Driving From Paris to Berlin

The main benefit of driving would be to make several stops in smaller towns or rural areas along the way. www.viamichelin.com can help estimate toll costs in France, or help avoid them. A car rental for three days may not cost much more than one or two days, but dropping it in a different country can double the price. To just get there, without other destinations in mind, flying is the best combination of time and price (www.skyscanner.com).

the drop fee across borders will probably run several hundred Euro; we lucked out last time we did this, driving from Amsterdam up the Rhine through Provence and then to Paris. We had the good luck of getting a Paris car to take home and so they waived the drop fee, but as I recall it was going to be about 275 Euro and this was probably 10 years ago. I would only drive if you plan to spend a few days on the road and really take advantage of the flexibility for touring that a car gives. For transportation, given the cost of tolls, gas and drop fees and the risk with luggage (any time you leave luggage in a car, there is a real risk of losing it -- never leave the computers, cameras or personal documents, even when you go in some place for lunch and of course never leave anything showing) it just makes more sense to fly when you are going that distance.

The Infromationen on the Michelin site are in line with my experience. I always expected
12 Hours driving time for this route. Toll you have to pay only in France.
For the route "Köln" - "Kamener Kreuz" you should plan there not to drive during the rush hour.

This is by no means a direct route but includes scenic and historic options.
Paris- Luxembourg- Trier by train.
Pick up a car once in Germany for this journey of approx 1200km in about a week.
Trier- (Mosel Valley)- Koblenz- Heidelberg- Stuttgart- Augsburg- (Romantic Road)- Wurzburg- Bamberg- Bayreuth- Leipzig
Leipzig- Dresden- Berlin again by train.

Monique,

The quickest and most efficient method would be travel by train, and if you're not concerned about sightseeing along the way (which will detract from your time in Berlin), that's the method I'd suggest. The high speed trains run at up to 300 kmH, so no way a car can match that! Also, as someone else mentioned, the fees to rent in one country and drop off in another can be HUGE.

One of the quickest trips appears to be a departure from Gare du Nord at 07:58, arriving Berlin Hbf at 16:10 (time 8H:12M, one change at Köln, reservations compulsory). There are many other departure times with different travel times and other details. Although that's a bit of an early departure, that would get you to Berlin in time to check into your hotel and then have a relaxing dinner and perhaps some night life.

Just a thought.....

I would go by train and enjoy the ride and the view. You will see so much on the way in relaxed surroundings and more comfort than your other choices. You can take your time and with Eurail passes (www.eurail.com) you can choose to stop in interesting places on the way. Driving can be pricey- fees, inability to go into city areas, parking, expensive gas, hoping the car isn't broken into or stolen, accidents, etc. You can even sleep on the trains, eat meals, etc.

One comment about the above recommendation to get a rail pass. France severely limits the number of seats available to pass holders, so you may be unable to use the pass to get a reservation in France and have to buy a full fare ticket. It was an expensive lesson for me.

A Eurailpass is a total waste of money for this trip. Personally, I would fly between cities if I were in a time crunch, but since you are not, I would take the train.

Different people travel differently, and have different preferences.

The person who suggests to get a pass for the trip seems to place no value on money - regularly tipping €50 to a concierge to call her a taxi which probably costs a tenth of that - and prefers to do everything first class regardless of cost. For her the perceived convenience is more important than any cost or other difficulties.

Other people are cost conscious and would find spending huge amounts of money on passes where a little advance work and planning could save much less pleasant - they will plan ahead and spend less.

A car on that journey, especially as you have said that you have a lot of luggage, seems to me the worst of both worlds.... much slower and probably more expensive, and much more tiring.

Make sure that if you do drive that you have the IDPs required, not the IDL you mention. IDL is a scam, IDP is required. I expect that it is a typo or memory lapse, but just in case...

I am a few times traveled by train.
Paris Nord-Brussels-Köln by Thalys. --- Köln-Berlin by ICE
Brussels and Köln are a good reason for a stopover. Maybe a detour to Amsterdam is possible.
Paris Est - Mannheim by TGV or ICE. --- Mannheim-Berlin by ICE
Würzburg is maybe a reason for a stopover or a detour over Leipzig is possible.

The French high-speed trains are narrow and large luggage must be placed in the entrance area. Often you can't watch them during the ride. For some reasons I don't like it.

For this distance I really cannot imagine not flying which will be cheaper and faster than any other option if you book timely. And I agree with the poster above about not being comfortable with my luggage stored far from where I can observe it but where anyone an pick it up and walk away with it.

Wow thanks everyone! There were many points I never knew let alone considered. AutoEurope listed the price as "all-inclusive". I didn't even know there was a drop off fee, but I just advanced to the next step and it says the best price is €800 to be charged locally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And having never driven in Europe, I didn't know about an IDP. I think the train would combine the best of both worlds (although I agree that I am not comfortable with my luggage is not in my view). Thanks again all!!!!!!