Passau to Budapest vs Budapest to Passau

Hi montelco. Sorry for taking so long to answer.

 

Let me make sure I understand your question. You're on Scenic, and your boat only makes a short stop in Passau to let people off who want to visit Salzburg or Cesky Krumlov, then the boat continues on to Linz?

 

And, you're asking if it's worth your while to stay in Passau to explore, then catch a train to Linz to meet back up with your boat?

 

If that's the case, Passau is a nice place to spend some time, and this approach might work for you. There are a few caveats that you'd need to keep in mind. But before I go into lots of detail, I wanted to be sure that I knew what you were asking.

You summed it brilliantly. However, I think I discovered one of your caveats : that ,whereas it may only be an hour or so from Linz by car, by train it is much longer as I have discovered and expensive as well. We would have to rely on the train and the schedule is not good for the cruise. Thanks for your help.

I have investigated catching the train from Passau to Linz. Unfortunately, it involves going to Koblenz first and then Linz so if you caught the 13:30 train from Passau, you would get into Linz at 20:30 which makes for a very long day not to mention that the cost was about $100(AUD) per person. Can anyone tell me if they got some free time in Salzburg? My husband enjoys the markets not necessarily the music. Thanks.

No, it's about 1h30 at most from Passau to Linz. And there is no need to go to Koblenz, that's on the Rhine.

I see what happened. If you go to bahn.de and look for trains from Passau to Linz, when you put Linz into the search box, there are two choices - Linz (Rhein) and Linz hbf. You picked the first one. You want the second one. Try looking again, and you'll get a much better schedule. :)

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Now, the caveats. The train station in Passau is a little north of the Old Town, about 2km from where the boats dock in the old town. If you wander the Old Town all day, and end up near the cathedral, you'd still have to walk another km or so to get there. So it's not too bad, just not as convenient as many towns.

The train station in Linz is about 2km from the river boat docking location, assuming you're docked in the same place that we were. However, there is a tram system in Linz, and that will take you to within a very short distance of the dock. The tram routes all seem to run from the train station to the Old Town.

Here's the big question that you need to figure out. There are two docking locations in Passau. One is along the banks of the Danube, right in the old town near Dreiflüsseeck. That will work well for you to get off, spend the day in Passau, and head to the train station.

The other spot is in Lindau, 4km downriver from the Old Town. If you dock there, you'll have to arrange a cab to downtown. And if I were to guess, it would make much more sense for the ship to dock there if the purpose of the stop is only to let people off to catch buses to Salzburg and CK. It is much harder to get buses into the Old Town docks, and much easier to get them into Lindau.

So - this can definitely be done, and Passau is fun, and worth a stop. And I personally would find this a better option than a long bus ride to and from Salzburg as a day trip.

But find out if you're docking in Old Town, or in Lindau. It will make a difference as to how (in)convenient this is. Your CD will probably be able to arrange a cab for you if you dock in Lindau - ours did for us, because we went to the train station to catch a train to Salzburg. Also, make sure your CD knows what you're doing, and has your mobile phone number in case the ship has to move unexpectedly. And make sure that you know where the ship will dock in Linz, so you can find it when you arrive.

If you want to know how we spent the day in Passau, and see some pictures to decide if you'd like it, I've got a few posts in my blog from the April 2016 Danube cruise (link in my signature).

Regensburg is great too. We visited a few years back as a day trip, also during the time of our canceled 2013 cruise. If you can add it to your itinerary, it's well worth it. But a caveat - almost every town in this area is worth a visit.

 

We made a big list of choices for what to do during the two week canceled cruise. We've now spent 5 weeks in this area, trying to see everything on our list, and we're not even remotely finished. So with a week-long cruise, plus a few days on one end, of necessity, some places won't make the cut. There is too much to see here. :)

Just discovered from further research that it is doable to get to Linz, Austria from Passau, Germany which is only an hour away by train as opposed to Linz, Germany. Silly me. Should have clarified that first. So now am looking for things to do in Passau. Any ideas? :)

Thank very much for the caveats. :D I will copy all of that down in my Passau section so I remember what to do. I will definitely let the cruise director know and seek further clarification from him. By the sounds of it, it may dock at Lindau. That would make sense. Will try to access your pictures.

Just discovered from further research that it is doable to get to Linz, Austria from Passau, Germany which is only an hour away by train as opposed to Linz, Germany. Silly me. Should have clarified that first. So now am looking for things to do in Passau. Any ideas? :)

Glad you found the right Linz as a destination!

In Passau, there is a nice river promenade on the Inn side of town. We didn't think the Danube promenade was as picturesque, though it certainly isn't bad. There is a monastery across the Inn that you can climb to - we didn't have time but acwmom did, I think. We climbed up the other side, across the Danube, to Weste Oberhaus which has nice views. You can see the mixing of the different colored waters of the three rivers from here.

Plenty to see in the Old Town - the Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace, the Rathaus with the markings of past floodwater levels is iconic. "Three Rivers Corner (Dreiflusseeck) park is pretty. Rathausplatz looks like a nice place for lunch. And I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting.

Hope that you have a fun time whatever you decide.

Just discovered from further research that it is doable to get to Linz, Austria from Passau, Germany which is only an hour away by train as opposed to Linz, Germany. Silly me. Should have clarified that first. So now am looking for things to do in Passau. Any ideas? :)

If you're into glass there is the Glass Museum which has a very extensive display of bohemian glass. It's a mainly chronological display of glass products and art from the beginning of the industry until its demise in the mid twentieth century.

The displays are interesting although as an engineer I was hoping for some technical content.

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Glad you found the right Linz as a destination!

 

In Passau, there is a nice river promenade on the Inn side of town. We didn't think the Danube promenade was as picturesque, though it certainly isn't bad. There is a monastery across the Inn that you can climb to - we didn't have time but acwmom did, I think. We climbed up the other side, across the Danube, to Weste Oberhaus which has nice views. You can see the mixing of the different colored waters of the three rivers from here.

 

Plenty to see in the Old Town - the Cathedral, the Bishop's Palace, the Rathaus with the markings of past floodwater levels is iconic. "Three Rivers Corner (Dreiflusseeck) park is pretty. Rathausplatz looks like a nice place for lunch. And I'm sure there are other things I'm forgetting.

 

Hope that you have a fun time whatever you decide.

Thanks very much for your help. I found your comments and pictures brilliant. Such an adventure. I can now get in touch with our friends in Passau and hopefully arrange a time and place to meet. Your information about the train station was very useful. All the best on your next adventure.

Thanks very much for your help. I found your comments and pictures brilliant. Such an adventure. I can now get in touch with our friends in Passau and hopefully arrange a time and place to meet. Your information about the train station was very useful. All the best on your next adventure.

Thanks kindly, and I hope this works out well for you.

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We will be in Budapest for about a day and a half before boarding the S.S. Maria Theresa for our cruise on the Danube. We are interested in tour guide recommendations who are knowledgeable about what Uniworld covers is their excursion and can make sure we see the other highlights of the city.

Thanks

Uniworld Maria Theresa Budapest to Passau

Traveling May 7 2017

Plan 3 nights in Budapest on top of river cruise

4 nignts in Munich

4 nights in Prague

3 nights Vienna to see the stallions

Anyone else on this cruise

Also interested on things of interest in our before and after cities

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You can do a lot in Budapest in 3 days' time but you'll want more when it's over. We did that last year, arriving Friday afternoon and boarding Sunday, sailing Monday evening. Everything we did there is in my trip log (link in signature).

We spent 4 or 5 nights in Munich a few years back. That's enough to do a lot of things, and we even had time for a day trip here and there. I blogged about that trip on another site. The link is below in the line for the canceled river cruise in June 2013.

Envious of your time in Vienna. We've only had shorter visits, and there's a lot to do there. We visited Vienna during the river cruise last year, and in 2013.

We'll finally be in Prague in a little over 4 weeks. Looking forward to finally seeing this city, after hearing all about it for years!

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Thanks for your reply

We have 3 days in Budapest to start but one of those is car to Vienna to see Lippenstein Stallions as this is only weekend in the area

We have two day trips planned while in Munich one Salzburg the other th romantic road and castles

Is there something to see in Munich?

We have a car Munich to Prague stopping in Pilzen and Regenstein do you have other suggestions?

Right now we are planning 4 nights Prague at Boscolo and only two nightsVienna as we are there on river cruis plus day out of Budapest We go back to Budapest for last three nights at the Boscolo are you familiar with this hotel location

Found this thread while trying to decide whether to book Budapest to Passau or the reverse for a Christmas Markets trip next year. We decided on starting in Budapest so we'd have a few days in Budapest on the front end, since we enjoyed it so much last year but felt it deserved more than the few days we had there. Uniworld is having a great sale through this month, so we went ahead and jumped on it although our trip is still a long way off. We haven't decided whether to fly home straight from Munich or spend a few days on land after disembarking. Plenty of time to plan for that, though!

Whatnot you wrote: "And we hired a private driver to take us from Passau to Prague."

Can you please tell me what company you used for the car service? Thx

Whatnot you wrote: "And we hired a private driver to take us from Passau to Prague."

 

 

Can you please tell me what company you used for the car service? Thx

I'd be interested as well, since we are starting to ponder options for once we disembark in Passau. Thanks.

Regarding your post on the Uniworld Budapest to Passau cruise, we would appreciate information on your guides in both cities and private transport. We are taking the same cruise next summer and are planning private pre and post cruise extensions. Considering either Regensburg/Nuremberg or Cesky Krumlov on the post cruise extension to Prague. Any input is welcome.

When are you cruising? I am planning a post cruise visit to Cesky Krumlov and onward to Prague.

We did Budapest to Passau on Uniworld and were very happy with our choice. We did 3 days in Budapest pre cruise on our own and hired a private guide. Private guides there are not really expensive. It is a wonderful city and I would highly recommend spending more than one day there! I could go back again and see things I just did not have time to do!

 

And we hired a private driver to take us from Passau to Prague. The price was so reasonable! It is only a 3 hour trip and Prague is amazing! Spent 4 days there. The architecture is amazing. We again used a private guide for one day and then went back to the places we wanted to visit in more depth later.

 

If you are going to this area, I would highly recommend seeing these 2 cities in depth. I loved our cruise, but these 2 cities really may have been more memorable than the ports on the river cruise.

 

If you change your mind, I can give you info on guides, etc.

 

You will have a great cruise regardless of your choice

I would greatly appreciate your info on guides etc. Doing that cruise this summer. Not staying in Budapest pre but staying in Prague post.