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The sparsely populated eastern reaches of Bavaria may live in the shadow of Bavaria’s big-hitting attractions, but they hold many historical treasures to rival their neighbours. Top billing goes to Regensburg, a former capital, and one of Germany’s prettiest and liveliest cities. From here the Danube gently winds its way to the Italianate city of Passau. Landshut was once the hereditary seat of the Wittelsbach family, and the region has also given the world a pope – Benedict XVI – who was born in Marktl am Inn. Away from the towns, the Bavarian Forest broods in semiundiscovered remoteness.
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Regensburg & the Danube.
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There's been a church on this spot since the late 5th century, but what you see today is much younger thanks to the fire of 1662, which ravaged much of the medieval town, including the cathedral. The rebuilding contract went to a team of Italians, notably the architect Carlo Lurago and the stucco master Giovanni Battista Carlone. The result is a top-heavy baroque interior with a posse of saints and cherubs gazing down at the congregation from countless cornices and capitals.
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A thickly wooded paradise for lovers of fresh air, the Bavarian Forest National Park extends for around 24,250 hectares along the Czech border, from Bayerisch Eisenstein in the north to Finsterau in the south. Its thick forest, most of it mountain spruce, is criss-crossed by hundreds of kilometres of marked hiking, cycling and cross-country skiing trails, some of which now link up with a similar network across the border. The region is home to deer, wild boar, fox, otter and countless bird species.
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In the 15th century, Franz von Taxis (1459–1517) assured his place in history by setting up the first European postal system, which remained a monopoly until the 19th century. In recognition of his services, the family was given the former Benedictine monastery St Emmeram, henceforth known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis. It was soon one of the most modern palaces in Europe and featured such luxuries as flushing toilets. Today it is the world's largest inhabited building.
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The Altstadt’s crown jewel is the Asamkirche Maria de Victoria, a baroque masterpiece designed by brothers Cosmas Damian and Egid Quirin Asam between 1732 and 1736. The church’s mesmerising trompe l’oeil ceiling, painted in just six weeks in 1735, is the world’s largest fresco on a flat surface.
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It takes a few seconds for your eyes to adjust to the dim interior of Regensburg’s soaring landmark, the Dom St Peter, one of Bavaria’s grandest Gothic cathedrals with its stunning kaleidoscopic stained-glass windows and an opulent, silver-sheathed main altar. The cathedral is home of the Domspatzen, a 1000-year-old boys' choir that accompanies the 10am Sunday service (only during the school year). The Domschatzmuseum (Cathedral Treasury) brims with monstrances, tapestries and other church treasures.
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The very nib of the Altstadt peninsula, the point where the rivers merge, is known as the Dreiflusseck. From the north the little Ilz sluices brackish water down from the peat-rich Bavarian Forest, meeting the cloudy brown of the Danube as it flows from the west and the pale snow-melt jade of the Inn from the south to create a murky tricolour. The effect is best observed from the ramparts of the Veste Oberhaus.
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Claiming to be Europe's best golf museum (not counting Scotland, home to the British Golf Museum), this fine repository of wooden clubs, ivory tees and yellowing score cards (including one belonging to King George V of England) backswings its way through golf's illustrious past – interesting, even if you think a green fee is something to do with municipal recycling. The entrance is in an antiques shop.
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Ingolstadt is home to the famous Audi factory that sprawls to the north of the city centre. The two-hour 'Production in a Nutshell' tours of the plant take you through the entire Audi production process, from the metal press to the testing station. The company also runs other more specialist tours that look at small parts of the process, but these are vastly more expensive and more suitable for groups.
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Weiden's top attraction is the International Ceramics Museum, housed in a spare baroque monastery building right in the town centre. The permanent exhibition covers eight millenia of pottery, porcelain and faience including ancient Chinese and Egyptian artefacts. The temporary exhibitions here are selected from only top-notch travelling shows from around the world.