kerouac

The length of rental will have a major influence on the drop off fee. Plenty of people seem to find international drop off fees reasonable, because I have often been given foreign cars for local rentals in Paris.

hetismij

Kerouac as I understand it from the first post OP intends to return to Paris, so there will be no drop off fee.

kerouac

Right... well, if the drop-off fee were reasonable, they could think about taking the Thalys back.

Tulips

fluffy-yang, how much time do you have? Have a look at www.mappy.com for driving times. And get a good map. The drive you are planning is all on highways, no mountain passes, nothing difficult whatsoever.

Though it's true that parking might be difficult in Brussels and Amsterdam, I do see that it's easier with a family of four to just take a car. I do this, and would park in Brussels and Amsterdam. And it allows for easier detours and stops along the way. Do check about parking at your hotel, and how much it costs. If you are traveling on a tight budget, you should take this into consideration.

Umbrellas; almost certainly in March. Snow; very unlikely, but not impossible in early March.

Tulips

Oh, and if you are going to drive in Belgium and The Netherlands; cars coming from the right, have right of way. Unless otherwise indicated.

You may think that you are on a main road, and the cars on small roads coming from the side have to wait for you; this may not be the case!

hetismij

Yes it would definitely pay you to learn the rules of the road, and the road signs, for all the countries you are planning to visit. In Netherlands for instance not only cars have priority from the right (mostly in built-up areas) but bikes also, and you have to give way to bikes when turning into a road.
Also make sure you keep to the speed limit. The Dutch invented the Gatso camera and make frequent use of it, but also there are lots of hidden speed traps around too. If you are stopped by the police you will have to pay the fine in cash immediately. They will accompany you to a petrol station where you can get the cash if necessary.
Don't be put off though

lovisa

At first glance, without knowing your time frame, it looks like you may be trying to do too much. I assume you already have roundtrip tickets to Paris.

How many nights on the ground? Do you have to be in Amsterdam, Brussels or Frankfurt? Frankfurt is generally pretty low on the list of tourist destinations. How old are your children?

Since you are looking at hostels it sounds like you're budget travellers. A lot of moving around really adds to costs. As most of the posters here will tell you, if you spend more time in fewer places you may be able to rent an apartment for a few nights in each place, and save money on accommodations and meals out.

A car is great for visiting countryside, but it is a liability in big cities, and as other posters have said, parking will be expensive. I cannot believe a car will save you money given your desired destinations.

If you give some of the above information , other people can tell you how much rail travel will cost. Is your source for rail prices RailEurope? Generally those are non-discounted seats, and discounted advance purchase tickets are generally available on the particular countries' websites.

plastic_paddy

There were some cancellations to flights in Frankfurt recently due to the snow...and some forecasters in Europe are saying the cold snap could last till April!

But you should be ok on the driving front. There are no restrictions within those countries. as well as checking AE I'd give www.holidayautos.com and europebycar.com a look for prices as well

klondike

I didn't catch how much time you have, but if it's not a lot of time I would consider cutting one city out, i.e. Frankfurt....try for quality rather than quantity as first-timers.

Driving definitely affords you more flexibility, and unless you are from "hicksville" driving is easy with a good map or gps. It will allow you to keep more snacks/water/distractions at hand to keep the children happy/interested. We have found Sunday morning a good time to leave from Paris proper, generally picking up our rental from somewhere close to the périphérique/ring road for easy access. We also like just picking up the car from CDG and starting out from there, then seeing Paris after returning the car at the end of the trip.

Do your diligent research beforehand on the large cities so you know where you want to park/stay and how to get there, as well as the EU driving signs/regulations (it's not rocket science but you still need to know).

Words of caution:
Belgium - do not know why, but of any driving we have done in western Europe, their autoroute rest stops were the pits. I'm not picky, but even by my standards they were filthy dirty including trash (and worse) all over the restroom floors and frequently no TP. So be sure to have wet wipes and kleenex in tow.

Amsterdam:
1) do not drive into downtown; park at one of the outlying park-and-ride garages. 2) Bikes everywhere! Keep children carefully at your side to avoid an accident. Hard to explain how they seem to come at you from every direction--and a (very) few don't totally "have all their faculties", if you know what I mean! (but it's a wonderful city and worth the visit).

Germany:
Keep to the right, keep to the right, keep to the right. And even then, check your mirror once again before moving into the passing lane. As fast as many cars are traveling, they can appear out of nowhere if you aren't paying close attention, and be on your derrière before you can say Attention.

Lastly, regarding umbrellas...if you can spare the room and the weight, I would bring two to share. Worse case scenario, they are available for purchase everywhere if you didn't bring them and you end up with a stalled rain system.

Enjoy your trip!

kerouac

I will agree that Amsterdam is perhaps the worst city in Europe for a visitor to try to drive in, and the only time I did it (more than 10 years ago), I think it was much easier in terms of parking rules and such.

hetismij

At least now they don't clamp your car in Amsterdam. One small mercy. It is one reason why I suggested staying outside Amsterdam and getting the train in. Plus the hostels outside Amsterdam and many hotels too, have free parking, which Amsterdam hotels, at least those near the centre, just don't have. And if you aren't staying in the centre you are better off staying somewhere nice, like Haarlem than some of the outer fringes of Amsterdam.

It's true we don't know how long this trip is supposed to be, to advise on whether it is all feasible time-wise.

john127

We drove into central Amsterdam (no problem driving at all) and stayed at the Crowne Plaza, which had parking. We did pay quite a bit for it though, but I just wanted to point out that it can be done, albeit for a price.