Passau’s big five

WYNTK what you need to know For more information on visiting Passau, see tourism.passau.de Viking has itineraries that both start and finish in Passau, or call in at the city on Budapest­Regensburg cruises. Free guided tours are included in every port. Expect to pay from about $2595 per person for a seven­night voyage. See vikingcruises.com.au

With a population of about 50,000, Passau is one of the smaller cities hugging the River Danube. But while it’s not as hyped as other ports on a Danube cruise, this Bavarian beauty beguiles with its natural and manmade draws.

ARTISTS’ ALLEY

Running parallel one block from the river, the Hollgasse is a highly Instagrammable back street, dubbed Artists’ Alley. Mosaics in the colours of the rainbow coat the cobblestones, and cute houses double as studios and galleries, where you can browse and buy crafts and paintings. The alley leads to the city’s glass museum, which displays more than 15,000 expertly hewn pieces from Bavaria, Bohemia and other regions. Opened in 1985 by the astronaut Neil Armstrong, the museum is inside Hotel Wilder Mann, where Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known as “Sisi”, stayed in 1862. Look up for the flood markings on this and other neighbourhood buildings. They show just how high the water can get when the Danube bursts its banks. During the rain­soaked June of 2013, the city had its worst flooding in more than 500 years. In contrast, last summer’s drought meant water levels were so low ships struggled to navigate the Danube and other leading European waterways.

BAROQUE BEAUTIES

Sloping lanes spring off Hollgasse, leading you through Passau’s historic core, which is characterised by its Baroque architecture (the city was rebuilt in this then­fashionable style after a fire ripped through in 1662). Perched on a rock, the salmonpink, wedding­cake­esque St

Paul’s Church is a sight for sore eyes, and the onion­domed St Stephen’s Cathedral dazzles with its ornate interior. There are frescoes and stuccoes by Italian artists, a pulpit covered in gold leaf, and the world’s largest cathedral organ, fitted with 17,974 pipes. If you’re lucky, your visit will coincide with one of the choral concerts regularly held here. We don’t experience that, but we do enjoy listening to a busker playing the violin exquisitely in a lane flanking the cathedral.

SNACKS AND TIPPLES

Late November and December is a great time to be in Passau, when the Christmas markets pop up, and vendors sell an assortment of temptations amid a toasty, nose­tickling swirl of roasted nuts and spiced wines. But whenever you’re in town, you can tuck into classic snacks and tipples. Simon, opposite St Paul’s Church, is a fourth­generation bakery and cafe that excels with its multifarious gingerbread offerings. You’ll also stumble across brewpubs and restaurants serving wheat ales and pilsners with varieties of wurst (sausage), sauerkraut and pommes­frites (chips). Prefer to eat on your ship? That’s easy, because most river vessels berth in the city centre.

VESTE OBERHAUS

You can balance out the calories with a little hike. Looming on the north bank of the Danube is a wooded hill woven with quaint houses, stairways and trails, and, on our visit, leafy autumnal hues.

Some tree­shaded paths wind up to Veste Oberhaus, an immense fortress­palace commissioned by Ulrich II, the prince­bishop of Passau, in 1219, to defend the city and flaunt the power of the Holy Roman Empire. As well as a restaurant and a museum surveying the site’s history, you’ll find numerous vantage points over Passau and see why it’s nicknamed The Three Rivers City.

The Danube meets two other rivers here: the Inn and the Ilz. On a clear day, from Veste Oberhaus, you’ll also be able to peek over the green hills into Austria, with the border just a few kilometres away.

RIVERSIDE STROLLS

You don’t have to scale such heights (100m above the valley floor) for picture­perfect Passau views. Paths for cyclists, joggers and walkers fringe the rivers, and you can also take enviable photographs from the bridges linking the older and newer parts of the city. Fed by the snow­melt of the Swiss Alps, the Inn is a particularly fast­flowing river, and local tour guides like to tell an interesting story as they lead groups by the water. One wintry day, in 1894, a four­year­old boy fell into the icy river, only to be saved by a Catholic priest who dived in after him. The boy, apparently, was Adolf Hitler. Cross the bridge to the Innstadt district, from where you can admire the panorama back over to Passau’s old town. There’s also a pleasant local cafe, Kaffeewerk, with artwork on the walls, leather sofas and stools by the window. Expect a mixed crowd, from Passau pensioners to university students, plus the odd tourist. As well as decent coffees, Kaffeewerk has a selection of German craft beers, wines and gins on the shelves — potential gifts to take home, perhaps. voyage from Reykjavik to Churchill on Silver Endeavour

•Main meals and 24-hour room service

•Butler service in every suite

•Beverages in-suite and throughout the ship, including champagne, select wines and spirits onboard

•Enrichment lectures by a qualified Expeditions Team

•Guided zodiacs, land and sea tours and shoreside activities led by the Expeditions Team

•Transfer from port to airport in Churchill

•Charter flight from Churchill to Montreal

•1 night post-cruise accommodation in Montreal with transfers

•All port and government charges,