Hello! I'm flying into Munich with my parents and are making our way to a river cruise out of Passau. We will be driving between the two and am looking for suggestions of cute towns/villages to stop in between Munich and Passau for the night.
Open to ideas, thanks!
Posted by
Green Bay
21188 posts
How much time are you allotting for this journey from Munich airport to Passau?
Posted by
OP
Walnut Creek, CA, United States
17 posts
I believe its about a 2-3 hour drive in total so was thinking of spending a night somewhere along the way.
Posted by
Green Bay
21188 posts
I would not bother with a car. It is an easy train journey from the airport. With a 37 EUR Bayern Ticket, 3 people can take the airport bus to Freising station, then a direct regional train to Passau. If you want to stop along the way, Landshut is a "picturesque town" according to my German road atlas, as is Passau.
There is also an hourly bus to Landshut for 13 EUR per person.
Posted by
Salt Lake City
1528 posts
Landshut would get my vote. It has a castle, beautiful house facades, the Isar River and a couple very attractive churches. Like Sam said, I can not see hassling with a rental car for the short trip to Landshut or the following one to Passau.
https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Other-2/April-2014-Landshut/
https://mcchelsea.smugmug.com/Christmas-Markets-2009/Landshut-2009/
Posted by
Bayerisch Eisenstein
32 posts
I agree with the others, the train is a very good option and Landshut is definitely worth a stop on route to Passau. Just be aware the train station at Landshut is a little out of the altstadt (around 20 minutes walk). If you chose to stop at Landshut, use the left luggage lockers at the station and take a bus into the altstadt. The bus is covered by the Bayern ticket. If you fancy heading a little further off the beaten track and have a car, then I would head to Passau via the B12, and stop at Altoetting, Burghausen, Braunau am Inn & Schaerding on route.
http://www.altoetting.de/cms/welcome_tour.phtml -pilgrimage town
https://www.visit-burghausen.com/en/ - longest castle in Bavaria
https://www.tourismus-braunau.at/en/
https://www.schaerding.at/barockstadt-schaerding.html - pretty riverside baroque town
Posted by
Bayerisch Eisenstein
32 posts
I meant to include these 3 links in my previous post
Landshut - https://www.landshut-tourismus.bayern/de/stadterlebnis.html
Bayern ticket info - https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/regional/regional-day-tickets.shtml?dbkanal_007=L04_S02_D002_KIN0060_REGIO-INDEX-LAENDERTICKETS-OBEN_LZ01
Train timetable search - https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml
Posted by
OP
Walnut Creek, CA, United States
17 posts
Thanks all, I was debating the train so I may just go that route. Thanks for the links, I will check those out. This has been really helpful!
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19276 posts
What time does your flight arrive in Munich? It's only a 1h55 drive (plus time to pickup a rental car) or a 2h15 bus/train trip. Even if you come in on the 5:15 pm flight from SFO, I think you could get to Passau for the night. Why do you need an overnight stop on a 2 hour trip?
By the time you pickup a rental car, drive 2 hours, and return the car, it's probably faster to just take public transportation. Plus, if you go directly to Freising and take the RE to Passau, the fare for three people is only 34€ with a Regio-Ticket Donau-Isar (vs a 37€ Bayern-Ticket), not much more than fuel for the rental care, let alone a day's car rental. The train from Freising to Passau leaves hourly; the bus from the airport to Freising runs every 20 minutes. Both the Regio-Ticket Donau-Isar and the Bayern-Ticket restrict use of the pass until after 9 AM workdays.
Germany is not California and German Rail is not Amtrak. In the US we are so used to having to rent a car to go anywhere, but in Germany you have so many more good public transportation options. You need to change your thinking. Instead of thinking car rental first, think public transportation first.
It's probably not a good idea to jump in a car and drive right after arriving, jet lagged, from your trans-Atlantic flight. Some people equate it to driving drunk.
If you don't want to go all the way to Passau the first night, consider just taking the bus (2,70€/P) to Freising and staying there for the night. Then use the 34€ Regio-Ticket to go to Passau the next day. Freising is the home of Weihenstephan, the oldest brewery in the world. They are located on a hill overlooking Freising. You can take the tour there or just sit in their shady biergarten and sample their bier and enjoy some German biergarten food.
BTW, this page is a better one to use to find rail schedules and fares on the Bahn. The other link will take you here eventually; why not start here?