District

Danube Valley

Downstream from Passau the river leaves the city and winds through a narrow, densely wooded valley that in stretches forms the border between Bavaria and Austria. Steeply rising slopes, small riverside towns and ever-recurring sweeping bends define this quiet tract long shaped by shipping and the timber trade. Travelling by boat or bicycle, you experience the Danube here from its still, almost untouched side.

Picturesque destinations line the route: the Bavarian Obernzell is known as an old pottery and graphite village, its castle today housing a ceramics museum. On the Austrian side lies Engelhartszell with Engelszell Abbey, Austria's only Trappist monastery, whose monks run a prized abbey brewery and produce liqueurs. A scenic high point follows soon after with the Schlögen Loop, that famous double bend where the Danube forces its way in a spectacular hairpin through the granite hills.

Thanks to the Danube Cycle Path, small passenger ferries and regular scheduled cruises, the valley is easy to explore at leisure. The Danube valley belongs to the Passau countryside and forms a pleasurable, nature-close counterpart to the baroque City of Three Rivers — perfect for day trips by water and by land.