Driving to Frankfurt from Italy
 

I wrote previously about Lutthsana not allowing my service dog because I do not have the required European certification. Trying to find the best way to get from Tuscany to Frankfurt airport.

My husband and I are thinking of driving our rental car. The drop-off charge is rather steep but we were going to take the trip as a new adventure.

Is it feasible for US citizens to drive from Italy, thru Switzerland and into Frankfurt? Other than our rental car, luggage, passports, gps and dog health certificates, what else would we need?

Any route suggestions or hotel recommendations along the way? Will probably make it a three day trip, even though according to google maps it's about a 10-1/2 hr trip.

Pros? Cons?

"Is it feasible for US citizens to drive from Italy, thru Switzerland and into Frankfurt? Other than our rental car, luggage, passports, gps and dog health certificates, what else would we need?"

Without understanding the entirety of your story, it is possible to drive all about Europe as a US citizen with your dog; we have been doing so for the last five years, the following being our experience and the caveat being that we do so in our personal vehicle.

When we moved from the US to Europe (Austria) with DDog, we had completed the necessary certifications beforehand. Our US veterinarian certified that our dog was compliant with vaccines, and so forth, and we were issued a vaccination "Passport" for him. (Really. It is a little blue book that notes all of his vaccinations, and there is even space for his photo.) Did your US vet. not issue such a passport?

We have taken family holidays all around Europe without having to show our dog's "Passport." From Italy you would cross into Austria and then into Germany; all of these countries are Schengen zones without formal border
crossings. Can you not have a veterinarian in Tuscany provide your service dog with such a "Passport" as a precaution?

To drive in Italy, and maybe also in the other countries, you need an IDP (International Drivers Permit) along with your US license. You can get an IDP at any AAA office, even if you're not an AAA member.

Are you already in Italy?

how many days have you been in Italy?

We have the proper health certifications for our dog. That is not the problem. I am disabled and use my dog as a service dog. The US does not require any formal type of service dog certification, however flying between forgiven countries requires a particular type of certification. Therefore, when I purchased my airline tickets on Condor (from Bologn, Italy to Frankfurt, Germany to Pittsburgh, Pa, USA.), my dog is not recognized as a service dog, on the first leg from Bologna to Frankfurt. It will cost almost $400, for an 1-1/2 hr flight, in which she'll be shipped as cargo. Needless to say, I am reluctant to do so, concerned about her safety, etc.

We are exploring all kinds of options. If there was a direct train route, we would consider. However, the train route contains bus connections. Both my husband and I have limited mobility, so transferring with a dog and three months of luggage would be a logistic nightmare.

Our only other option is to drive our rental car. We have the approval of the rental car company, so that is not a problem. When crossing country borders are you required to have anything? Or is as simple as traveling from state to state in the US?

We have been in Italy for aprox 70 days. We will be flying home, out of Germany before our 90 days expire on our passport. We have been driving all over Italy but have not driven out of the country.

You will need a sticker for the windscreen for Switzerland to allow you to use the motorways, and German law says dogs must e secured in vehicles but it is seldom enforced I think. Likewise dogs over a certain size (I forget offhand but about 55cm I think) are supposed to be muzzled in public in Germany, but though we took a muzzle with us we never used it, and never saw any dogs muzzled.

There will be no problem travelling with the dog by road. Finding a hotel that accepts a dog of any size may be trickier.

I've read about the stickers, but how is one obtained?

When you say the dog must be secured in vehicles,what does that mean? Do we need a crate? Or a pet seat belt?

Just a heads up. Did you buy the tickets individually or as a single ticket with separate legs. If as a single ticket, and you do not use the first leg of it, will the other legs be cancelled? You may already know, but wouldn't want you to get to Frankfurt and run into an even worse problem.
I understand what you are saying. Besides all the regular things, your dog needs service dog certification in order to be in the plane with you. How did he come with you in the first place? What about re-entry to the US? Will they allow him with you on the plane home? Would be great if a doctor or vet there could give certification of your dog being a service dog. Any way possible for that?

A pet seat belt is fine, or a barrier between you and the dog if you have a station wagon.

You can buy a vignette (sticker) at the border, or online beforehand.

We already have the doctor letters and we will have no problem flying direct from Germany to he US. She will be classified as a service dog and will fly in the cabin.

We bought the tickets from condor, but I guess since Lufthsana (flight from Bologna to Frankfurt)will not permit the dog as a service dog, I guess there is a European law that they must be certified from a list of associations, when flying from one forgiegn point to another. Condor will refund that portion of the flight if that's what we decide to do. The required certifications take anywhere from 6 months to a year. So certification is not an option.

Our two options at this point:

1). Fly her as cargo
2). Drive to Germany in a rental car and enjoy the adventure.
Both options are quite expensive. Especially when you consider we had no problem getting here. Now that we are trying to go home, we are having problems.

How difficult is the actual driving from country to country?

Do not fly your dog as cargo at this time of the year.

Driving from Italy to Frankfurt is not difficult, just lengthy. Plan your route, make it a holiday, and rest assured that once you are in Frankfurt your four-pawed will be treated properly.

I agree, this isn't the best time of the year to fly her I cargo, but we did change our flight for 6:30 in morning, just in case that the route we take. Flying a service dog in cargo just doesn't make any sense, but I guess rules are rules.

I think we will have to take the holiday. Since we are having such a difficult time flying with our service dog, we probably won't come back. We had no problem in Costa Rica, chile, Dominican Republic, etc. there's a big world out there, lots of places to see and spend our money.

Any advice on which route to take. Suggestions? recommations?

If you use booking.com to search for hotels you can filter the search for "Pets Allowed"

Sorry about your dog. I suppose you have called other airlines. It's not obvious to me that your problem is European rules, it could be that some airlines have different policies.

My husband and I have driven multiple times from Tuscany to Zürich and the other way round. It's an easy drive, takes some 6-7 hours. You may be delayed at the San Gottardo tunnel but most likely not. We have never driven all the way to Frankfurt though.

I don't know whether it makes sense for you to drive through Zürich, my guess is that it's better to do Luzern, Basel and you are in Germany. Both Luzern and Basel would be nice places to spend the night. Crossing Switzerland in a car is actually very nice.

As soon as you enter Switzerland stop to buy the vignette. Crossing the borders won't be a problem, the likelihood of someone stopping you is very small.

Train? No problem with taking the dog, and relaxing way to travel. Consider a couple of nights in Garmisch. If you have too much

Too much luggage, consider shipping that home ahead of time.

bvlenci -where can they get IDP in Italy - Italy's equivalent of AAA?

But though technically needed I would not worry about getting it just to transit Italy.

They are already there and have been for a couple of months - so they've either been using an IDP all along . . . or they ain't.

I agree with the suggestion to ship your extra luggage home so you have less stuff to deal with.. Are you on a car lease or a regular rental? I'd really consider taking trains instead of driving.

They are already there and have been for a couple of months - so they've either been using an IDP all along . . . or they ain't.>

Yeh thought of that after posting!

Trains could be an adventure too - like an ovneright train to Munich then connecting morning train to Frankfurt or break your journey say in Switzerland somewhere.

Thanks for all the replies. We are still up in the air. I could never have imagined that we would have such problems leaving.

We have driven from Wiesbaden (Frankfurt area) to Carlazzo and area (Lake Como / Lake Lugarno) and back some years ago now. It is not a difficult drive (4 - 5 hrs?), although you may be stopped at the border if you go via Switzerland or have to drive through slowly. We were stopped once on the way. We didn't find it anything to be worried about, it's just pro forma. However, you may be asked questions about your dog, although I can't speak to this as I've never done it myself. I did find this, though:

http://www.pettravel.com/immigration/Switzerland.cfm

I don't know how much of this will be important for you. Perhaps you could contact them and ask further.

We stopped in Luzern on the way down and on the way back we drove through Switzerland and Liechtenstein, where we had lunch, and then via Bregenz and Lake Constance. Neither route made much difference to the time. You can certainly do it in a day from northern Italy, not sure how much your area adds on to the trip. You could go via Austria if you are a bit nervous about getting stopped in Switzerland. However, I heard they are now deploying soldiers at the border between Austria and Italy as of July to stop the immigrants (Brenner Pass / Brennero), so there may be some controls still. I doubt they are worried about dogs, they wouldn't be looking for you and I think you would be quite OK there.

http://www.pettravel.com/immigration/austria.cfm

It would be a nice drive, either way. If you go via Austria you have the Dolomites in Italy (beautiful). If you go via Switzerland of course you have all the mountain views, and you could stop for the night in the Black Forest. Good luck and I hope you have found a solution!

Lavandula

A reasonably easy way would be as follows:
1. Train from Florence to Verona. For example, Italo has a train leaving at 20.54 arriving at 22.23
2. Night train from Verona to Munich - leaves 22.52 and arrives 8.19. You can book a 2 bedded cabin. There are showers at Munich station.
3. Direct train from Munich to Frankfurt airport. First connection leaves Munich at 8.52 arriving at Frankfurt airport at 12.22

Thank you so much for the train info. Everything we found on line contained bus transfers. Not logistically feasible, nor physically pleasant. I will look into this further.