We are a family of four, children 14 & 18. We plan to travel by hire car through Europe, after a week in the UK. We are flying into Rome on the 5.7.09 and out of Frankfurt 21.7.09 (with a stopover on the way home (Australia) in Hong Kong. Our planned route is roughly Rome, Cinque Terre, Venice, somewhere in Austria, across the south of Germany, through Switzerland, up to Paris and then finish in Frankfurt. We are planning to see the major sites and hopefully, by driving ourselves, we will see the countryside and some smaller towns.
I would be grateful for any suggestions of where to go and what to see. Also I don't know whether to book accommodation in advance or not. We would like some freedom but I am worried about this being the peak time.

Any advice is appreciated.

I think you need to cut waaaay back on the territory you hope to cover.

Rome, CT, Venice, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Paris in 2 weeks by car is really REALLY difficult.

hi blinda,

have you written down what you are planning?

so far, you have this:

Rome
CT
Venice
Austria
switzerland
germany
paris
frankfurt.

that's 8 places in 14 days, and they aren't even vey close together. the usual rule of thumb is that you lose 1/2 a day every time you move, but you'll lose more like one - that's 7 days out of 14 spent travelling. and in July, when it wil be hot and crowded. you'll have gathered that I'm with janisj in thinking this is not a good idea.

taking the trip back to basics, you are starting in Rome and ending in Frankfurt 14 days later.

have you ever been to Rome? your kids wil love it. [all right, mine did when they wre about that age, and no reason to think that your are any different]. they will kill you if they have to leave after a day. give yourselvs at least 3 days, preferably 4.

then where? - somewhere to relax, I think. how about the italian lakes? beautiful and lots of fun swimming etc for your teens. 4 days there.

then Munich [remember, you're heading to Frankfurt]. use it as a base for exploring the nearby castles and countryside. kids will love them.

finally frankfurt. get the train there from Munich. trip done.

there are of course endless variations on this theme. my suggestions may not be the best from the point of view of transport connections, but you get the idea. of course, you can do 8 places in 14 days but your kids wil hate you and never want to come on holiday with you again. or is that the idea???

regards, ann

Ok assuming you really want to drive all this distance. I would try to fit in some smaller cities so for example CT to Venice gives you a chance to drop int9 Siena, florence, Bergamo, Soave for instance will give you a range of cities. Then maybe from Viena you could drop into Ulm and maybe a a bit of time lake constance and the zepplin museum.

Along the same sort of route you should be able to drink wine in Alsace, Champagne, Rheingau, Moselle maybe.

Lets see what everyone else says

I'd pick

Rome 5
Paris 5
Germany/Frankfurt 4

Thank you all for your replies. I do realise that this is a lot to cover but we are after more of a get a taste of Europe not really relax in one place. I know I have a lot of planning to do. So far I have already booked the car and two nights in Rome. I will definately consider your advice.
Thanks

"<i>we are after more of a get a taste of Europe not really relax in one place.</i>" Not a single person above suggested you stay in one place. But -- and your really should trust us here - you are going to get absolutely NO <i>taste</i> of anyplace. You will be seeing Europe through the windscreen w/ barely a chance to stop anywhere along the route.

Plus - cars are a definite liability in most of those cities -- so you'll either have to stay way out on the outskirts, OR pay huge amounts to park. By the time you drive into any of the city centres, find your hotel and check in - you will have approx 1/2 a day left to see things and then have to head out first thing the next morning.

Take a look at a map of Europe - you may be thinking in terms of an OZ vacation where you might drive hundreds of miles between major sites. And where the cities are modern and easily navigated. Ain't that way in Europe!

Trust me.
Covering ground is NOT a good idea.
Stay at least 3 nights in each place.
You are asking for sound advice and we are giving it.

Thanks for all this advise.I am listening. Could I have some advice on whether or not to book in advance or whether I should be able to get accommodation on the spot at the time of year. Even a suggestion of some good places to stay that do have carparking.

Always book everything you can in advance. All accomodations,
car rentals, boats trips, museum tickets, ect...

This will really save you time and money.

There are websites for about everything you will want to book.

Reply with your revised itinerary and we will help with suggestions.

Add my voice to those saying you're trying too much. I don't see how Paris fits into this itinerary. I suggest heading fairly straight north to Frankfurt.

If you're going to spend all your time in cities, train is a lot easier and also cheaper (no parking costs while your rental car sits idle, and road tolls will not be tiny).

Use viamichelin.com to get a feel for distances and costs in fuel and road tolls.

I concede to the wisdom of artsnletters.
Go up in a more straightline from Rome to Frankfurt.
Paris is out of the way.

Me too, Paris is an easy drop given your start and finish

How about Rome for 4days, take the train to Venice for 2-3 nights and then pick up your car.
You'll have just over a week to drive through a bit of Switzerland to Germany.

If someone suggested driving from Sydney to Cairns in 2 weeks you'd probably say you're nuts right? Would you recommend they fly?
Well I checked it's about 2730km
To drive from Rome to Paris to Frankfurt (as direct as you can) is 2000km (add in CT, Venice, Switzerland etc and it'll add up to a whole lot more).

Car rentals in Italy tend to be more expensive than in France or Germany. A cross border drop-off will add a substantial fee to the rental. You may have to consider multiple rentals. At the end of your visit to Italy you might want to take the train to a southern German town and rent the car there to loop back into Austria and Switzerland and then return the car in Germany close to the border of the country (France? Holland?) of your subsequent destination.

I am going away to put an itinerary together, considering your comments, and I will ask for your input. I have already booked and paid for the car so I will be driving. And Yes I have driven from Sydney to Cairns on a holiday for 10 days. It's not all about the destination it's also about the journey.