September, 2023.

Click PLAY or watch a 1-minute highlights video on YouTube.

I started in Passau, Germany, cycling to Ulm. About  238-miles (383km) over 5 days.

It follows the rail corridor of the Danube Valley Railway for long stretches. And alongside the river for even more.

To get to the Danube at Passau, I cycled from Salzburg mostly along the Austria / German border. Much along the Inn river, which had recently flooded. Some of the bike paths were still closed. Many more were MUDDY.

About 130km over a day and a half.

Beautiful scenery. In many ways, I liked it better than the Danube as the Inn river is less developed. And you are closer to the water more often.

I arrived Passau very tired —a long day in the saddle. Had to push my bike up this hill to get to the Youth Hostel.

Yeesh. Toughest part of the day.

The official German Youth Hostel is part of one of largest castle complexes in Europe.

After wild camping the first night on the bike, I ended up staying either at youth hostels like this one. Old. Huge. Retro. Something out of the 1960s.

OR …

… simply stopping at one of the small, crowded campgrounds. There’s always space for one more tent. 😀 Cost is less than $15 / night at most.

This one associated with the local canoe club was my favourite.

Though I did do quite a bit of sightseeing along the way, here I’ll present just a sampling of the highlights.

In my own brain 😀 it all merges into one long week of castles, churches, and pretty German architecture.

After a long, hot day into Ulm, Germany, I suffered leg cramps during the night. Decided to quit the Danube for 2023.

Friends in Munich are storing my bike and cycling gear.

As a minimalist, it’s nice to go back to travel with only carry-on luggage. 😀

I might go the other direction towards Budapest next time. OR — more likely — cycle the Rhine north.

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The BIG Picture

Passau to Vienna and Vienna to Budapest are 2 of the most popular sections on Europe’s most popular long distance cycling path ➙ EuroVelo 6 (EV6), named the “Rivers Route“.

Part of the EV6 is the Danube Cycleway (de:Donauradweg) from Donaueschingen to Passau in Germany, through Austria to Vienna, and continues on to Bratislava in Slovakia, to Novi Sad and Belgrade in Serbia, before continuing on towards the Danube Delta.