Founded by the Celts more than 2,000 years ago, Passau is one of Bavaria’s oldest cities. Known as the “City of Three Rivers,” it rests at the confluence of the Inn, Ilz and Danube Rivers. The city has long enjoyed its strategic position and grew to great economic and political power because of it. The legacy of its past prosperity lives on in graceful arcades, colorful houses with rococo facades and the glorious baroque St. Stephen’s Cathedral, home to one of Europe’s largest pipe organs. Passau is also where two nations meet; it is here that the German-Austrian border begins. 

A small university town at the eastern end of the Danube’s Wachau Valley, Krems is surrounded by terraced vineyards. In its heyday, during the 12th century, Krems held even more importance than Vienna for its iron, grain, salt and wine trade. As to the latter, the city has played a long and celebrated part in the popularity of the Wachau’s wine culture; the valley’s south slopes in Krems are bathed in sunlight all day and create some of the best Riesling and Veltliner wines in the world. The city’s cobblestone streets, taverns, wine bars and coffeehouses have a timeless appeal.

Originally known as Lentia in its days as a 1st-century Roman castle-settlement, Linz is today’s provincial capital of Upper Austria. The city’s famous Linzer Torte, the jam-filled cake topped with almonds, hails from here and can be found in any number of cafés. In the Old Town, narrow lanes lead to the Hauptplatz, once the largest town square in Austria. Handsome patrician houses, the 17th-century Town Hall and an impressive cathedral line the open space. The steepest mountain railway in Europe delivers visitors to Pöstlingberg hill and its 18th-century pilgrimage church.