Veste Oberhaus, founded in 1219, is a fortress and castle which sits atop St Georgsberg mountain on the left bank of the Danube overlooking Passau. It is a popular tourist site, with free access to the grounds, panoramic views, and a large museum full of interesting displays about local history (5€ for adults, children under 6 are free).
Photo credit: By Aconcagua – Own work, CC BY – SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2185858
Getting there is part of the fun: there are stairs that climb that tree-covered hill you see in the photo above.
Just getting started on the climb, looking back at over the Danube
The stairs hug the side of the hill (don’t worry, there’s a railing), and take you inside the walls of the fortress.
Stopping halfway to take in the view of Passau and the Danube
Once you’re inside the walls it becomes more of a trail than stairs, with lots of little places to stop and rest or admire the view.
Hugo grows tired of the panoramic views…
and would rather stop to smell the buttercups.
The climb is actually pretty short, only about 1.5 km from Dom St Stephen. It took us about half an hour with Hugo, who is a reluctant hiker on good days.
When we reached the top we were surprised to discover some historical reenactments going on:
Pretty much exactly like Skyrim
We visited the museum:
Lots of interesting displays, even without any English captions
It had been raining lightly but cleared briefly for us to get a good shot from the viewpoint.
In the sunshine you can see the different colors of the two rivers
And an obligatory selfie:
A rare picture of the grown-ups
At last, time to head down.
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