Day 25 - Wed 24 Jun: Passau to Regensburg via Deggendorf and Plattling

June 23, 2015

Estimated km: 68; Actual km: 79; Total km: 1134; Ride time: 4h50m; Start time: 8am; End time: 3:45pm; Av speed: 16.8 kph

79km, 9-22deg, mostly cloudy, no rain, although there were some ominous looking clouds skirting around us.

A 6:30am brekkie allowed us to get away right on schedule at 8am. Within a 100m we were on the Danube Cycle Route and heading north’ish. It was good to see the boat traffic coming and going on the river; cruise boats, day trippers and barges carrying all sorts of cargo. Our first rest stop was 20km out of Passau, near a neat little bike/pedestrian ferry crossing point. After five minutes or so, onwards we went, on a mix of very smooth hot-mix and not so smooth gravel paths. But all in all it was fairly easy going, despite the fact that it was upriver with a not-too-nasty headwind.

We crossed over the river to have mornos at Vilshofen, an ancient walled town with cobbled streets. It had an impressive town entrance which we sat near to drink our coffees. It was back across to the right-hand bank to continue. After a small diversion on a rough gravel path (the sign to the main path had turned in its fittings) we made it to Deggendorf without any further ado for lunch in the town square. Due to the lack of hotels here we decided to catch the train to Regensburg and have three nights there instead. Deggendorf is not blessed with a railway station so it was a further 10km ride to Plattling to catch the train. Due to some inconvenient roadworks, we had to make our way around them as best we could, so only just made it onto the 2:11pm train with a minute or so to spare. A very helpful station master did all the ticket purchases on the machine for us in double time. It would have taken us ages, which meant we would have had to wait another hour to for the next train.

The train ride was a real pleasure, on what appeared to be a near brand new train. It zipped along at about 150km/h and was smooth as a “you know what”. After getting 8 bikes up and down platforms via two-bike lifts we rode to the hotel. The hotel for the next three nights is an IBIS Styles, right on the main Danube Canal which carries all the boat traffic along the Danube. We arrived at the hotel at 3:45 pm and checked-in without too much fuss. Our room overlooks the afore-mentioned canal and is a boat-watcher's paradise.

Dinner tonight (Mick & Kate's pick) was Italian, and very nice. It took about 30 mins to walk into town and 30 mins back again which tested the somewhat tired legs and knees, especially on the stairs. Lucky some of us had an ice-cream after dinner or we may not have made it home!