Danube - Deggendorf to Passau

Short day, 36 miles, in Passau in time for lunch!

Had a very nice German breakfast, incredibly strong coffee and a leisurely start.  Made our way out of Deggendorf.  These bigger towns / small cities take more time to get into and out of.   In the main, we are always on bike lanes or cycle paths, but do have to stop now and then and jump on the sidewalk when it all gets too hectic.  Navigating is tricky enough without multiple lanes of traffic and unclear maps.

Once out of town, we were on paved trails, riding through farmlands and valleys. Sometimes by the river watching the barges and boats go by, sometimes further inland passing through fields of corn, potatoes, beans and Swiss chard.  Saw cows, horses and sheep along with more tidy barnyards. 

Stopped twice for coffee (and a little bun for Steve).  Liz had flown into Munich and was making her way to Passau by train. When we stopped for coffee, we checked to see where she was - almost directly across the river from us! Just a mile away!

The majority of the route was paved except for the last 4 miles of gravel (which seemed like another 30!).  Getting into Passau was a bit fiddly, fairly industrial, across a massive dam, but all on bike paths so the only dodging we had to do was of a kamikaze woman in a pink shirt who was either shoving her way past us or blocking the path taking photos.

Made it to the Zentrum or the Alstadt - German for centre or Old Town.  And as we got off the bike down by the river cruise boats to check the map for the hotel, we heard a ‘Wohoo!’ and Liz pedalled up!  We had seen that she was on the train across the river at our last coffee stop.  She had time to get to Passau and pick up her bike as we battled the last of the gravel and made our way into town.

Found the hotel.  Google Maps tried to take us up several flights of stairs, which just wasn’t going to work.  Eventually found our way around and into a rather large arched ceilinged, but wooden floor creaky apartment.  It had a tub, I’ve been waiting 10 days for a tub!!!  Great location, right on the edge of the Old Town, steps from the restaurants.  Checked out St Stephen’s church - amazing, like an art gallery all by itself!  Great dinner out at a Croatian restaurant down by the river.  Had an amazing meat feast!

Great 2nd 1st night of the tour!

Comments:

1. Stephen HodgsonJune 13, 2025 at 7:21 PM

   So half way for us and welcome to the tour for Liz. Today we just peddled 36 miles, she flew from the USA. Rest day tomorrow, few maintenance jobs to be done but should be a relaxing day. Proper touristy now with several river cruise boats tied up here In Passau. This marks the end of the Germany section and start of the Austrian sections of the trip. Still no sign of the Von Trapp Family 😮‍💨
   Today we got tangled up in another “diversion” and came across another Brit on a solo bike. We overtook him with our cheery “Gutten Morgan” and continued with our communications in English (in 1000 ft turn left on a cycle path …), he must have heard this and caught us up for a chat. Turns out he was riding Eurovelo 6, the whole thing, which starts on the Atlantic Coast of France and goes to the Black Sea, must be the best part of 3000 miles 😳😳. We are just playing at it I guess at 800, big respect.
2. 
   BrianJune 14, 2025 at 1:05 PM

   Given the pics, not sure which is prettier...the towns or the countryside. Both are gorgeous! Their streets are so different than here in that everything is so clean and so decorated. Love it!

   1. 
      KatherineJune 14, 2025 at 2:19 PM

      The whole place is immaculate!
   2. 
      Jennie ConwayJune 14, 2025 at 3:38 PM

      Beautiful country. Looks like such an amazing trip. I do remember Germany being incredibly clean / tidy everywhere from a trip many years ago.