My wife and three sons, 14, 12 and 9 will be travelling in Bavaria in April, and we will be renting a car to travel the countryside.

I will likely call Gemut shortly to make a reseravation, but the question I have is do I need a full size van with the 5 of us? We will each have medium size rolling duffel bag luggage, as we will be Europe for 2 weeks. I know cars are smaller in Europe. I am wondering if a MPV like an Opel Zafira will be large enough. I fear it will not be. I am getting quotes of 275 for the Zafira and close to 600 for a full size VW van.

Obviously less is better, but I wonder if the MPV type vehicle will be large enough.

Thoughts?

We did 5 in a Zafira, its remarkably roomy.

Surprisingly enough European families with three teenage sons and all their luggage fit into European cars vary nicely. And The Dutch even manage it, even though they are the tallest people in the world, and tend to take half their worldly goods, and enough food for three weeks holiday with them .
In other words a European car will take all of you. A Zafira will be fine. And more manageable and comfortable seat wise than a van.

Lately we've been traveling in agroup of six since the wife insists on bringing her mother. We've thus started renting vans when we visit Germany. I've found that Avis gave us the best deals for that size vehicle - better than Gemut. Also, Avis doesn't require money up front and has a good selection of diesel vans which can save you many Euros in fuel costs. I like the extra room in the van because we have a tendency to return with more bags than when we left home.

Check also www.autoeurope.com , then "fleet guide", Germany. They list a number of vehicles (with pictures and specs.) that may fit your needs. Try to get one with an Diesel engine, it is less expensive to operate.

Essentially, you will get a car from one of the major rental companies, at a lower rate.

Before you jump to the conclusion that you need to rent a car in Bavaria, look into public transportation. Trains are roomier than cars, you don't have to stop when someone wants to use the bathroom, and everyone can watch the scenery. I, personally, have spent 7 weeks in Bavaria in the last eight years and have gotten everywhere I wanted to be without a car.

The trains will cost you less. A €28 Bayern-Ticket will cover your entire family for unlimited rides all day (after 9 AM workdays) on regional trains. Additionally, if you want to travel on an express train (IC/ICE,EC) all of your children under 15 are free with full fare ticketed adults.