judy

We are flying into Vienna and directly heading out with Rome as our destination. What is the fastest route - travel west to Salzburg, Innsbruck and then south to Italy - or head south out of Vienna. Which route has the best roads, easiest drive - we'll be suffering from jet-lag. We plan to stop overnight half-way.

Richard

Judy, Euroshell shows a shot straight south, go to www.shellgeostar.com/route/route.asp and enter Wien as your start, Roma as your destination. The journey is 1115K.Have you considered the train? Go to fs-on-line.com/ for timetables, they have an overnight train, leaves Wien 19:30, arrives Roma Termini 09:20.

Al

Let me get this straight. You plan to drive on strange roads, through mountainous country, in a strange car, in the dark, and suffering with jet lag? <BR>Take the train. Saves time, saves expense, saves your necks.

Tundraa

Drove from Salzburg to villach over the dolomites to venice. Have travelled europe extensively and was surprised that it took 3 times as long as I allocated. Very scenic but one full day <BR>and a strenuos drive. Have a great respect for mountains and their impact on distance and do not assume all freeways will be like the autobahn. Detours, construction, tunnel back-ups, andlack of by-passes are not uncommon. I <BR>am learning that if in a hurry (not vacationing) that the longest way is often the quickest.

Paulo

Roads are very good and the drive easy in both routes. The route through Salzburg and Innsbruck should take about one hour longer under normal traffic and the traffic should be heavier. Depending on time of year and day of week there may be stalls (Salzburg to Innsbruck and at the Brenner Pass). <BR> <BR>In the last 10 years or so, 5 times we flew to Europe we got a car at the airport and drove away. Our first day driving limit was something around 3 hours or sun down, whichever occurred first. In your case, this would mean something around 8-9 hours driving upon trip break up, the next day. Certainly not much fun at the start of a visit (on occasions we have driven 8 hours to catch a flight back home). So, Al certainly has a point here. <BR> <BR>I can only guess why one would fly into Wien (not interested in visiting it unless you plan to do it on your way back) and getting a car to drive to Rome (not interested in what may be in between). Car rentals in Austria are indeed cheaper than in Italy and you may have a special deal with your flight. In your case, the car won't serve you in Rome and chances are that you'll have to pay for expensive garaging ... <BR> <BR>IMO you should at least look into alternatives: <BR> <BR>a) flying into Vienna + train, vs flying directly into Rome; <BR> <BR>b) car rental in Rome after your visit (in the city, to avoid the aiport 10% surcharge) vs car rental in Vienna (estimate about $180 for gas and tolls and difference on rental days - around 6, at least) <BR> <BR>In case you plan to return to Vienna for your flight back, I would recommend you stay at least a full day there before going about your trip south ... after you recovered from the jet lag, you may be able to split the trip more or less in half, with reasonable driving hours in each leg. <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR> <BR>

judy

Thanks to all for advice - www.shellgeostar.com is fascinating and confirmed that the best route is to head directly south from Vienna. <BR> <BR>And to justify why we are doing this and that we are not researching "Dumbbell and Dumbbunny's Big Vacation" here it is. We saved ourselves $800 (Cdn.) or $1400 (very approx. U.S.) by flying into Vienna as opposed to anywhere in Italy. Also, the car rental was considerably more expensive in Italy. We got a great deal through AutoEurope for a monthly rate. <BR> <BR>Also, we plan to drive about 6 hours each day as we arrive early a.m. in Vienna. After that we have a month to tour around Italy and plan to spend 4 days in Austria on the way back. <BR> <BR>If I was a rich man, scooby dooby dooby doo, all day long we'd scooby dooby doo ... but we're not so ... Vienna here we come. <BR> <BR>Ciao