The great debate: train vs car??
 

My husband and I are headed to Southern Germany, Switzerland,and Austria early next month. We'll be there for about 10 days. Anybody got advice on renting a car vs. buying a Saverpass/Europass? If you recommend the train, how many days of traveling would you say to expect? For car-lovers, any recommendations on who to go through? <BR> <BR>Bec in Boston

I recommend car, and I suggest you look at www.autoeurope.com or www.its-cars-hotels.com - - the latter is about ten times better known than the former and has a lot of plusses - - like 24 hr operator availability - - very useful when you get to Europe at 2 am (EST) and have a problem with your voucher. <BR> <BR>Neither one actually rents cars. They contract deals through Avis, Europcar, National and others. On this forum, you can read a variety of experiences - - mostly good and a few bad. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

I am another advocate for driving; HOWEVER, plan to pick up and return your car in Germany where it is affordable. The prices in Austria and Switzerland for car rentals are very expensive. We usually use Auto Europe. Hope this helps.

My 2 cents....trains make more sense if your destinations are primarily cities. Cars are better if you plan to visit and stay in the countryside more often than cities.

Driving, no doubt. You will see so much more in less time. <BR>We have good experiences with Europcar.

agree with Myriam, going by train You will see a lot of stations and tickets are very expensive in those countries. And did You ever try to make the train stop at a nice little village in the Alpes? Sixt, Hertz and Europcar will be tbe best companies to run with, You will find at any airport or bigger trainstation. <BR>have fun

I'm not saying you shouldn't rent a car, but you can easily get around by train. I live in Munich and travel all over and don't have a car. Driving through the mountains in March may not be a lot of fun (can't really say).

Switzerland is pricey by train, but the distances are short. <BR> <BR>Germany has good regional daypasses -- you can travel around Bavaria with 4 other people for just $18/day total on the regional trains. See whether your intended destinations are covered by train -- most places are. <BR> <BR>For a map of Bavarian train lines, go to <BR>http://www.bayern-takt.de/ <BR>and click on "Eisenbahnkarte Bayern". <BR> <BR>To check German schedules and prices, (and international train schedules without prices) go to http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en <BR> <BR>If you're using Munich or another well-connected town as a base and doing daytrips from there, trains are very convenient (nearly all rails lead to Munich, and you don't want a car in town.) If you're trying to drive east-west along the southern border, a car is more convenient.

I agree with the idea that it depends upon your itinerary. If you plan to stay primarily in Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Zurich (or virtually anywhere in Switzerland), then I'd definitely do the trains. But if your goal is to primarily stay in small rural towns and visit the countryside, then you really need a car. Switzerland is the one country where I am actually happy with just the train pass and no car -- except that I keep missing Gruyeres, because it takes almost all day to get there and back by public transportation it seems. Otherwise the trains are frequent and pleasant even to almost all smaller towns.