KiranK

We are a family of 4 (2 adults + 2 kids) planning 19 Days (Italy, Austria, Czech, Hungary) tour by road in Aug 2015. This is our first trip to Italy, Austria, Czech, Hungary. We are from USA, so comfortable renting car and exploring by ourself. We love long drives. We are flying to Venice.

- 3 Days Venice (Take ferry from airport to Island and stay there)
- Rent a car in Venice for next 16 days
- Drive to Italy
- 3 daya Rome
- Drive Siena
- 5 days Siena, Pisa, Cinque Terre, Florence
- Drive to Prague, Czech via Munich
- 1.5 days Prague
- Drive to Budapest, Hungary
- 1.5 days Budapest
- Drive to Viena, Austria
- 2 days Viena
- Drive back to Venice, drop the rental car and fly back home..

Please let me know your comments / recommendations for our upcoming trip.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Kiran

Bedar

Sounds good aside from the very short stays in Prague, etc. Many people here would say to take the train, but a car will certainly be cheaper. My only concern would be fitting in your luggage. You never want luggage to be exposed.

pariswat

19 days, 3500 kms, 34 hours drive without traffic jams nor counting time to find hotels. Say 40 hours + -> 2-3 hours a day in average - quite doable.
However.
You don"t drive in Europe like in the US - much more traffic, less straight roads etc. So factor it in and switch drivers too.
Look more closely at what is close to your trip : going to Nurmeberg makes sense, such a tiny beautfiul city - same for Ljubljana..
Stopping at Bratislava, Graz as they are on the way...
mvg

KiranK

Thanks Bedar and Pariswat.

Just wanted to make sure my planned trip is not too crazy

sandralist

I think the Italian portion of your trip is rather crazy, if you don't mind my saying so. Everyplace you are going, with the exception of Siena, you are going to pay big bucks to park your car and face a lot of hassles and risks of major traffic fines for accessing the city by car instead of train.

If your air tickets are not already purchased, I would suggest you fly into Rome. After seeing Rome, rent the car to visit Siena, then Pisa, then le Cinque Terre, and then Florence, and drive from there on into Europe. Put your all your Venice days at the end of the trip.

If you already have air tickets and must land in Venice, then land in Venice but immediately take a train train from there to Florence. After that, take a train to Rome. Then rent a car to see Siena, Pisa and le Cinque Terre.

I have to confess that personally I would hate driving a car to Vienna and spending 2 days there , or driving a car to le Cinque Terre in summer, whiich is not a "long drive" but a combination of too-narrow roads filled with speeding trucks + cliffs and no parking + traffic jams.

I live in Europe and I like road trips but not the kind of addicted-to-the-motion road trips that I would otherwise enjoy in Canada or the Big Horns. If you want a driving vacation, it is more fun to do that in Tuscany or parts of Germany or Austria that are scenic and have scenic driving. Being in an endless competition for space on the narrow highways of Europe, battling your way into cities like Rome, or tourist-rammed Rick Steves villages is not the freedom of the open road.

But some people just like to conquer places behind the wheel.

okszi

Hi there,
I would definitely recommend you to drive to Vienna first and then on to Budapest.
From Prague to Vienna its about 3-4 hours drive. So if you leave Prague early in the morning, you can still have almost a whole day for Vienna.
Then, there is an ongoing road renovation from Prague to Brno. Thus you are facing a possible driving time to Budapest 7-8 hours, instead of the normal 5-5,5.
If you leave the Prague-Brno highway at Jihlava (exit 112 A-B) its about a 4 hours drive to Vienna. Thus you skip part of the highway construction and the road is mostly a pretty country road, very nice for a leisurely drive. You can stop for a short lunch or sightseeing brake in Znojmo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Znojmo) a beautiful medieval Moravian town about 2-2.5 hours drive from Prague.
The Prague-Brno highway is probably one of the worst (both in road quality and scenery) highways in Europe. Extremely boring with almost non-existent scenery.
From Vienna to Budapest it is a 2.20-3 hours drive.
Budapest-Venice is highway all the way and just about an hour longer than the Vienna-Venice section. Ljubljana would be a nice stop for a short tour-lunch. Called by many as "Prague without the tourist hordes". So you can compare it for yourself.

bobthenavigator

This trip needs a ton of help.
First, fly into Prague and home from Rome, and get your car in Germany. You do not have an efficient sequence---you need to start over. The concept is good--the itinerary is not.