Experience the best of Passau

Passau sits on the Danube at the Austrian border, where three rivers meet: the green Inn joins the blue-grey Danube, and the dark Ilz flows in from the north. The old town fills the narrow peninsula between the first two, with Baroque houses, arcades and the green copper domes of St Stephen's Cathedral. The cathedral's organ is among the largest in the world.

The Veste Oberhaus, a fortress above the Danube, holds a museum and gives a view of the confluence, and the town hall carries plaques marking the heights of past floods. Boats leave the quay for river cruises that begin the long journey down the Danube toward Vienna and Budapest, and a cycle path follows the river. The Bavarian Forest lies to the north, and Upper Austria begins just across the border.

Roast pork with dumplings, white sausages and pretzels fill the beer gardens, with local wheat beer to wash them down. Summers are warm and long evenings are spent on the riverbanks, while Advent brings a Christmas market to the old town.