jayjay2290

My mom and I are trying to plan a vacation to Europe. Ideally we would like to fly into Prague, Czech Republic stay there 2-3 nights, then we plan on driving up to the southern boarder of Poland to visit and stay with family, then drive to Vienna, Austria stay there 2-3 nights, then drive to Venice, Italy stay there 2-3 night, and finally drive to Milan, Italy where we will stay for another 2-3 days and then fly back home to the US!

I was wondering and hoping if anyone had any input, recommendations, tips, experiences, etc. that can help us plan our trip. I've been looking around the forum and read that many people did like AutoEurope as their rental car provider and that is about it! I plan on doing some extensive searching and researching on where to stay, where to go, and what to do on our trip but I figured I would also ask around to see if anyone has ever been to these places and had any suggestions on where to stay (hotels), where to stop while on the road, restaurants, theaters, some random place you found that you loved... anything! I would really appreciate it. Thank You!

bobthenavigator

Your idea to drive this trip is not a good idea.
The drop charge alone may be as much as 500E, and the drive times are significant. Use the trains.

michele_d

Hi jayjay2290,
This sounds like a great trip but you might want to rethink the car. You will not need a car in any of these cities and the drop off charges for dropping off in a different country are pretty steep. You might want to check out some train schedules at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de or some flights between locations to see if they work out better for you.
Michele

adrienne

You're probably looking at a huge drop off fee because you pickup the car in one country and are returning it to another country. Where on the southern Polish border are you going? It's a long border. You could pickup the car in Prague, drive to Poland and return the car to Brno or back to Prague. Some countries require stickers to drive on the highways - Austria is one of the countries so you need to ask the car rental agency if they provide the stickers. I think you can get them at the border. But you'll need to find out what countries require the stickers, including countries that you pass through but not stop in.

The remainder of your trip is cities so you could easily take the train. If you drive your car will be in a parking lot while you explore the cities so it's rather a waste of money.

You're also doing some long driving trips such as Vienna to Venice - 6.5 hours without stopping. That's a whole day and that doesn't factor in parking your car and getting to your hotel, checking in and unpacking. It's definitely an entire day.

I'm not sure what you mean by "stopping on the road" but in the Czech Republic and Poland you'll need to speak the languages to visit theatres and I don't know how much theatre you'll find in small towns - probably none.

Your trip is tightly scheduled and you don't have much time for meandering around. I've been to Prague and Moravia (southern Czech Rep), Poland (but not on the border), Venice, and Vienna. They're all wonderful places to visit. There are lots of suggestions on this board for places to stay in the cities you're visiting. You need to give a budget range to get proper suggestions.

The one place in the Czech Rep that I loved was Telc but it's not on your way to Poland.

jayjay2290

Thank you for the suggestions we are flexible with our days, so if we had any reason to stay in Venice for 6 days and skip Milan we are okay with that. I will keep searching the forums, as I should have done more of before posting, but figured I'd ask for suggestions anyways. As for Poland I should have specified that we don't plan on doing much other than visiting family so no other big plans there! Budget for the 2 of us is around 5,000 (as we are still not very sure of how much hotels and other expenses will be yet we are slightly flexible with the amount).

As for the car rental we are aware of the price with renting and that there will be a charge for a one way trip... but I will look into public transportation, we just wanted the freedom of being able to stop and go where we please with the car.

Thank you for the your comments!

adrienne

Venice is one of the most magical places in the world but I think you should focus on one area such as Prague, Poland, and Vienna and add more time to each location. Two nights is only one day; three nights is two days. This is not enough time to explore the cities. There are day trips you can take from Prague and Vienna if you had longer in each city.

agedude

I did a similar trip about 5 years ago. Picked up a car in Frankfurt, drove to Fulda then Rothenbgrg GE, Vienna, Krakow, Prague, then back to Frankfurt. I have to agree with what was expressed in the previous posts concerning a rental car, if you drop off in a different country, the fees will kill you and to me are an unnecessary waste of money.

If you haven't bought airline tickets, you might want to consider a circuitous driving trip and return the car at the same airport you pick it up. Venice is great, but so are Krakow, Munich and Budapest. Maybe make an Italian trip when driving is not a necessity. When returning the car, spend the night at an airport hotel before departure to recharge yourselves and give you a little leeway on vehicle return.

When driving, I make sure to make hotel reservations outside the city centers. Most large cities are a pain to drive through, especially for unfamiliar tourists. Parking is also expensive and sometimes a pain to find. Before I make a hotel reservation, I check out the hotels websites to ensure public transport into the city center is available and easy to access.

I also bought a GPS with European Maps. You can buy them on Amazon for $100 - $150, use them at home(ensure they have US and European maps, if you are an American), and have them to use on the next trip if need be. You can rent a GPS when you pick up your car, but at 10-15 Euro a day, seemed smarter to me to buy one. Ensure it has maps of Poland and Slovakia when you get it, some do not.

Look at several places to rent a car, don't get wrapped up on a European company. If you are an American with a Costco Card, Costco has some very good discounts on European car rental using American companies like Hertz and Avis. Check their website and look under travel. If you have a corporate discount, find out their discount code for the car rental company and see if it is cheaper. Do your homework and check several websites to get the best deal.

You will also have to by vignettes (temporary road tax stickers) to drive legally in Austria (on the autobahns)and in the Czech Republic. I can't remember if one was required in Poland. They cost about 10 Euro per country and are usually available at the first available gas station once you enter the country. Don't risk getting a huge fine for driving without one.

Do whatever is best for you and what you can afford. Above all, don't be nervous driving (it's a blast) and have a great trip.

easytraveler

I'll agree with those who suggest not driving. The trains are wonderful in Europe and frequent enough so that you can plan to leave just about any time, except the wee hours of the night.

You also don't have that much time - either you drive or you visit those cities on your itinerary. It doesn't look like you have time for both. So, you'll end up driving from city to city but not knowing what each city really contains. Are you going to Europe to drive or are you going to Europe to visit those cities on your itinerary?

I've both driven and gone by public transportation in Europe and, for the type of trip you're planning, it's a no brainer for me to opt for the train.

Untie yourself from the idea that you need to drive in order to enjoy a trip in Europe.

Hope this helps a bit.

Oh, and the other thing is that the cost of driving - car rental, insurance, gas, parking, etc. can be better utilized towards better accommodations and food.