Travel Information

Attention ICSE visitors: There will be a bus from Zurich to Passau on Sunday, June 10th. Tickets for this bus can be purchased on the registration site. This bus leaves at 8:30 am from the parking lot at the corner Limmatstrasse/Sihlquiai (just north of the main station).

Travelling by Plane

Passau is reachable from several major airports:

  1. Munich (MUC)

    From the airport, there is a connection to Passau by Deutsche Bahn at every hour which takes about 2:20 h. Take bus 635 from the airport to the train station of the town Freising. From Freising take the regional train to Passau, station 'Hauptbahnhof'. The last connection for the day leaves at around 23:00. The train ticket costs 21 € (“Bayern Ticket Single”) or 29 € for a group ticket for up to 5 people (“Bayern Ticket”).

  2. Frankfurt (FRA)

    From the airport, take the train to Passau Hauptbahnhof (at most one transfer is needed). The connection takes about 4:30 h and costs 84 €. Tickets can be bought online up to 3 months in advance from Deutsche Bahn. If you book early, you may be able to get a savings price which is up to 50% cheaper. These tickets are valid only for a single connection. A seat reservation is recommended. All ICE trains and some IC trains have power outlets at all seats.

  3. Linz (LNZ)

    This smaller airport has only flights to some cities in Europe. There is a bus from the airport to Linz central station (Linz Hbf) and a train from Linz to Passau. The connection takes about 2 hours. Tickets can be bought from ÖBB.

Travelling by Car and Train

Passau is well reachable from most of Germany and the neighboring countries by car and train. There are ICE trains every two hours on the line Frankfurt – Nuremberg – Passau – Linz – Vienna. From Munich there is an hourly regional train. Tickets can be bought online up to 3 months in advance from Deutsche Bahn. The relevant station is “Passau Hauptbahnhof” (sometimes abbreviated as “Passau Hbf”), which is the main station of Passau. If you book early, you may be able to get a savings price which is up to 50% cheaper. These tickets are valid only for a single connection. A seat reservation is recommended where possible. All ICE trains and some IC trains have power outlets at all seats.

For travelling to Passau by car take highway A3 (Frankfurt – Nuremberg – Passau – Linz – Vienna). From Munich take highway A92 to Deggendorf and follow highway A3 to Passau. Parking is difficult in the centre of Passau, but most Hotels provide parking possibilities.

In Passau

The train station, most of the hotels, and the conference venue, are located in the center of Passau and are thus in walking distance from each other. See this map with markers for important locations.

German taxis all have a beige color. The rate is the same for all taxis in an area. In Passau it is 2,80 € plus 0,20 € per 140m (after 22:00 there is an extra fee of 2,00 €). Drivers are required to give a receipt if requested.

Further Information

Time

Germany uses the Central European Summer Time (CEST) like most other western and central European countries. During ICPC, this time zone is 2 hours ahead of UTC (UTC+2).

Electricity

All power outlets in Germany are of the “Schuko” type. Plugs of the two-pin “EuroPlug” type fit without an adaptor. The British and North-American plugs do not fit. The voltage is 230 V.

Money

The currency in Germany is the Euro (EUR, €). Credit cards are not as common as in other countries, but most shops and restaurants accept them. However, they may refuse them for amounts smaller than 5 €. Newsstands, bus drivers, and taxi drivers will only accept cash. ATMs are common and present at stations and shopping malls.

Internet

Public WiFi hotspots are uncommon in Germany and not even present in cafes and restaurants. T-Mobile operates some of them in stations and airports (5 € per hour). However, most hotel rooms include free internet access.

Phone

The calling code for Germany is +49 and the area code for Passau is 851. A long distance phone number in Germany consists of the trunk prefix 0, the area code, and the subscriber number. An international phone number in Germany consists of the country code +49, the area code, and the subscriber number. The prefix for international calls from within Germany is 00.

The emergency number is 112 (no prefix). For the police, call 110.

There are four mobile providers (T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2, and E-Plus) operating GSM/UMTS networks at 900/1800 MHz.

Public payphones exists, but have become rare. At airports, they accept credit cards, otherwise only cash.