Passau Old Town

The Danube, the Inn and the Ilz meet at the point of Passau's old town: the Inn arrives pale grey-green with alpine glacial sediment, the Ilz dark brown from the peat bogs of the Bavarian Forest, and the Danube blue-green, and for a stretch below the confluence the three run side by side without mixing. The Inn actually carries more water at the junction. St Stephen's cathedral holds an organ of over seventeen thousand pipes, among the largest in Europe, played at daily recitals. The town has flooded repeatedly, and marks on the old town hall record levels including the extreme flood of 2013.

What you actually see

• The three rivers - grey, brown and blue-green running side by side.
• The cathedral organ - over seventeen thousand pipes with daily recitals.
• The flood marks - recorded levels on the old town hall wall.
• The baroque lanes - Italian-influenced streets on a narrow spit.

When to go

April to October; organ recitals run daily around midday from spring to autumn. The colour separation is clearest when the Inn carries glacial melt in summer.

Honest expectations

The colour effect varies with season and rainfall and can be barely visible. Flooding closes riverside paths. The old town is narrow and crowded with river cruise groups.

Nearby

The Bavarian Forest lies north; Austria begins across the river.