kront76

plz guide me
I am planning to drive from Prague to Venice march 4, 2016
IS this a bad drive or unsafe , thru mountains ?
I rented a Van 7 sitter, and I am with my wife and kid

Christina

yes, there will be mountains, don't think you can get from Prague to Venice without going through them unless you go really out of your way. Have you heard of the Alps? You can see the route on viamichelin.fr and it shows you where there are "descentes dangereuses", such as around Salzburg Austria, there aren't too many. That is when the grade is more than 10%. There will be signs along the road telling you that and the percentage.

There are a lot of speed cameras on that route.

nytraveler

Are you using a van for your whole trip? It seems awfully big for just 3 people and parking larger vehicles can be a PIA. Are you driving on after Venice - or will you drop the van when you get there?

nytraveler

Sorry - are you used to driving in snow or ice? Going through the mountains in March you are quite likely to see some.

janisj

Why a large van? Is there a reason you are even driving? What are the drop off fees for a van -- I would think they are very large.

kront76

Thanks a lot for your help.
I will driving all this rout. Getting in n out of train with luggage and kid seems little hectic. ? Thoughts?
I will be staying in Berlin for 4 days , then in Prague for 4 days. (My MBA course work)
Then was thinking of going to Venice then to Zurich and back to Berlin in 7-8 days. Starting from Prague to Berlin thru this rout.
Renting a Van was my idea. Was thinking that we can have little blanket n stuff. If we have to take rest we can stop and take nap, as our kid is 1 yr old. I think I should change this. I can have small SUV?

annhig

Renting a Van was my idea. Was thinking that we can have little blanket n stuff. If we have to take rest we can stop and take nap, as our kid is 1 yr old. I think I should change this. I can have small SUV?>>

you will be much better off with a standard car [SUV or whatever] fitted with a proper child's car seat in which your toddler can sleep in safety.

And why Zurich? according to Google maps, it's about 8 hours drive from Prague to Venice [for which you should really allow 2 days with an overnight in Salzburg] and it's at least 10 hours back to Berlin, which would also require an overnight. Add in Zurich, and you add aprox 3 hours to the return journey time.

with 7-8 days to play with, why not fly from Prague to Venice [or wherever you like in Italy] and then back to Berlin. you could do Prague - Venice - train to Rome - Berlin very easily. That's only one train and it starts in Venice so you won't have to worry about how fast you can get on.

or if you'd prefer to drive and would like some sun, fly to Sicily and tour round for a week .

There have got to be easier ways of spending a week with a 1 year old than spending days on end in a van.

kront76

Thanks for suggestions!
Would love to do train.
I will have little extra luggage as I'm doing MBA meetings for 8 days. Will have extra suits n all.
Was little worried about traveling with all that luggage. Flying is great idea n I can cover more in 7 days. Again problem will b luggage and kid.
I think I should reduce my luggage n try the way you are telling. Some flying n train

annhig

glad to help, kront.

just a thought - if you will have some clothes/book? with you for the MBA meetings that you won't need afterwards, can you mail them home? it might be cheaper & easier than having extra luggage to lug around.