My husband and I are taking a trip to Europe from April 6-16. We will be spending 2 nights in London, flying to Munich (where we pick up a rental car) and staying for 3 nights, driving to Venice and staying for 3 nights, then driving back to Munich for 1 night before we fly home from Munich. Any help with the itinerary or "things you shouldn't miss while you're there" ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!

You really don't need a rental car in Munich, unless you are going to use Munich as a home base for day trips, and you don't need a rental car in Venice. Maybe it will be less expensive to take the train from Munich to Venice, and/or maybe you won't need a rental car at all for this trip.

Anyway, I might suggest you do the math and decide.

I would find a better way to get to Venice instead of driving. Within Venice you won't need a car and it's paying "Days" for not riding.

Check into to see if you could take the train to Venice both directions. Cheaper and less stressful.

Blackduff

Budman
I guess we're thinking along the same wavelength. I love to drive with a car but it doesn't make sense in this case.

Blackduff

I am doing some preliminary research for a future trip - sort of a feasablility study to see what sorts of itineraries make sense - and found that there is a night train from Munich to Venice, no train changes. It leaves the central train station in Munich late evening and arrives in Venice in the morning. Seems like it would be quite convinient.

Hi S,

Are you sure you want to do this?

You are short at least 3 nights in London and 1 in Venice.

Why drive from Munich to Venice and then back again?

Can't you fly home from Venice?

It will cost about 20E/day to park your car in Venice.

The 23:40 out of Munich arrives
Venezia San Lucia at 07:36.

Is there a particular need to see London this trip?

I totally agree w/ the others - you do not need a car in Munich, and you don't want/need one in Venice.

If you wanted to take a day trip out of Munich you could rent a car for one day - but even that isn't usually necessary since the trains go just about anywhere.

Have you been to London before? If not - 2 nights in London will be a waste. You will probably be jet lagged the first day and therefore really only have 1 full day free in London.

Unless you can spend at least 4 or 5 days in London, you'll be better off just flying straight on to Munich upon arrival in London.

sbayer, I think your itinerary sounds fine, I'm sure you know you'll be rushed but you can see a ton of stuff if you plan well. I'm sure you can check out guide books or read other posts here to find your "shouldn't miss list" in less time than I could recall them all. If you have a car you could visit Salzburg or Innsbruck from Munich, or even stay a night there on the way to Venice. I was fortunate to have a company car for several months while working in Germany a few years ago and we had a blast driving late at night and early in the morning in order to use every minute possible. The others do have a point though, trains would be cheaper and you would probably be more rested. If you're energetic, type A, or have ADD then I think you can do it.