Prague to Milan
 

To celebrate my wife's 60th we're planning a trip. Her choice is Prague and my love is Italy so we're hoping to do a little of both. The idea we thought of was to spend about 4 ? days in Prague and then rent a car and drive through Austria for two or three days , into Italy and end up in Milan about 5 days later to fly back to NY. Is this crazy or a viable adventure?

We like driving through the countryside and small towns. Where should we stop along the way? We're not familiar with Austria at all or Italy east of Milan. We have both been to Venice but decades ago.

Have you looked at drop off fees for picking a car up in Czech Republic and dropping it off in Italy? Sometimes that can be astronomical.

Otherwise it would be a lot of driving a day but Americans are used to that - Prague - Czecky Krumlov
Cesky Krumlov to Halsttat - Halstatt to Innsbruck - lovely drive thru Alpine valleys

Innsbruck via Brenerro Pass to Verona

Verona to Milano

It sounds like a great idea - as long as you have looked into rental and drop off charges for the car.

Innsbruck is very cute and Verona charming and the trip via the Brenner pass vary dramatic.

What time of year is this trip?

You might be wasting a lot of time in the car if you don't have a very well-planned itinerary.

If you want cities east of Milan try Bergamo, Verona or Trieste. If you haven't been to Venice in decades then you should consider re-visiting.

Thank you all. As mentioned the drop off charges are quite expensive. They ranged from $400 to 400 euros. So now we're thinking of taking a train from Prague to Verona. This would leave us 6 or 7 days in Italy with the last day in Milan. As there are no do off charges within Italy we would rent a car.

We are hoping to go in early september. I guess the question is: where would we stay in the Veneto and what small towns would be good to visit? Specially with a fine restaurant? If we wanted to visit lago Garda and spend a night which town would you recommend?

Have you checked the train schedules? Prague to Verona is an all-day ride. You may want to spend the night somewhere mid-way, like Munich or Innsbruck.

If you want to visit Lake Garda, I'd go there first. Get off the train in Trento and rent the car there. I like the drive on the eastern shore, but there are probably more hotel choices on the western shore. We enjoyed a very short stay in Malcesine (eastern shore), but you may want to drive farther before you stop.

Thank you all for your info. It led us to see that this would be a little more complicated than we want. We're now thinking of just spending 8 or 9 days in Ischia. I'll open a new topic for that. There are always things that would be missed without this forum. Thanks again.

You could fly Prague to Venice and rent the car there....