I have a 17 day trip planned for this September. There are two of us and we have tickets to fly into Munich and out of Paris. We are still working on nailing down the details of specific destinations, but we do have a brief outline. Our current plan is to spend our first two and a half days in Munich, rent a car on the fourth morning and tour Bavaria (return to Munich that night) and then head down to Salzburg for a couple days. When leaving Salzburg we will spend 6 or 7 days driving through Eastern Austria, Switzerland and France, and finally dropping off our car in Paris, before spending our remaining 4 or 5 days in Paris.

However, we are really struggling over the road or rail issue. Our original idea was to rent a car so we can have more freedom to go where we want in Austria and Switzerland, however I have been hearing from many people that the train is equally as flexible and that driving around Switzerland can be a real pain. Any pesonal opinions on this decision would be greatly welcome as would any particular favorite routes through Switzerland (we are thinking the Valais route to the south).

I think the car option is better. We had no trouble driving any of these countries.
If you have never been before you will appreciate the car. You truly can see more, and little exotic out of the way places. Sometimes it is nice to just pull over and take in the sight.
Plus, it is nice to come and go as you wish other than hauling luggage on to train with a time schedule.
We brought our children with us and it was easy to navigate with their road systems.
Have a great time!!

I have wrestled with similar trip plans. Just remember that you will pay a large drop fee to pick up a car in one country and leave it in another. I suggest you investigate that aspect before deciding how you are going to do it.

The Swiss train and bus system goes to many, many places. There are cable lift systems and boats to the far reaches of the mountains and the lakes.
Yet, for some purposes, I prefer a car in Switzerland. At other times, such as in the Berner Oberland, a car is almost a liability because of parking fees and the fact that several of the more scenic villages are car free.

What I did last summer was to have rental cars in more then one location to use trains between major cities where a car is essentially useless, but to have a car for Austria where the convenience of a car is important.

There is no need for a car in Munich or Paris because parking is scarce, and costly, while the public transportation system is good to excellent.

My suggestion is to decide where you need a car for convenience and then figure out where you want to rent one.

Bear in mind that Austria adds a large tax to the rental fee and some of the agencies charge a lot extra for a second driver.

I drove a fiat stilo from Frankfurt, Germany to Lucerne , Switzerland, then on to Paris. Driving the autobahn was one of the hightlights of my trip,and the French drive just about as fast as do the Germans. I enjoyed driving the mountainous roads of Switzerland and the abiltiy to pull over and soak in the scenery was a plus. My advice is to not drive in Paris. The street signs are lovely, but impossible to read as they are so obscure that they are essentially useless and the same street will change names many times over... very frustrating. Trains are cool too, but I have not done much travel on them. Airfare is becoming very reasonable in Europe. You will be in Europe, so whatever you choose will be enjoyable. Tim

I live in Switzerland and have a car, but don't like to take it on vacation if I can help it. You don't need one in a city like Zurich or Geneva, where it is a liability because parking is hard to find and is expensive, and many streets are one-way or closed to car traffic. I believe you will find this true in Vienna and Salzburg.

I agree that you lose some flexibility being tied to a train schedule, but trains to/from the main tourist spots are so frequent that it really isn't hard to manage.

As noted above, some Swiss cities are car-free like Zermatt, so you will be paying for the car while not using it.

I also think that taking trains is part of the whole European experience, so you can see how most people actually travel and appreciate how useful a good train system can be.

Finally, gas is US$4.50 a gallon here. Put that into your calculations.

Thank you all for your information