Hello!

My hubby, my 18 month old son and I, have approximately a month to drive through France, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. We arrive in Paris on the the 31st of May and plan to stay there for 3 days and then rent a car and drive to Lyon --> Marseilles --> Cannes--> up to Switzerland --> Germany -->Vienna .

Not sure about where we should make stops and for how long. I would really appreciate suggestions of a possible route-itinerary and also good places (hotels/vacation rentals) to stay at along the way.

Thanks in advance!

Zabee

Some additional info would help. Are you flying in & out of Paris ? Or, flying into Paris & out of Vienna ? What are your interests ? Budget ? W/the young one I would likely pick some central places to stay & daytrip, rather than moving every 3 or so days. Also, I would try & keep his schedule as close to normal as possible. You could easily stay in Paris a week & do a few daytrips from there, for starters. Munich is also a great place to do that from. Are you looking for cities, hiking, the countrywide ? I see little reason to go to Cannes. I think your desire to see 4 countries in a month (particularly w/a little one) is a bit enthusiastic. What will you really see ? + you'll need to work naps, have places to eat on schedule, etc.

Check out the lease buy back program via Kemwel.com You can get it in Paris as you leave and drop it in Munich.

Hi Z,

Picking up a car in Paris and dropping it in Vienna will entail a hefty charge.

www/viamichelin.com says you will spend about 10 hrs in the car.

Considering that you are visiting major cities, have you thought of the train?

The 31st of THIS May? Gosh, I hope not. One thing about traveling with a child of that age that I found from some dire experiences was it was pretty essential to have accommodations booked in advance, and it's mighty late for that if you're traveling at the end of this month.

Agree we need to know your budget, interests, etc., before we could really be of help, but 3 days in Paris is too short, IMO, for a month-long trip. And the number of venues on your list is making this into more of an expedition than a vacation - not a good idea with a young one in tow. And as ira points out, if it's only cities you want to visit, a car will be a liability.

Assuming you have your own reasons to visit the places you named, and assuming you will depart for home from Vienna, I would make the following suggestions:
Paris--5 days
Drive to Lyon, spend 2 days
Drive to Marseilles, spend 3 days
Drive to Cannes, spend 2 days
Drive to Gap, spend 1 day
Drive to around Geneva, spend 3 days (maybe Annecy)
Drive to around Neuchatel/Bern, spend 2-3 days
Drive to around Zurich, spend 2 days (maybe Rapperswil)
Drive to Munich, spend 3 days
Drive to Salzburg, spend 3 days
Drive to Vienna, spend the rest of your time there.

Having said that, perhaps this litany of drives is enough to convince you that this is not a good plan. I suggest you reevaluate your reason for going where you mentioned, develop a better set of places to go (and fewer places) and then re-post with a more sensible itinerary. Especially where you go all the way to south of France, then essentially double back to the north, seems very wasteful of time. But if you stick to this itinerary and your child doesn't object, then you will have seen more of Europe than most people ever see.

Thanks so much guys for your responses and suggestions. We re-evaluated our itinerary and here is what we did.

Flying in to Paris 30th - Staying there for 3 nights
Lyon - 2 nights
Aix-en-Provence- 3 nights
COGOLIN MARINA small village in between ST tropez and Cannes - 3 nights
Inzell - 3 nights
Vienna - 4 nights
What do you guys think?

Just to add to my earlier note....my son loves to travel. We took him to SE Asia last year.