If you like spending your vacation driving in a car all day then I think you'll be fine. And I think you already know what fodorites will say.

I think you've answered your own question. Yes you are crazy. What on earth do you think you will see, other than motorways and service areas? When I go on holiday I stay in one place for two weeks and take day trips, obviously or perhaps not I am shall we say more mature, even when I did that sort of holiday, without the driving I returned home exhausted. Choose two or three destinations and spend TIME exploring instead of rushing around Europe like a ...... not too sure what. Just to pick one city you are planning on spending two days in London at the end of your trip what do you intend to see in those two days?

I stopped reading at July, 18th. Gave me a headache only reading about it ... Like Emily said, it's driving all the time, checking in/out, grabbing a bite to eat, sleeping. No time for sightseeing at all.

Yes, crazy.

You left out Vienna, Prague, Budapest, the whole of Sweden, Helsinki and the Feroe Islands.
Your plan is indeed crazy. You make absolutely no allowances for traffic (July and August are the worst time for driving . in Italy, Spain and France). You'll lose the little spare time you have looking for hotel rooms. If I were you I'd sleep and eat in the car )

Yes.

Not sure how serious you are but it's a bad plan. It made my head spin but one thing that stood out was, why drive all the way from Paris to Amsterdam, via Brussels, to then fly to London? That's just silly. Get the Eurostar from Paris to London, much quicker and if you book early enough, it's cheap too.

Also have you looked into one way drop off fees with hire cars, you may find them very expensive. I'm guessing you haven't driven in Europe before and have no idea about how long things will take. Navigating and parking in cities in Europe will be difficult, one reason why people take the train. If you are really taking the trip then you need to re-plan - drastically.

Kay

I like to drive, but . . . .

1. The problem for many of these cities is that you can't or shouldn't drive anywhere near the places you would go there to see. So not only do you spend a lot of time on the superhighway, you have to park outside somewhere you have never been and get yourself into the town center where the good stuff is.

2. Maybe the highways in the Alps are scenic, but I can tell you from recent experience that much of Northern Italy has all the charm of Elizabeth, NJ as seen from the Jersey Turnpike, which is how you will be seeing it. Ditto suburban and industrial France.

3. You don't say where you are from, but driving in many of these places is horrendous. People in LA whine,but Atlanta and Boston are worse as are Dallas and Washington in their own ways. Think Boston (mean drivers) combined with Atlanta (unpredictable drivers) at 90 mph in traffic volumes like LA or Washington DC at rush hour, only moving.

4. Fuel and tolls are going to cost you a fortune. Tolls are much higher than in the US, much higher, and you will need to carry a bag of cash to pay them because you won't have an EZPass and the machines won't take your credit card. Our VW Golf diesel was very economical but it cost about 65 euros per fill and may have been more. My credit card worked fine at the pump in Italy, but that won't be the case in France. More cash. And you are going to do what with this money and your other stuff while your car is sitting in a public parking lot while you zip into Florence?

Way too much typical rookie newbie mistake which I made a lot. These days I save by paring back seat61.com train like a local spend quality time in a few supernice areas I want to experience rather than touring the inside of a rental car at a high price on a high pressure road trip.If you do elect car rental the reanault euroleases save me a tonne on mileage and drop off.Train like a local cheaper though.Avoid train pass a BIG rip.Good luck you will need it.

.

I don't think driving that distance on your first day, on German motorways is sensible or safe.

If you are on your own, and have taken into account the hours of driving, the tolls, parking fees, high cost of fuel, and possible one way drop off fees then go for it.
Are you setting your itinerary in stone - pre-booking everything? If not you have some flexibility in your plans and can make you driving days shorter, or stay somewhere longer that you like, and miss out other bits.
The roads will be crowded and you are likely to hit jams at weekends at that time of year.

If you were to choose a more leisurely trip, you would save money on fuel etc, see more, and have money over for the next time, when you could see another part of Europe.

You can save money by filling up off the motorways - at supermarkets or in towns near the motorway. You will have to pay attention to opening times though so you can pay at a till not at an automatic machine. Also going off the motorways onto smaller roads will give you more to see, and mean you are not so bored, making you less likely to have an accident, and saving on some tolls. However it will be slower so you can see less places on your list.

Don't forget to get an IDP if you are driving in Italy.

Hi C,

Have you considered slowing down and actually visiting Europe instead of zooming through it?

My two favorite days were July 15 where you see two countries in one morning and August 1 when you drive from Paris to Amsterdam just to get a plane to London. LOL Did you know that you could take a train from Paris to London and it would take half the time?

You could leave your car in Paris and return to Paris, pick up the car and then drive to Amsterdam for a few hours. You'll save yourself a half day doing it this way. You could add Luxembourg to your itinerary half day.

One more vote for YES. Or at least your plan is crazy. Is this to settle a bet or are you really interested in seeing Europe. You won't with this itinerary.

Troll?

Not a troll. Just someone with too much spare time who likes to get into a tin can with the sun beating down on him for 8 hours a day and drive lots and see little. Everyone has their own definition of fun.

We do know from this itinerary that he's not green!

How many sets of tires will this trip require?

Instead of a rental, why not a brand new car? You can spare the air and achieve a more varied travel experience by visiting your local car dealers at home - spend a few hours every day for 3 weeks sitting in each of the models. By August 5, with the fuel and travel money you save, you can afford to take your favorite car home with you.

Absolutely manic! Agree with the other posters and would add that you use first person singular ("I") meaning you will have no navigator which is essential. You have not even allowed time to find your way back after you get lost on the road which is inevitable. You will have done all that driving and seen nothing! Not to mention, you will be very lonely. The best travel experiences involve connecting with people, not just sight seeing.

My guess is that you are on the young side and this is your first trip to Europe. Odds are that you will have future trips so relax, you don't need to see it all first time!

Get a rail pass (or pack light for use of low cost air carriers) and scale your countries back to two or three max. If you must rent a car, pick a small country area or two (max) for touring small towns/villages. You can also book guided (or not) day trips from all of the big cities.

In addition to all the other comments, and I agree with all of them, you can't even bring the car into Venice.

Now, I've done a couple of "If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium" kind of trips, but this is more of an "If It's Tuesday, This Must be Switzerland, Lichtenstein & Germany!"

Colinj, truly, although there are some areas of Europe that are quite scenic, there are also areas that are quite dull driving. such as between Milan and Venice. Flat fields for hours and hours. And even in the scenic areas you will not see much because you will be concentrating on the roads. And the traffic. You will not have time to stop and look at anything because you have to go so far each day.

It is literally true you cannot drive into many cities, where the sights are. Venice, of course. But Florence, Bologna, Siena, etc. do not allow unregistered cars in the center of town. If you drive in anyway, your photo will be taken and months later ypu will receive a whopping fine ($350 or so) for each violation, through the rental car agency.) You have to park at a distance, at high cost, leaving your belongings in the car to bake for hours and perhaps get stolen, and take public transportation to see the sights.

And as someone else said, the day you arrive in Europe you will be jet-lagged. your body will think it is the middle of the night. You can fall asleep at the wheel. My son-in-law scoffed at this advice, and insisted on driving from Milan to Carrara (four hours) on the day we arrived. He fell asleep at the wheel four times, in spite of fueling himself with too mammy espressos, which just made him jumpy and irritable. It was a terrifying ride!!! Thank God we were not killed.

And finally, what will you have really seen after this?

Are there any great sights in Europe like incredible cathedrals, museums, etc. that you actually want to see? Do you want to sit at cafes and experience a bit of Parisian life? Do you want to walk down any tiny medieval streets and feel the mystery of the past?

If there is nothing like this that you actually want to see or experience, then you are fine. If you enjoy the opportunity to spend hours smelling fumes from other cars, and being delayed by traffic so much that you have to skip sightseeing some days, you will love it. If you don't mind looking for expensive parking on the outskirts of cities like Florence, then taking the bus into the city and having only a couple of hours to try to see some of the finest works of art and architecture in the Western World before heading back to more hours in your car, then you have a good plan for yourself.

However, if you want to see and experience life in Europe, then your plan won't work. Your plan lets you spend tons of money traveling to Europe and traveling around Europe so that you can spend hours in your car seeing nothing. If you just want to drive around a lot, you might as well do that at home and save airfare.

Wonderful. The Tarmac Trip.

As soon as I saw the OP's post I knew it was a bad trip. One huge block of text.

No paragraphs.

Just like this trip will be, i.e., no pauses to catch your breath, much less see or enjoy anything.

Enjoying a leisurely afternoon watching the snow, I decided to do a math puzzle . . .

Listed below are the approximate drive times/distances from maps.google.com along fastest routes for the proposed itinerary. Times listed do not allow for traffic delays, slower scenic routes, city driving to hotels/parking, and time for checking in and out of hotels, which might add 2 hours or more to the travel time for each day of travel.

July 13: arrive Frankfurt; Frankfurt to Tubingen (243 km – 2.5 hours)
July 14: Tubingen to Zurich (200 km – 2.25 hours)
July 15: Zurich, Switzerland to Lichtenstein to Fussen (264 km – 3.25 hours)
July 16: Fussen to Neuschwanstein Castle to Innsbruck (119 km – 2 hours)
July 17: Innsbruck; driving through the Alps
July 18: Innsbruck to Venice (392 km – 4.25 hours)
July 19: Venice
July 20: Venice to Florence (265 km – 3 hours)
July 21: Florence to Rome (283 km – 2.75 hours)
July 22: Rome
July 23: Rome to Pisa (383 km – 3.75 hours)
July 24: Pisa to La Spezia; train to Cinque Terre; La Spezia to Nice (378 km – 4.25 hours)
July 25: Nice to Montpellier (327 km – 3.5 hours)
July 26: Montpellier to Barcelona (343 km – 3.5 hours)
July 27: Barcelona
July 28: Barcelona to Clermont-Ferrand (620 km – 6.25 hours)
July 29: Clermont-Ferrand to Paris (424 km – 4.25 hours)
July 30: Paris
July 31: Paris
August 1: Paris to Brussels to Amsterdam (520 km – 5.5 hours); Fly to London
August 2: London
August 3: London
August 4: Fly back to Amsterdam; Amsterdam to Koblenz to Bingen to Frankfurt (514 km – 5.5 hours)
August 5: Leave Frankfurt at noon

More than 50 hours of driving in the best case scenario
15 hotel changes in 24 days, so one "day" of the trip lost to checking in and out of hotels

You could follow your entire plan and give up the car in Barcelona (at a high fee probably) and then fly to Paris, saving the long drive and wasted travel days. Then do your last stops by train/plane, returning to Frankfurt to fly home. If you have not yet purchased your airline tickets roundtrip to Frankfurt, I'd seriously consider how you could rework this trip to NOT fly in and out of the same city.

If you DO make this trip as you propose, please report back to us how it went. It would be a lesson for us all and greatly appreciated.

Do about half this itinerary and do it by train. Make it easy on yourself. I personally wouldn't even think about driving in Rome or Paris.

I never drive in a major city in Europe. Ever. Ever.

Take the times ellenem posted and add a LOT to most of them - needed to get into the city centers and find your hotels-which most likely don't have parking. And I assume you are leaving the car parked in Amsterdam while you jaunt over to London and back. What do you propose doing w/ the car while you're gone??

"Am I crazy?!" . . . certifiably insane

To me, it sounds like a screenplay for a remake of "If It's Tuesday...." I'll be expecting to see it in theaters.

This person has been wasting everyones time here also: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2154404&messageID=19427886#19427886

I was just going to give the link to that movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064471/
haha.

Let me tell you, I spent 16 days in Italy doing a crazy tour like this at a much smaller scale (Venice, Verona to Lago di Garda, to Cinque terre, Pisa and Lucca, 5 days Florence and northern Toscana, run to Ravenna to see a relative that didn't even show up, San Marino, Perugia, Assisi and Orvieto, fly out of Rome). I enjoyed it, came back with over 3000 pictures, my son didn't comment because he is 2, but for my wife was way too much. We sprinkled the trip with a car accident and an almost life threatening nut allergy.

This is something that I also did way back when I was a resident in an Easter European country just out of communism and we basically "escaped" for a 17 day tour through Europe (Romania to Portugal and back). The strongest memories are related to sore legs and deriere from so much sitting down in the bus.

So being someone almost as crazy as you are and having somewhat the experience of two similar insane tours but at MUCH smaller scale, I say DON'T DO IT! Not even if this is the last chance you have to see Europe. It's not worth it!

On the Lonely Planet thread he has gone back to post more details. There are FIVE of them on this hellacious trek. And he seems serious. Read some of his crazy (his word, not mine) reasoning on that thread . . .

Oh - meant to add. It is sometimes posted here on Fodors that we are a bunch of fuddy duddies and that younger travelers should post on Lonely Planet to get real help. Well - they are being even tougher on him over there than we are - vindication!

Just read his post on LP. Hard to believe he has found four more people willing to subject themselves to this. Sad, all that money spent and time expended and nothing really seen of Europe.

Please stop and smell the flowers
you will be rewarded with a rich experience

"life threatening nut allergy."

pretty much sums this thread up, no?

So colinj, this
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/fussed-to-venice-best-route.cfm
and this
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/best-city-in-north-west-switzerland.cfm
and this
http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/nice-to-montpellier.cfm
are all just pieces of the crazy-jigsaw-puzzle-without-edges trip you're planning? Would have been nice of you to put them all in one place so we could advise rather than little bits and pieces and then discover you're trying to do a tour of the inside of a car.

I get the feeling you're either not looking at to-scale maps, or just like driving without stopping. To echo the others, nutso!

We saw half of what you are planning to see in four times the amount of time. I too stopped reading at the 18th. Ughhh.

Loved the Lonely Planet comments, especially the one "Oh, so you'll be pulling up right next to the Colosseum, will ya?"

Not crazy. Certifiable.

I'd like to read his thread on LP, but can't find it. Could someone post a link, pleas?

nukesafe: The link was posted by Randy up on this thread (can't give you the time since it displays different for everyone -- in your own timezone)

Whenever I see a topic called, "Am I crazy?" the answer is yes and then I read the text.

By the way, you accidently omitted Lagos (Nigeria, not Portugal) and Tokyo.

Based on your suggestions, I have decided to add Coopenhagen on to the end of my trip. I have been contemplating throwing Madrid in there too, and after reading all of these comments, I am close to adding it to the Itinerary!!! Thanks once again!!!

Surely this is very crazy plan as I would definitely like sitting idle to enjoy every single thing on my vacation or visit to some other place rather than driving all the time.If you keep on driving most of the time then you would have to be aware much of the traffic, signals etc and the beauty will be escaped then.

Having read colinj 's latest post, all I will say is, "pull the other one, it's got bells on"

I got carsick just reading the itinerary.

SS

If you are adding Copenhagen then why not Stockholm and Oslo too? Or the Nordkapp??

I thought you were serious. I was wrong.

I'm looking forward to a trip report.

there probably won't be a TR - or at least an honest one . . . This is a troll. Read his last post.

there probably won't be a TR
Is that a TR 6
http://tr6.classicsportscars.eu/PICTURES/red-triumph-tr6-side.JPG
or a TR 7??
http://deadduck.theavengers.tv/images/purdeykit1.gif
Either way he will not get 5 inside.

Of course he's a troll. No one can be that crazy.

He's been deleted. Hope this doesn't mean we were too snarky