Driving from Provence to Berlin

Old Feb 4th, 2012, 01:37 PM
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Driving from Provence to Berlin

We will be in Europe for 19 days at the end of May. Starting with 5-6 days in Provence and would like to end the trip with about five days in Berlin (my daughter just moved there). We would like to drive to Berlin from Provence - what sights would you recommend along the way. We dont really care for big cities.
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Old Feb 4th, 2012, 01:40 PM
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Before we get into what you should see, are you aware of the huge fees for dropping a car off in a country other than the one you pick it up in?
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Old Feb 4th, 2012, 02:25 PM
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You can drop off the French rental at a border city and pick up a German one - drop charge problem solved.

The fastest route skirts the Alps, naturally. Did you want to include them - like going right through them?

If not, then one option would be to head up through Lyon, over to Basel (change rentals) and then take the Alsatian wine route up to Strasbourg. Head east for a taste of the Black Forest and maybe consider Gengenbach, Calw, Tuebingen, Schwaebisch Hall, Rothenburg and Dinkelsbuehl as you work your way over to Bamberg, then Bayreuth, Leipzig and Dresden (maybe too big for your tastes).

Or head north through east central Germany and consider Eisenach, Goettingen, Goslar, Wernigerode and Quedlinburg before turning east for Berlin.

There are quite a few different ways you could do this. What do you want to see besides smaller towns?
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Old Feb 4th, 2012, 03:10 PM
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Toll terrors, a CDW insurance alternative and an iPad GPS app -

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/time-to...203-1qwex.html
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Old Feb 4th, 2012, 04:32 PM
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Thank you all for replying so fast I am very impressed.

StCirq.. when i go online to various web sites for rental cars all that is indicated is that there may be additional fees for one ways. i have yet to actually book a car rental since i felt we had plenty of time and so it may be that the fee jumps dramatically after actually pressing the button for booking . i wont know until i actually book ... so thank you for the heads up. this may make us rethink what we are doing. the reason that we decided we wanted to drive is twofold. 1) i have been told that is you take the trains -- that the stations are in downtown areas of cities... we would like to avoid downtown anything. 2) we felt that car rental would offer us more flexibiiltiy ...and the ability to explore.. however i believe that we could be swayed if it is not advised ( not because of the extra fee but the reality for two novices in europe)

Aramis... I was pretty vague since we are in the beginning stages of this plan and quite frankly novices ... my husband would like to see the Alps.. and if its possible to drive right thru them then yes that would be what we would want to do. Thank you for the suggestions on the route thru Germany and the idea of dropping of a rental car at borders. Is that difficult to do - I mean is it the norm .. is it handy. good grief i sound like an idiot. but i loved your German route.. things we like to do just walk and explore. enjoy wine good food.. go exploring.. my husband is a woodworker, we both love small towns.. history ..and since as i said we are novices at traveling in europe it will all be an adventure. we have driven all over the US.. i am very comfortable driving in downtown chicago, atlanta, la... etc..so i hope that i am not being too naive about our being able to drive and navigate with the language barrier. which leads me to ...

farrenmog...i love the humor in this article but it is a bit daunting. .. and informative. we would definately have a gps it has saved us many time.. in the us and can only imagine how usefull it will be in europe. thanks for the insurance information too.

any additional information or comments will be greatly appreciated.
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Old Feb 4th, 2012, 05:25 PM
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Driving in Europe, especially Germany, is not difficult and it does give you flexibility that even the most efficient and frequent train routes can't. If you don't want to be near downtown anything, then traveling by car seems to be the best option. Even with the extensive rail network, some of the best small places in Europe aren't easily reached by rail

Generally, there is either no charge, or just a small administrative charge, to drop a rental at a different office within the same country. The rates for dropping in another country can sometimes be reasonable, and sometime outrageous. You should be able to get the whole price when investigating rentals online. If you are having trouble doing that call the rental agency and ask.

I have changed rental cars at a border once. It takes some planning but really, you are just arranging two rentals and at a border city it is just a taxi ride between offices.

An alternative; take a train to a cross border town in Germany and start your rental there. That would let you experience some train travel through France and/or Switzerland and some driving.
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Old Feb 4th, 2012, 05:55 PM
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Autoroutes & autobahns are kind of fast, except when they are hideously verstaut (traffic jammed). In Germany, it has become increasingly essential to plan your travel times carefully, to avoid migrations that can turn your trip into horror-show slogs (rush hours, pre-weekend rushes, and vacation-time-general-evacuations).

Autoroutes & autobahns are also boring, even if the traffic is half decent. By-routes on local highways can take you through lovely countryside and wonderful towns, but the going then becomes VERY slow (you will not be covering significant territory, you will be enjoying interesting places). The Michelin Green Guide, with its superb star-rating system, can give you a sense of what detours might be "worth a journey" along your route.

But if it were me, you couldn't pay me enough to drive from Provence to Berlin, unless I had a month to enjoy different by-ways, and a pile of money to play with. We have friends in Hamburg who regularly travel from Hamburg to Provence, and they always get a sleeping compartment and take their car on an overnight car-train to as far south as they can get. The autobahns are basically an interminable pain, at least for some.

I would fly.
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Old Feb 4th, 2012, 06:11 PM
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That said, Orange is very nice, Lyon is modern but classy, the Beaujolais region around Beaune would be tasty, the Strasbourg-Colmar axis is really worthwhile along with towns along the Rhine on the German side lie Breisach, you could always hit Heidelberg (and more precious things down the Neckar like Bad Wimpfen and Schwaebisch Hall, before catching some of the Romantic Road up back toward Wuerzburg or Nuernburg. Bamberg is great if you are really into beer, the Leipzig is a half-decent stop (along with Martin Luther's Wittenberg) on the way to Berlin. But you could snake even wider. Have a look at the Michelin Green Guide.
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