coueselor1

I have 10 days to spend in Europe. I would like to rent a car and drive north. Can I get some suggestion as to the route I should take to be able to see some cities Germany, Belgium , Denmark, Sweden, Norway. I an in the early stages and know nothing about Europe.

ribeirasacra

first off is look at the charges you will have to pay if you pick up in one country and then drop off in another.
Then go to various website to get some ideas of what you want to see.
We have no idea about you from this one post so suggestions at the moment are worthless until we can get a fuller picture.

nukesafe

North from where?

If you just drive for ten days through the countries you have tagged you will see very little but the car ahead of you and you will spend a sh#tload of money on rental, gas and drop off charges. All you would get out of that sort of trip, IMO, would be blurred memories of traffic, rest stops, and a sore bum.

We really would like to help you, but we would need to know what you want to see and do in Europe before we can do that.

coueselor1

Starting in Zurich I want to see big cities in Europe. I like famous sites, new foods, historic places.

mjs

You do not have time to see all the big cities in Europe. You have to pick and choose which ones to visit and quite frankly driving between them is rarely the best way. In 10 days you might pick two or possibly three. Read some guide books to give you some ideas. Zurich, quite frankly would not be high on my list of cities to visit on my first trip to Europe but since you have picked it, you need to find one or two more possible destinations.

kerouac

I understand wanting to drive, but you should definitely plan on doing a loop to avoid international drop off charges (you wouldn't necessarily have to come back to the same city, just the country).

I think you can immediately forget Sweden and Norway on such a short trip -- the distances involved are huge.

Take a look at distances and driving times on www.viamichelin.com

ribeirasacra

You really should do some of your own research.
Famous sites can be found everywhere and they are not hard for you to find. The same goes for historic places.
New food? !s not all food "new" and never eaten before?

StCirq

Pick two, at most three, countries and get guidebooks and read about their main cities. There is no way you can just zoom all over Europe in 10 days in a car and expect to see anything at all except macadam and trucks. Plus, if it's only big cities you want to see in a short amount of time, that means ALL of your time on highways, which means little scenery and hefty tolls and fuel charges. Even when you do some research and narrow the field down (a lot, if you're sensible), you should look into trains. They are for the most part cheap in Europe (if you learn about when and how to buy them), they go from city center to city center, and you don't have the often huge (and expensive) hassle of parking.

Sassafrass

Get a big paper map. It is worth buying at a book store, and interesting to look at anyway. See the legend and note the distances you would be driving.

Do you want to spend more time looking at highways through a car window than you do seeing the sights of Europe: Buildings that are centuries old, magnificent cathedrals, outdoor cafes and markets, world class museums, awe inspiring landscapes? European cities are full of these things. You have to get away from highways to see them.

Most of the time, trains, going from city center to city center, work best, though car rental is best for visiting small towns and rural areas, also not on major highways.

menachem

It's a crazy plan.

thursdaysd

If you want to see cities you need to learn about trains, not driving. A car is worse than useless in a big European city, and a train will get you there more easily. Start at seat61.com

If you are starting in Zurich you might be even better off with a budget flight - see skyscanner.net It would make more sense to start in Berlin.

Sberg

Where are you flying into? You need to pick just a few places. You could fly to Norway and rent a car for 6 days and drive around ( absolutely gorgeous)Then get a cheap flight to Stockholm for 4 days where you won't need a car and fly home from there.

You could fly to Paris spend a few days then drive through Burgundy, Provence and fly out of Nice.

You could fly into Italy and tour for 10 days and not scratch the surface!

Dropping a rental car in another country is not worth it. Slow down and enjoy. Europe is not going anywhere.

coueselor1

I have to go to Zurich and fly back to the US from Zurich. Beyond that I am open. I have been to France and UK. Next year I am going on a Mediterranean Cruise. I think I would like to go north if possible. I am open to taking the train and I could go to France if I had to and head north. I see that I will have a lot of research to do. Please continue to post ideas. I am very appreciative.

coueselor1

I have to go to Zurich and fly back to the US from Zurich. Beyond that I am open. I have been to France and UK. Next year I am going on a Mediterranean Cruise. I think I would like to go north if possible. I am open to taking the train and I could go to France if I had to and head north. I see that I will have a lot of research to do. Please continue to post ideas. I am very appreciative.

schnauzer

If you are wanting to see cities, which you have stated... Then forget cars and simply use the train. Driving into cities, like anywhere in the world is stressful and finding parking even more so. Do yourself a favour forget the car idea. Now if you had said I want to see the countryside throughout Europe then a car would make sense.

You have picked too many destinations first up... prioritise be doing some more research and the plan will develop from there. Then come back and ask some more specific questions, you will get a much more favourable response from this board. Good luck,

dyoll

You've already been to France., so why not Germany? Munich, Berlin and possibly even Copenhagen, if you can fly out of there, should be possible by train.
When you say 10 days that includes arrival and departure days? So you have 9 nights. 3 nights in a city gives you only two whole days.