salad. Junko and Hiro split their meals, a soupy but delicious pile fresh organic vegetables and Hiro had same as I. Dave opted for bratwurst, I didn't want to share;)

 
Great Finish to the German Donau  

Passau was a great last stop on the German part of the Donauradweg. It’s a good chance to list our favorites;

Best part of the route in Germany: The start at Donaueschingen. Not only was fresh and new to us, but the high spring waters (floods) made interesting reflections in the rolling hill of the Black Forest. Our off route ride through the forest just before Neustadt was pretty and fun too!

Best Food: The Landgasthof Vogelsang in Weichering was hands down the best breakfast for freshness variety and homemade goodness The Wild Garlic Soup at Gasthof Zur Trauben in Dillingen was superb as were the other typical Bavarian dishes served. Probably the best German food I've had in decades.

Best Church: The Ulm Munster was a lot of fun to climb, a good reason to go to a church

Best Castle/Fort: The Oberhaus right here in Passau

 

AND, they say the best is yet to come. But this German portion of the Radweg will be hard to beat.


Junko and Hiro write:

パッサウ
今日は舗装されたサイクリングロードを一気に走りパッサウまでやってきた。距離はたったの24キロ。春ののどかな陽気の中、鼻歌混じりでルンルン気分。たくさんのサイクリスト達が各々の目的地を携えてこの地を通って行く。ここからウィーンまでの区間はドナウ川サイクリングコースの中では最もポピュラーな場所ということだ。目的地が黒海という夫婦に出会った。イギリス人夫婦である。ライン川沿いを走って来てケルハイムでドナウ川に乗り換えここまでやって来た。昨日出会った三人組のおばさんサイクリストに，私達が黒海に行くと告げると驚いていたが、今日は目的地を同じくする人に会えた。又どこかでお会いできるといいですねと別れた。ここは，ドナウ川，イン川、イルツ川の三つの川が合流するところ。オーバーハウス城砦から見下ろすと3つの川の色の違いがはっきりわかる。イン川はアルプスから流れるから青いと聞いていた。が、青くはなかった。ここは国境の町でもある。観光船が行き交う。黒海まで行く大型船もゆっくり進んでいく。明日はオーストリー入り。すでに600キロほど走った。感慨深い。が、まだ、たったの五分の一。安心するにはまだ早い。
シティホールで『ニーベルンゲンの歌』の絵を見、ハンガリー王妃だったギーゼラの墓も見た。かじった史実を確かめて歩くのも楽しい。シュテファン寺院でのオルガンコンサート。ただただ感動。
 
  __________________________________
 

References: 

....1) The Danube Cycle Way; Donaueschingen to Budapest by John Higginson
... 2) Bikeline Maps & Guides; Donau-Radweg 1, (5 books in the series)

Our plan in a nutshell; 2900 total kilometers at 50 km per day - 2 days riding for 1 day off for a total of 58 riding days & 90 total days - April to July, 2013 :)