By train:

Most students come to Passau by train. If you come from far away you will probably take the fastest German train, called ICE. It is quite modern and comfortable but also rather expensive.

However if you want to travel within Bavaria, you can travel pretty cheaply: There is a special ticket which is called “Bayern-ticket” especially the “Bayern-Ticket for Groups” is quite cool: It is 29€ for a group of 5 people, so only 5-6€ per person – and it is valid all over Bavaria, all day long starting from 9 o’clock, at the weekends all day long- however only in the trains which are not the fastest: RE or IRE (check “local transport”). If you travel from Munich to Passau RE is fine. At Munich Central Station, at the platform of the train going to Passau, you can usually find people to share a “Bayern-Ticket”.

For more information check out: http://www.bahn.de/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml (this is the English version)

By plane:

There is a small airport called Memmingen or München West (west of Munich), which is served by cheap airlines like Ryanair or Wizzair. It is not exactly next to Passau but reachable by train (via Munich) for less than 6€ (by Bavaria Group Ticket) if you’re lucky.

Another Airport that is pretty close is Salzburg. It is also served by Ryanair for example and can cheaply be reached by train from Passau. There is an equivalent to the Bavaria-Ticket in Austria which is called “Einfach-Raus-Ticket”. It’s also valid for a group of 5 people and costs 28€.

Another Airport served by Ryanair which is also not far away from Passau is Linz. For more info about the Austrian Rail: http://www.oebb.at/en/index.jsp

If you do not have to travel low-low- budget, you can also search for flights to Munich Airport, Nürnberg Airport. They are also served by Ryanair or Easyjet.

To get around in Passau you usually do not have to worry: Most things in Passau are easily reachable by foot. And your hostel/Bed& Bike is right next to the train station.