JNetter

Hello,
I'd really appreciate comments/tips on our planned road trip in Europe this Summer.

My wife, 3 daughters (ages 9, 11 & 12) & I will be flying to Nice, France in Mid August and be returning after 15 days from Munich. I rented a car for the whole trip and we're already decided to spend 3 days in the Cote D'Zour area then drive to Cique terre to spend 2 days. We also decided to spend the last 3 days in Munich.

The question is how to plan the 7 days between both ends of our trip. We thought of 2 options, 1st in to drive from the Cique terre to Venice to spend 1 day only then drive to lake Como to spend 2-3 days then end it up with a visit the Neuschwanstein castle (we figured 1 night is enough here) before we move to our final destination, Munich. Our 2nd option was to go from Cique terre to Florence to spend 2 days then a 1 day visit to Venice then drive north to Vienna with a 1 day stop in Graz and possibly stop over by Hallstatt in our way to Vienna. With this route we plan to spend 2-3 days in Vienna then drive west to Munich. Does that sounds too ambitious? I estimated most of the drives between the different points are within 2-3 hours so should not be to bad.
Thank you, Sam

Mimar

What have you used to estimate driving time? Because the Cinque Terre to Venice drive is much longer than 2 - 3 hours. And then you want to cross back across half the country to Lake Como. Lay out your route on a mapping site like www.viamichelin.com or Google maps -- so you can see where you're going. And allow time for rest stops, lunch, etc.

And 3 days in the Cote d'Azur is 4 nights. Most of another day to check out, drive to the Cinque Terre, check in, then 3 nights for 2 days. That's already one week.

The other issue with this itinerary is you're going to car-unfriendly places. Nice itself and the area around are more easily seen by public transportation, which is excellent there. The Cinque Terre villages are connected by train, a walking path (now partially closed) and boats. The road is inland, parking lots are up high back from the towns, and you pay to park. You can't drive in Venice, of course, and staying in Venice is much more desireable than staying on the mainland and just visiting. And you don't want to drive in either Florence or Vienna.

As we all must (every trip!), I think you have to cut back your itinerary. Re-evaluate your priorities. I'd leave out Venice for sure. It's just too much of an outlier.

adrienne

You're a brave soul - cooped up in a car for hours in the mid summer heat with 4 women! Let us know if you get out of this trip alive!

Cinque Terre to Venice is 5 hours and that's not accounting for 3/4 of Europe being on holiday in August (traffic jams) nor accounting for stops for bathroom and food. Right there you've blown your plan.

Have you checked into drop off fees for renting in France and dropping in Germany? You also need to tell your rental car company that you're taking the car into Italy as there is mandatory theft insurance in Italy and credit cards don't normally cover CDW waiver there.

hetismij2

Don't forget your IDP too if you are going into Italy. It is required by law there.

nytraveler

Agree that you are underestimating a couple of things:

Driving time betweeen locaations (check out on viamichelin.com and then add time for a pit stop and to get the car out of the garage and drop on the other end)

How long it will take to find, get to and check in and out of hotels- esp with 3 kids

And you have picked several plaes that are not car friendly

I disagree abuot Nice - we always get a car there - but we re there in May or June - not the most crowded part of the year

For CT and Venice the car is a complete waste - you are paying daily rental fees plus parking cost ($30 per night?) for a car you can;t use for days at a time

And your overall itinerary is just too fractured to ejoy many of the places. I have no problem with driving in europe - we have done more than 20 road trips - but they were designed as such. Picking up the car at the first anchor city and dropping it a the last - but in between we stop at smaller cities or towns, spend time in the countryside - and most important - don't go in August. You are making a typical mistake in thinking Europe is as car friendly as the US - it simply isn;t. There are many more public transit options and a lot of places where a car is NOT a great idea. You have picked several of the latter.