Help !!! Driving in Germany and Italy

Folks,

Please help me on this issue. My family and I will be taking a trip to Italy and Germany for about 9 days. I (I am 48 years old by the way.) personally would like to plan MY OWN trip and rent a car and drive where I want to...unlike a tour bus.

For those of you that have driven...how difficult would it be? Parking, border crossing, accidents insurance. Bottom line...which is better? Drivng or taking a tour bus...or even a train? My kids are 18 and 14.

Viela Danke,

Josh

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Driving is a nice way to visit more rural areas. Driving is almost the same as in the US. However, I would not advise driving in urban areas. There public transportation is frequent and excellent, and then you don%26#39;t have to worry about parking and also finding your way through a large busy city where through traffic is probably discouraged and there are large pedestrian only zones. There is a lot to see in rural areas, and I personally enjoy visiting these places, stopping when and where I want, and not have to worry about the luggage which can just be thrown in the car trunk. Also, rural accommodations tend to be much cheaper than in major cities. For many American credit cards, there is free insurance when renting a car with them. Check whether this is true of yours. Border crossings are trivial or for most countries nonexistent.

If all you want to do is visit cities, then the train is probably the way to go. Also, there are many discount airlines providing cheap flights within Europe.

I would only consider a bus tour if it does exactly what you want it to and you have sufficient time to visit the places you really want to see. Of course, your flexibility is even much less than using public transportation and the train, and it%26#39;s also probably more expensive.

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Concur with Marcopolko. You may find it worthwhile to go to www.gettingaroundgermany.info/verkehr.htm

and read it%26#39;s articles on driving, signage, how the parking systems in Germany work, public transportation etc. Will probably make you feel a lot more comfortable.

As M. said-- if you go to some place like Munich or Nuremberg for sightseeing-- stop outside the city at a P%26amp;R (Park and Ride) for the local S-Bahn or U-bahn, and get a group day ticket for you and your family. Makes life so much easier. You can google Munich S-Bahn or ditto Nuremberg for info, maps etc.

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It really depends on your itinerary and plans.

things to be aware of when going by car

- is of no big use in the larger cities in Germany

- even more so in Italy. There are more old and narrow town/city centres. And they have their very own driving style (with a more expensive car the German rental companies won%26#39;t let you drive into Italy)

- parking is a barely anywhere of interest for free. If available at all.

- international drop off fees are really high

a) either you plan a loop. But with just 9 days this is not the best of all ideas. Here flying home from a different airport (open jaw tickets) is the better idea.

b) you rent in Germany, cross Austria or Switzerland by train and rent anew in Italy. Domestic drop offs are free.

- for Swiss and Austrian autobahns you need to buy a vignette (sticker)

- most Italian autostradas are toll roads

- only in Germany the slogan is: Freie Fahrt f��r freie B��rger (wordly: free drive for free citizens)

- fuels is quite expensive hear

advantages by car

+ probably still cheaper than by train

+ more flexibility it comes to rural areas and where to find accommodation

In Germany and also for trips into Switzerland or Austria your 14 year old is free when traveling with you (must be listed on the train ticket however). Germany has also some really good mini group deals if you use regional trains (depends on the itinerary if this is a good idea or not).

Normal train tickets are rather expensive in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. In Italy less so.

There are however specials. And rail passes may be also an option.

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