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Driving venice to paris... which 2 stops along the way?

Driving venice to paris... which 2 stops along the way?

Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:02 AM
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Driving venice to paris... which 2 stops along the way?

we decided to drive from venice to paris on our honeymoon later this month. What can you recommend as far as making 2 stops along the way to break up the driving and getting a flavor of italy and france while trying to still keep it romantic.


(leave venice sunday morning and arrive paris Tuesday morning(ish))


We are great food and wine lovers if that helps.

thanks!!
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:11 AM
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Driving? Have you considered the drop-off charges for different countries? And why would you want to be in a car for 2 days? Just asking....
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:15 AM
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http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/ will give you a variety of options if you plug in the departure and destination points.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:21 AM
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Not a good idea.
Big drop charge
It is March
You can fly cheaper
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:23 AM
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my wife has never been to europe and we feel like it would be great to take our time and roam through the countryside taking 3 3-4 hour drives and being able to see a few other cities other than just venice and paris.

what do you mean by drop off charges? pickup and drop off car in different country?
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:28 AM
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If you are determined to drive, definitely use the viamichelin site to plan your route and check times and distances. Perhaps the Piedmont area near Torino would be a first stop and the second stop could be near Beaune/Dijon. Two different cuisines and wine areas--Barolos and Burgundy. That's a lot of driving between sips!!
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:34 AM
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but its over two and half days with spending 2 nights in between.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:36 AM
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"Drop-off charges". Picking up a rental car in one country and dropping it off in another can be VERY expensive. Different locations in the same country is usually not much of an expense, if any. Your looking at a big surcharge.

Your proposed drive is 11+ hours if all goes well and that is without stops and staying on the main route i.e. not traveling very far off the autoroute for that romantic spot with good food and wine.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:37 AM
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you won't be taking your time driving from Venice to Paris in 48 hours.

viamichelin says that it's 1116 km which will take about 11 hours - two days slog. and that's the most direct route.

drop-off charges are what the car hire companies charge when you hire in one country and drop off in another. there may be times when this suits what you want to do - we once hired in geneva and dropped off in amsterdam because we wanted to do that trip, and with 4 of us, we could absorb the extra charge more easily.

it seems pretty pointless to do it when you could fly and give yourselves an extra one and a half days actual holiday for the same price as the hire charges. and you won't actually see those other cities - just the inside of a couple of hotels and car parks - as it;ll be dark by the time you get there.

if you want to do a bit of exploring, why not drive to Milan from Venice, then fly to Paris?
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 08:44 AM
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Sounds like a terrible plan to me - way too long in a car and the potentially monstrous drop-off charge. If the point is to see some countryside, there are plenty of options that don't involve that long slog from Venice to Paris.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 09:05 AM
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lets say we left venice sunday morning we could be in genoa for example by lunch time, enjoy the evening there, wake up drive to Lyon or dijon, enjoy the evening there. then tuesday would be a couple more hours to paris.

you all are making me rethink this though haha.

maybe fly into paris and just take a few daytrips from there.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 12:11 PM
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Easyjet to Orly is less than the petrol cost alone.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 12:14 PM
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that's it, wayne.

it's a honeymoon, right? more days in Paris sound like a good idea.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 12:41 PM
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Just think of all the food and wine you can consume with the $500+ you'll save on the drop-off fee. Plus, you won't have any time for food and wine while you're scuttling through Europe in a car.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 01:07 PM
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Re: car rental picking and dropping off in different countries, Venice (Italy) - Paris (France), just go for example to hertz.com and you will see that for the smallest car, a 2-day rental would cost you $1,152.

So I suggest...heed the advice of the posters here and choose another means of transportation.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 01:42 PM
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Even though I think it would be better to fly, the rate for a two day car rental on Auto Europe was only around $250. Dates March 20-22. Even with the drop off fee of $200 (what we paid for a one way from Paris to Rome) that is still only around $500, not $1100. Am I missing something here?
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 02:02 PM
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Hmmm....first of all you can't make an online booking with AutoEurope for one-way international rental. You need to call them.

So calling them they quoted - using your dates 3/20-22-(actually they said there is a minimum 3-day rental), $190 for an economy car and €500 (or ~$680) drop off charge = ~$900. Using another vendor, they quoted $345 car rental and $450 drop-off charge = ~$750. Still a huge sum for a 2 or 3-day car rental.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 03:20 PM
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Wow, those are huge drop off fees. Our lease car drop off fees were way lower than that. Yikes. I would definitely fly.
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 03:26 PM
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The Auto Europe site can be frustrating. I have been researching our trip for next year. Pick up car in Zell Am See and drop off in Prague. Sometimes it goes through and gives me prices and other times it says I have to call them. Earlier I entered the March 20-22 dates for the above poster and it gave me the prices and let me 'pretend' to book but now it says you have to call in to make the reservation. What gives???
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Old Mar 1st, 2011, 05:43 PM
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