Hello,
My husband and I will be taking our first trip to Europe in September. We fly into Frankfurt, where we will rent a car and go to Hannover. We will be attending a trade show in Hannover for a few days and then plan to go to Prague for 4 days, to Vienna for 3 days then back to Frankfurt to fly home.
I was wondering if anyone had any advice on the best method of travel from one country to the other would be? After looking at the price of renting a car for the trip Vs. the cost of each train, it would definitely be less expensive to drive….
Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

did you factor in cost of $5-6/gal gas and parking fees in your cost comparisons?

I suggest you take TWO weeks of vacation instead of one. There's lots to see in between the cities you mention. Prague and Vienna, while "old world", are large, metropolitan cities. You'll miss the uniqueness of the small towns in the countryside.
That said, viaMichelin.com indicates 3-1/2 hours driving time from Frankfurt to Hanover, 5-1/2 hours Hanover to Prague, 4 hours Prague to Vienna, and 6-1/2 hours Vienna to Frankfurt (all non-stop). This will reduce your days in Prague & Vienna. If you can't extend to 2 wks, maybe overnight train (altho more $$$) would better use your time.

Hi Maizee,

www.railsaver.com says it will cost about $460 for two of you to do this trip by train.

www.novarentacar.com quotes $432 for a compact car for 12 days.

You will have to pay parking fees, tolls and gas for the car.

The train will be cheaper, but you might want the flexibility of a car if you want to visit out-of-the-way places.

And the liability of a car in cities such as Prague where theft from cars is endemic if reports are to be believed. Check to see even if you can take your car to Czech Republic without extra coverage. If your goal is just to go to large cities like Vienna and Prague take the train - if you want to explore the countryside more, take the car.

At th risk of offending the &quot;Viena-lovers&quot; (I know there is a thread just today called&quot;Is Vienna <i>worth</i> it? or some such thing...)

...I would suggest dropping Vien from the itinerary. I agree with the notion that small towns are not only a bonus, they are a good part of the merit of renting a car. The car is a mixed blessing/curse while you are in Prague itself. We drove to Prague in May 2003. Fortunately, our landlord (we rented two apartments for our family of five) had a &quot;garage contract&quot; for our parking for about $10 a day; otherwise, expect 3-4 times that. we parked the car and thought nothing of leaving it untouched for our three days in Prague - - much as you would do in Rome, for example.

It was worth our while because we were going on to (a very rural destination in) Poland, then heading back through CR to Cesky Krumlov, and ultimately returning our car (origination: Vienna) to Graz.

I think that Vienna just adds a chunk of driving to your itinerary that will add nothing so pleasurable that you can't find something similar or better in the Hannover-Prague-Frankfurt triangle.

Of course, if you are uniquely attracted to something <i>special</i> (to <i>you)/I&gt, in Vienna - - then that's anothr story.

In Vienna, no less than in Pague, I think you can get round just fine (perhaps better) with public transportation, and no car - - if you decide to go there, and find that car + parking + gas is relatively similar to train (+ taxi?) costs.

Best wishes,

Rex
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