Advice regarding car rental and driving

With 4 months and the distances you have between destinations...you should stay for a week at a time in each destination. If your entire trip is as busy as the few weeks you describe here, you will be very tired of packing and moving after the first month. One night stays with a car are fine with me and after taking public transport a car is a nice refuge but still..... If Rome2Rio says it's a five hour drive...figure at least seven and that is your entire day spent traveling. I've always felt safe driving in France and Italy but I have no experience with Eastern Europe.

Thank you Richard! Yes, I totally agree. Most of our trip is 6-7 (or more) days in one region.

The issue is Poland. Actually, simply Auschvitz. It is an absolute must for my husband and son, and since I'm homeschooling the kids and we are covering World History and World War 2, I just have got to get them there. I feel it is so out of the way from everything else we are doing.

I could even skip Prague and save it for another trip. But if we must visit Krakow and Auschvitz, isn't it awful not to at least see Prague on our way back westward?

"I'm thinking that renting a car will be best for us..."

It would be helpful to explain why. On the surface, having a car in Vienna, Prague, and Munich (and possibly elsewhere) is much more a headache (and a strain on your pocketbook) than an asset. Your rental will not include all the parking, vignette and environmental-zone fees either. I doubt the teens are eager to be stuck in the back seat for all that time...

You mention an aversion to night trains, but what about day trains? The ride will typically be fast and comfortable for the long journeys, and you'll be deposited in the heart of the city. When you do short day trips, it's often the case that cheap day passes get you around (Just for example... a day trip for your family from Munich to Salzburg and back will cost you less than €45.)

Long-distance trips can be booked in advance rather cheaply. You have LOTS of time to learn the ropes. Have a look at the Man in Seat 61's website first (and ignore for the time being all the Eurailpass offers) to get a handle on international train travel. Younger teens sometimes travel for free with a paying parent. A train trip from Munich to Interlaken for a family of 4 can be had for perhaps €80 depending on the ages of your teens.

The issue is Poland. Actually, simply Auschvitz. It is an absolute
must for my husband and son, and since I'm homeschooling the kids and
we are covering World History and World War 2, I just have got to get
them there. I feel it is so out of the way from everything else we are
doing.

If Poland is largely for the concentration camp, is there some reason you must visit Auschwitz, specifically? Dachau KZ is extraordinarily easy to reach from Munich.

@russ Thank you for your comments!

We have just begun planning this, and my main reason for the idea of renting a car was due to the length of time to travel from Vienna to Krakow via train. If I could get a direct flight, that would be great. I still have research to do on that. I'm fine with trains and not averse to a long day train. Any travel days we have built in are strictly for travel. Anything we get to do on those days is a bonus.

My ex husband just informed me he flew direct from Krakow to Prague when he was there.

We will look into Dachau KZ, but my husband and son are set on Auschwitz. While we are very blessed to be able to spend 4 months abroad, I'm trying to get across that it's impossible to do everything. Just as we've lived in the US for a lifetime, there's a ton of our country we haven't seen. We will not be able to take our time and enjoy and do and see everything in Europe.

That said, the fact that my husband has agreed to this, is looking forward to it, and spending the whole 4 months with us is a huge treat. He is a cruiser. Our original plan was for him to do the cruise with us, then the kids and I would go off for 4 weeks. That 6 week itinerary has turned into a 4 month family adventure with TWO cruises. SO...we are also constrained by the cruise dates. (one cruise includes Barcelona, Marseille, several greek islands, and the other is copenhagen and three stops in Norway)

I'm very appreciative of your thoughts and am going to do some more research on transportation and that concentration camp you mentioned. Thank you again!

Hi Julie. Great idea to rent a car for part of your trip - it provides wonderful flexibility and fun, and for four people can be a big time and money saver in certain situations. But consider other car rental options, and also how to avoid drop fee. Perhaps two different car rentals? For instance, Germany is centrally located; you could rent in Munich, accomplish much of your trip including Austria, Czech, Germany, Swiss, then drop car in Duesseldorf or Cologne with short train ride to Amsterdam. Also Russ's idea is great to consider Dacau instead of Auschwitz. Enjoy your trip!

Another potential issue I see with a car is the possibility/probability that a car rented in Western Europe may not be allowed by the rental company to go to Eastern Europe. With your itinerary I think a combination a trains and cars may work better. You may be able to avoid the large drop off fees to return to another country with separate rentals. You absolutely don't need a car in a city. It's an expensive (parking) inconvenience at best.

"...am going to do some more research on transportation and that concentration camp you mentioned."

That would be a wise thing to do in light of the time and cost savings.

https://www.kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de/

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g315834-d243700-Reviews-Dachau_Concentration_Camp_Memorial_Site-Dachau_Upper_Bavaria_Bavaria.html

It's around 30 minutes altogether from Munich's central station by public transport. You can approach the camp from elsewhere too of course if you are staying outside Munich somewhere - the town of Dachau is on a major train line.

While we are very blessed to be able to spend 4 months abroad, I'm
trying to get across that it's impossible to do everything. Just as
we've lived in the US for a lifetime, there's a ton of our country we
haven't seen. We will not be able to take our time and enjoy and do
and see everything in Europe.

I've not been everywhere, but I'd say mostly "all over" the USA and around much of Europe as well. IME the distance between interesting places in Europe is astoundingly small. A random 250 square miles of territory just about anywhere in Europe will be vastly more diverse, entertaining and engaging than a random area of similar size in the USA. You could plunk me down anywhere in Bavaria, but a big fence around me for a month, and I'd probably never see the fence line.

Mose of us have learned from our domestic travel that a great trip involves lots of miles - but this maxim fails us completely in Europe, where a lengthy itinerary based on distant, big-name guidebook destinations takes you right past all kinds of fascinating stuff you will never have a chance to know about.

julie,

I've only glanced through the previous replies, but a few thoughts......

If your husband and son are "set" on Auschwitz, that can certainly be included but it will mean a lot of driving for one site. In addition to Dachau mentioned in a previous reply, there are numerous other Concentration Camps you could consider, such as Mathausen (close to Vienna) or Sachsenhausen (close to Berlin). There are many others. As you're interested in WW-II history, you could also visit the Saints Cyril and Methodius Cathedral in Prague, which was significant during Operation Anthropoid.

Although you have four months to work with, using well planned rail journeys would be a much more efficient use of your valuable holiday time, at least for a portion of the trips. The high speed trains in Europe are a good option on some routes, and no concerns about parking, theft, etc. when using the trains.

Are you also planning to use a rental car in the U.K. and Ireland? If so, be sure to do some research on driving on the "correct" side of the road, as well as using roundabouts, etc.

It would be prudent for each driver listed on the rental form to have an International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are easily available at any AAA office for a small fee, and are valid for one year.

As someone else mentioned, some rental firms prohibit travel of their vehicles in eastern Europe.

You'll also need to be aware of things like Highway Tax Vignettes (Austria, Switzerland, etc.), ZTL areas (if you'll be driving in Italy) and speed cameras.

You should probably take a look at this free, downloadable brochure on what you should know about renting a car in Europe.

Some things we learned that may vary by rental company:

1. The primary driver should be the person who rents the car and pays for it. If they aren't, there will automatically be an extra charge for a 2nd driver.

2. All potential drivers must have IDPs in addition to their US driver licenses. Those International Driver Permits are multi-language translations of your driver license.

3. There are age limits for car rentals, on both ends of the scale. Typically, it's 25 on the young side and about 70 on the old side.

4. You have many countries listed. You will need to learn about driving in all of them. It's not like going from state to state in the US.

5. Renting an automatic may be harder than you expect. It certainly will cost a lot more.

One thing about Schengen, it's 90 days, not 3 months. The day you enter and the day you leave both count. Plan accordingly.

Hi Julie,

I've also read your other thread which lists more of your four month plan, and it sounds like it will be a great trip! What a wonderful experience this will be. I can't speak to renting a car, but as much of this thread is now also centered around Central/Eastern Europe and concentration camps, I thought I'd offer my POV.

Unfortunately, I know well the long train ride from Krakow to Vienna (actually, I took it from Katowice, which is the transfer point between the two, but it is still an overly-long train ride). I don't know that it's worth it to make for such a quick stop in Krakow. However, my advice is - Add more time in Poland! Which might not be what you want to hear, but let me make my pitch.

I've been to five concentration camps: Dachau, Buchenwald, Sachsenhausen, Auschwitz (2x) and Majdanek (2x). And even though Auschwitz was not my most moving experience (that was walking completely alone in Majdanek), I will say that I think it's the most essential camp. It's the camp we think of when someone says, "Holocaust." Over a million lives were lost there. Auschwitz I, where the museum is, can feel just like that - a Museum. The red-brick barracks hold (very moving) exhibits, and sometimes the guides can place larger emphasis there on the Polish suffering, rather than the Jewish victims. But then you walk down the road to Auschwitz-Birkenau - and the scope of it takes your breath away. In terms of size and scale, no other camp can compete with Auschwitz-Birkenau. Take the time to really explore it. If your children are interested in WWII, then Auschwitz is an essential stop. I would urge you to visit Dachau as well, or any of the other camps mentioned. But I would also argue against swapping in one of these in place of Auschwitz.

And while your here - take the fast train to Warsaw! (After you've spent some more time in Krakow, of course. It's a beautiful but compact city. The Cloth Hall is a great place to find some Polish amber, and the Salt Mines are a good way to relax after the intensity of Auschwitz). I was last in Warsaw in 2010, so I'm sure it has changed in some respects, but mostly, I hear, for the better. Besides the city itself, the Warsaw Uprising Museum is very well done, and the Museum of the History of Polish Jews, which opened a few years ago, is supposed to be fantastic; I know one of the consulting historians.

I know it can be time consuming to get to Poland, but I would really urge you to consider devoting some of your trip here and in other parts of Central and Eastern Europe. It's a region that stills has the scars of the Second World War, the Holocaust, and the over 40 years of Communist rule, but is coming back to life.

Good luck on your trip planning. I'm sure whatever you decide, it will be a wonderful experience!