I'll be flying into Berlin around December 6th and want to rent a car for a one way trip to -

Berlin
Prague
Vienna
Budapest
Venice
Florence
Rome

I'll drop the car off when I get to Rome. Any recommendations? What should I watch out for in terms of rentals, vignettes, other fees, tolls, etc. Any other advice is appreciated.

Thanks,
Tim

You'll need a vignette for Austria and one for Hungary (I don't know about the Czech Republic). You must check the insurance coverage because Italy has a higher insurance rate than Germany. You need to check if the car can be taken into Hungary and the Czech Republic. You can expect a high cross-border drop-off charge.

If the list of cities reflects your main interests rather than markers for a road trip, I would take the train.

Any other advice - are you just going to those cities and nothing in between -using car to go between those cities - if so do consider trains as cars in cities like those are largely useless - city-centre hotels may not have on-site parking and the potential steep drop-off charge for renting in one country and returning to another?

I think even if going by car you should reverse Budapest and Vienna, again if just wanting to get between them and Venice as quick as possible. There is an overnight train Vienna-Venice - the rest of trains are mainly fairly short -anyway if trains are an option check these resources for understanding them and planning a train trip: www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.cm.

Driving is fun in Europe but if just taking autobahns (yes most have tolls or require purchasing some vignette at border to use them) between those cities reconsider. If wanting to take side roads and drive thru lovely rural areas and have time cars are great -except for that usually steep drop-off fee mentioned.

And in Florence and Rome and of course Venice private cars cannot even enter central areas and there have been a ton of folks complaining on Fodor's in recent years for having weeks after returning about huge fines they were sent in the mail for unkowingly entering those no-go zones and car plate caught on cameras - info being given by rental company.

Do your own research on such things in each country so no surprises.

How long are you planning to park the car in Venice?

A car is useless IN any of those cities, the one way drop off fee will be awfully high, AND you want to drive in winter.

If you only want those cities . . . Take the train.

You want to rent a car, then I see a list of cities!

Cars and city centres don't mix in Europe, you simple DON'T take cars into big cities.

I used to think US travellers must have been living in outer space for the last 30 years not to know this, until I drove a 31' RV across the States and found myself parking in a big empty car park in the centre of St Louis and walking to the Arch. Then the penny dropped - US cities are car-friendly, that's why they think they can do this in Europe! ;0)

If you want to meander round the countryside for a few days, rent a car. If you simply want transportation between cities, hop on a train it's so much easier.

Berlin-Prague from €19.90 (yes, $21) at www.bahn.de/en German Railways or www.cd.cz Czech Railways

Prague-Budapest from €19 at www.cd.cz

Budapest-Vienna from €13 www.mavcsoport.hu Hungarian Railways or from €19 at www.oebb.at Austrian Railways.

Vienna-Venice by one of two daily Railjet trains over the wonderfully scenic UNESCO-listed Semmering route from €29 - and that's right to central Venice itself, Santa Lucia station right on the Grand Canal.

Venice-Florence and Florence-Rome from €19.90 each at Italian Railways www.trenitalia.com or their private competitor Italo, www.italotreno.it

More info on buying European train tickets at the cheapest advance-purchase prices, usually direct from the operator, at www.seat61.com/Europe-train-tickets.htm

How many months is this trip?

If a car is "useless" in places like Berlin why are there so many of them there, Janisj?

Most tourists visit touristy sites. Often these are clumped together. Usually in walking distance from each other. With a bit of effort getting a hotel near those sites is possible.

Many of those cars you see commuting into cities aren't tourists staying in the centre of the city.

Berlin has many trains . That doesn't mean the OP should stay out of town and take the train in every morning.

If all the OP is doing is driving between one central hotel to the next one there isn't much point in taking a slow car instead of a fast train. Even if the hotels all have parking.

OTOH if the OP is taking a longish trip with stops between those cities. Especially if the stops are smaller towns then a car makes sense.

But a car for the sake of having a car makes no sense in those cities.

I don't think that money or black ice on roads will be an issue for Tim, otherwise he wouldn't plan such a trip.

OP - can use describe your intentions better - how much time and if only wanting to drive confirm that so folks can offer advice on just that.

YOu do need a vignette for the Czech Republic, also. If you rent in Germany, you wouldn't probably get one from the rental company. The blood alcohol limit is zero for driving in the CR.
http://www.motorway.cz/stickers

this should be useful
https://www.tolltickets.com/country/...ng=en-GB&mnu=c

You rental one-way fee due to drop off in another country may be around $600-800. You can get quotes on www.autoeurope.com

Thanks for all the feedback! I'm not worried about winter driving, I spent plenty of winters in Minneapolis and Boston. Driving seems like a fun way to make this trip not about the cities. I'd rather adventure between the cities and have that be as much of the trip. We're not in any rush, we've got 4 weeks for this part of the trip.

I have a quote from Hertz for Berlin to Rome for $600-ish. Another $400 budgeted for tolls, fees and vignettes and $500 for gas. We've rented airbnbs with parking or will park in park-n-rides and take the train into the cities. Yes there are cheaper ways to do this but will they give us the same experience as driving through Europe? I don't think so.

If I have the parking and costs managed what else is there I should be worried about?

Tim

Would you do this in New England or Minnesota for four weeks in December? The days will be short, the scenery will be bleak and many tourist sites may be shut. What are you expecting to see/experience between the cities?

Between some of the cities there won't be much but we have day trips planned out of the cities which the car will be helpful for. Otherwise we'll be on trains and in cities the entire time.

<<but will they give us the same experience as driving through Europe?>>

No, they won't, but they'll likely be a lot more manageable. I'd also like to know what you're expecting in the way of "adventure" between cities.

These are the exact cities we want to drive through -

Berlin, Germany
Prague, Czechia
Vienna, Austia
Budapest, Hungary
Drive through Slovenia
Venice, Bologna, Florence, Tuscany, Rome Italy

Compare rental prices by using Autoeurope.com as a base. Does the $600 you give include the drop-off fee? Are you guaranteed snow tires for the car? $400 for the tolls, fees and vignettes is probably generous.

Stop in Dresden and at a minimum visit the Green Vault and the Zwinger armory.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...230920764/show

Between Prague and Vienna there are interesting stops.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7622926792957/ and subsequent pictures

Suggest renting a car in Slovenia, and another for Tuscany, and doing the rest by train. And you don't want to drive "through" any of those cities.

Bon voyage! Seriously - sounds like an adventure - dump car before Italy - other cities are pretty easy to drive into if not around.

But I think if you have a hotel inside the no-go zones in Florence and Bologna you can drive to it - not sure - don't violate those zones even once however unless have a permit to do so.