Train or Car?

Easily done by train.

Next step, get car quotes (big enough to haul everyone and luggage) and decide if you want diesel or gasoline (diesel is cheaper fuel and better mileage). Figure out about how much fuel you will buy at exorbitant European prices and tolls and vignettes and insurance and Int'l drivers permit ($15 per driver from AAA).

Then figure out your rail costs from individual rail sites. You can use 90 days from today for estimating purposes to get advance purchase nonrefundable discount tickets.

Then you can see what is really the best deal is from a cost standpoint and make an informed decision. That should keep you busy for a few nights.

azeeb,

I'd suggest using well planned rail trips for the Itinerary you're considering. A few things to keep in mind....

• Renting a car in one country and dropping in another often comes with huge fees.
• A car rented in the U.K. will have the steering wheel on the "wrong side" for driving in Europe.
• Driving will be slower than travel by rail, especially where high speed (300 kmH) lines are available.
• You'll need to rent a larger vehicle to accommodate four with luggage, which will be more expensive and higher fuel consumption.
• There's also high fuel costs, tolls on the motorways and expensive parking fees to consider.
• Each driver will need an International Driver's Permit for driving in Italy.
• You'll have to be extremely vigilant to avoid the limited traffic zones (ZTL) that exist in many towns in Italy (hefty fines).

IMO, you have too many places listed for the time you have available, and some of your plans may be difficult to achieve. For example, the trip from London to Bruges will take the better part of a day (when all is considered), so you'll only have a few hours to look around Bruges before you have to move on to the next location. One night stops are generally not a good idea.

If you haven't travelled in Europe before, it would be a really good idea to read Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip, as it has a lot of good information on "how" to travel well in Europe. After that use the country or city-specific guidebooks to plan sightseeing, hotels, transportation, etc.

It's great that you're getting such an early start on planning. That will provide lots of time to work out the details.

Baccarach --> Rothenburg and Munich --> Luzern are the two longest legs here, they will take most of a day. The rest are mostly half days.
Where on Lake Como are you planning to stay? Como town is on the main rail line and main road from Switzerland to Milan, so no problem. Anywhere else on the lake involves extra travelling time. One night in Como gives you zero visiting time.

In all the places you list, except lake Como, a car will be a liability that has to be left in a paid parking location. A train will be easier and in most cases faster.

I would drop Rothenburg and Munich because they are "off route" (sorry). Add one night to Brugge and the rest to lake Como. Take the train to Como town and then hire a car and drive round the lake, stopping at a small place (I like Menaggio). Then either return the car at Como and take the train (via Milan) to Florence, or drive with one overnight stop in a small place en route and drop the car in Florence.

Starting with the day you leave London, you have 21 more days, 10 of which are travel days. That has you traveling every two days (in fact you have 4 one-night stands). That's going to be awfully hectic, not just the time actually traveling, but packing up, checking out, going to and from the train station (if you train it), packing and unpacking the car (if you drive), finding the next hotel, checking in, and unpacking. Have you already traveled this way? London, Munich, Luzern, and Florence are the right idea. Try to make more stops like that.

On my sixth trip to Europe AS (after Steves) I stopped at 10 places in 13 nights, but I had already perfected my packing technique. Actually, I had a business trip to Europe in 1989 where I stayed in 11 places in 11 nights, but we were visiting doctors and only spending a few hours in each place. Still hectic.

Transportation for four won't sound particularly cheap either way. Even if you chose a car for most of the trip, you would still take train at least from London to Belgium. Or you could fly from London to Amsterdam on Easy Jet for about $50 per person, then work your way south.

If you choose the train, which does serve all your destinations, you could use a [Eurail Select Pass] for Benelux-Germany-Switzerland-Italy. The 8-day version costs about $570 per person or 10 travel days costs about $650 per person, both in 1st class. Prices are subject to change, as are other features of the pass. You would need separate Eurostar tickets from London to Brussels/Bruges (maybe $75 if you book them months ahead) and reservations fees for a few legs in Italy or if you choose Thalys from Bruges to Amsterdam. I'd use these prices for your planning/comparison estimate.

The entire rail itinerary from Brugge can be done for 813 euro total for 4 adults traveling 2nd class using a combination of advance purchase nonrefundable tickets, Q.d.L tickets, Bayern tickets.

Thanks for all the great information and ideas. I am also a little hesitant about the one night stays as it really doesn't leave much time to see the town…..I hadn't taken into account all the extra time getting to/from train station. Just wanting to fit in as much as possible, but really it is better to get a feel for the city than hurry to the next one.
Lots to think about!!

What do you want to fit in? Lots of train trips and souvenir postcards or an enjoyable travel experience? Also keep in mind that you are going to spend time with mundane things like laundry. If you want a sampling of what Europe has to offer (which is what your itinerary looks like), you'll do much better with a guided tour, maybe the RS Best of Europe. You can cover that much ground because the bus will take you door-to-door, no wasted time looking for taxis, buying train tickets, or getting lost in a city. You'll have a guide to take you efficiently from one sight to the next and point out the highlights as you go.

Two points, if the question is car or train, then I would have to say Train, but in reality, there are some segments that may be better by car depending on what you want to see.

Second point, yeah, maybe too ambitious for 25 days, at least it is without maybe moving some things around. As has been mentioned, the 1 night stays are killers. You may want to also look at your arrival and departure, count both days and nights (25 nights is really 26 days, 27 if you count the day you depart from the US)

I might consider skipping Brugges, if it is really important, then consider trimming London, Munich, and Florence, probably adding to Brugges and Lake Como. London to Brugges...the Eurostar to brussels would be best, If Amsterdam is the destination, you might look at flying.

As for Rothenberg, Here a car would be an asset, maybe save time, from Bacharach, take the Train to Heidelbeg, rent a car, zip over, maybe spend the night, then back to Heidelberg to drop the car off and on to Munich.

Lake Como is on the route from Lucerne to Milan and Florence, but given the area, another car rental for a day or two may make sense to see more and save time. I will add that you really do not want a car in Florence (ZTLs, Parking, etc.) and for the CT, again, you would just be parking outside of town to leave it, so for Italt, the train works.

azeeb,

It would help if you could provide a bit more information about your trip. For example.....

• Is this your first trip to Europe?
• Which places do you most want to see (keeping in mind that everyone in your group will have different priorities)?
• Which sights do you most want to see in each place?
• What kind of budget are you working with?
• Where are you flying from?

With more information, I'm sure the group here would be able to provide lots of very good suggestions.

"As for Rothenberg, Here a car would be an asset,"

I've been to Rothenburg twice by train, and I never felt I needed a car. In fact, I think a car would have been a liability. Most of the town center is a no vehicle, pedestrian zone anyway and you have to find a parking place outside the zone. The train station is not far from the Ped. zone.

Because rail access to Rothenburg is from the east side, a car might be a faster option from Bacharach, but the time to rent a car in Heidelberg would probably negate that time savings, and having to go back to Heidelberg to return the car before going to Munich would add a lot of time.

I definitely concur with the points Lee made in the previous post about having a car to visit RodT. Rothenburg is on a "spur" line so if travelling by train there will always be a change in Steinach. None of that is terribly difficult, so I'll also stick with train travel on that route.