puneetkhanna6647

Hi,

My wife and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary and seek help choosing countries or areas to cover.

We will land at Milan airport on 11th Sep, pick up a car as soon as we land and finally depart after 12 days from the same airport.

Our aim is to drive around scenic mountains, greens, 'not so crowded' areas and may be 1 or 2 major cities. We like travelling at a medium pace (not too slow and not fast). We prefer 80-100 euro per night stays and not spend exorbitantly on tourist attractions. May be 1 or 2 expensive ones would be fine.

We are confused which of the following to cover:
1. Only Italy (northern, Tuscany and Amalfi)
2. Northern Italy and Germany (drive through Austria / Switzerland)
3. Northern Italy and Switzerland
4. Northern Italy and Austria

Any help choosing areas to cover with or without itinerary will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Moderator3

Moved to Europe board

Jean

Twelve days isn't that long for a road trip. I would stop thinking in terms of entire countries and identify a region or two that are either geographically close or easily connected by train. (I think Amalfi seems particularly disconnected from your other ideas.) Having to return to Milan for your departing flight will limit your options. If you could fly home from Munich, Zurich or Vienna, you'd have some flexibility. Your lodging budget is doable but will require some effort to find and may force you to make some choices among possible destinations.

I suggest you read some guidebooks (online, paper, Fodor's destination guides, etc.) to find places that match your interests and do some searches on websites like Booking.com to see the range of lodging costs in various places.

mjs

BDKR

" I would stop thinking in terms of entire countries and identify a region or two that are either geographically close or easily connected by train."

Absolutely agree with the first part(hence no Amalfi coast), but being easily connected by train is totally irrelevant for a roadtrip.

I'd make it an Alpine roadtrip with a couple of days in Northern Italy thrown in at the start and on the end. Fly to Milan and return from Venice?

Switzerland is expensive, but 100€/night should be doable in September in Eastern Switzerland. If you spend more you can compensate it by spending less in Austria and Italy or you can stay in hostels ocassionally.

Some of the highest/most scenic passes may be closed by the end of September depending on the weather, so you'll plan alternative routes to fall back on in case of closure.

I'd either do a smaller loop driving northeast from Milan to Eastern Switzerland(Graubünden canton) than east to South Tyrol and down to Veneto via the Dolomites or Lake Garda. With South Tyrol you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone. It's in Italy, but it is totally like being in Austria(Italy conquered it only in WWI and it's still overwhelmingly German speaking with a strong regional identity and a wide autonomy).

https://goo.gl/maps/HrTNLzXZRSXx3ndz8

The larger loop would see you drive further north into Austria, Lake Constance, Vorarlberg, perheps tick the box by dropping in to Liectenstein for a couple of hours, than east to Tirol and down to South Tirol.

https://goo.gl/maps/Lex49uwqanTkNdJ48

"not spend exorbitantly on tourist attractions."

You don't need to spend a lot. Despite being expensive countries many of the best attractions in the Alps are free or cheap/affordable.

Jean

As to the general idea of a road trip... You might want to use Viamichelin.com to calculate the overall costs (petrol, tolls, etc.) you would incur beyond the daily cost of the car rental. Don't forget to add overnight parking fees where applicable. Depending on what itinerary you choose, it might be more economical to take a couple of train rides plus a short car rental as opposed to a continuous rental for 12 days. Be aware that picking up the car in one country and dropping it in another would probably trigger a one-way surcharge.

HappyTrvlr