Doing RS "Best of Europe" itinerary: transportation?

What are some other options?

Trains.

Or, rent a car in Italy and turn it in at border town, cross the border, and rent a car in France. A little inconvenient but saves a huge drop fee. But use the trains when there are trains between your destinations. Use a car only when you want to get into the country side and buses or trains are not available.

There are fairly regular regional trains from Rome to Orvieto, then Orvieto to Florence on Day 3 (mainly regional trains, so no need to pre book) and Florence to Venice on Day 5 (Hourly high speed in just over two hours)

Venice to Fussen on Day 7 there are various rail options but the best is the Rail Jet at 11:35 all the way to Munich, arrive 18:28, change for Fussen arrive 21:44. So about two hours longer than the tour bus ride.

Fussen to Lauterbrunnen on Day 9 is the same 7 hours on the train as the bus- albeit you have to switch trains 3 times.

Lauterbrunnen to Beaune on Day 11 is the same 5 hours on the train as the bus- again you have to switch trains 3 times.

Beaune to Paris there are direct TER trains every two hours taking 4 hours (the same as the tour bus) but also regular (every two hours or so) TER trains to Dijon, switch to a TGV- total journey time, just over two hours, so half the time of the tour bus.

Clearly you are not replicating the exact route of the bus, but in terms of the city to city transfers it works.

You could drive back from Paris to Rome - autoroute all the way, probably a lot of 130 kph zones. If the car has unlimited miles then it’d just be the gas and tolls. If it’s the international aspect driving up the price versus just one-way you could return in Torino - Google Maps says 8 hours to drive there from Paris.

Or, you could focus on where you’ll need the car the most (Dolomites? Bavaria? Burgundy?) and find a central point to pick up/return. Or just do some short local rentals to tour around. Good luck with whatever you decide!

I wouldn't try to do this itinerary on my own. With the guided tour you are paying for expertise, logistics management, pre-planned accommodation and meals, information from a knowledgeable tour guide, etc. Without all that you are going to be spending all of your time just trying to figure out how to get from A to B. Plus that itinerary looks too rushed for me anyway even under the best of circumstances.

Slow down. Reduce a workable itinerary. Use public transportation or cheap guided day tours from a home base. Plan to come back later.

As a general rule, I like to stay four nights in a "place". A place can be a major city (Paris, Rome, Munich, etc), a country (Belgium, Denmark, etc.) or a local region (the Loire Valley, Swiss Alps, Normandy, etc) depending on what they have to offer. From your home base you can also take day trips to nearby cities or attractions. I have found that doing a guided day tour or two is a reasonable compromise in between the long term group bus tours and trying to do everything on your own.

For a two week (16 day) trip, I would pick four "places" that are reasonably connected by train or bus. You can still rent a car at a particular location to explore the region, but most places in Europe are workable without one.

I agree with dcp916. I would not try to do this itinerary in 2 weeks on my own. I did Rick's 21 day Best of Europe guided tour and it was hard and exhausting even with a guide and bus driver to do all the hard logistics!

I agree with at least 4 nights in most places - Rome 4, Florence 3, Venice 3, Switzerland (Berner Overland) 3 and Paris 5. That puts you over 2 weeks.

Or leave out Switzerland and take the train thru Italy, then fly from Venice to Paris.

Is this your first trip to Europe?

Great post by dcp916. Don't design your personal itinerary using a bus-tour format.

I suggest you streamline your trip as follows.

1) Paris (4-5 nights) then train to...

2) The French Alsace (Strasbourg area) + Germany (the Black Forest region) for 4-5 nights... maybe 2 in Strasbourg + 2-3 in Gengenbach or Freiburg, then train to...

3) Lauterbrunnen (3-4 nights)... then train to...

4) Zurich at the end (whatever nights are left) as your fly-home airport.)

I'd definitely leave Italy for another trip in cooler, less-crowded months.

Check those train times/trips at the DB page and you should find them doable, leaving you time for sightseeing as well on those days that you must travel.

Gengenbach is an old walled town which offers a Guest Card - the KONUS Card - which makes any train outings in the Black Forest region free of charge. Use Gengenbach as a base for visiting Triberg (on the scenic Black Forest Railway Freiburg, the Black Forest Open Air Museum (Vogtsbauernhof) in Gutach, with a summer bobsled run right next door.

If your family would be interested in staying in a castle for a night or two, there is a castle-hostel with family rooms only a short distance from Gengenbach. I am unfamiliar with this hostel myself and uninformed about access:

https://www.jugendherberge.de/en/youth-hostels/ortenberg/

Stepping aside from my official role for a moment...

In case it helps with the idea to do this by train, instead of Fussen you could head to Munich as your Bavarian home base. Lots to do there. And if the Fussen idea was to see Neuschwanstein, they run day tours to the castles from Munich's main train station.

The My Way Europe itinerary used to do it this way when we offered that.

Of course if the castles are the only reason you're pausing in this area, then staying next door in Fussen may be best.

I find the N'stein tour option from Munich very hard to recommend. Viator has a $104 p.p. option. The ridiculously expensive entrance fee of €21 for this 25-minute tour is NOT included in the tour price. Neither is the €2.50 reservation fee. And the tour company doesn't book that for you - you must book that separately on your own. A "professional guide" goes with you on this bus trip but does not guide you through the palace; that's the job of the N'stein guides.

Ludwig and the rest of Germany have always referred to N'stein exclusively as a palace. Not sure how "Neuschwanstein Castle" came to be the English wording... maybe Anglophones are just easily duped by its fake castle exterior... but a genuine castle it isn't. If you do end up in Munich, I'd suggest instead the palace called Nymphenburg, where the unstable King Ludwig II was born and would spend much of his childhood - more time in fact than he ever spent after moving it at Neuschwanstein (he died 6 months after that.) Nymphenburg is a far more interesting, relaxed, and satisfying experience, IMHO. And while you will want to spend 2-3 hours seeing the entire place, you will have time for something else that day since you won't need to waste a day getting there and back. It's only a few minutes from central Munich. The palace is €10 for an audioguided walk through, €20 for admission to the entire campus with all the outbuildings and museums. Reservations not required.

https://schloss-nymphenburg.de/englisch/palace/

https://www.theworldisabook.com/16991/munich-with-kids-nymphenburg-palace/

lisabarlow7,
What Russ said. Nymphenburg is the real deal and has more to see, as well as being easier to get to.

I want to thank everyone for all the great advice. I decided to simplify the trip based on some of your responses.

Now we are going to Rome (3 nights), Florence (3 nights), Venice (2 nights), all by train. Flying to Paris from Venice, leaving the next morning to Bayeux via train to surprise my husband with a Band of Brothers tour in Normandy. Take the train back to Paris the next day to spend 3 nights in Paris before returning home.

Your plans sound good. Have a wonderful time!

To avoid high costs of renting a car in Italy and returning it in France, use Europe’s efficient train network (e.g., Trenitalia, Eurail) for most of your itinerary. Rent a car only for specific regions like the Dolomites or Bavaria, returning it locally to avoid cross-border fees. Supplement with budget buses (FlixBus) or short flights for longer distances. This mix of transport options is cost-effective and flexible.

I highly recommend you stay a night in Bayeux so you can start the next day with a day-long Band of Brothers tour.
The one I took through Overlord Tours was ALL-day, even running into overtime with the permission of all involved.

I cannot imagine arriving pre-8am in Bayeux via train from Paris and getting in all the content we were exposed to. While a 1/2 day tour might seem great even after you're done with it, that's only be because you don't know what you DIDN'T get to see.

Slow down, arrived the day before and enjoy the afternoon/evening before your tour in Bayeux - there's the famous tapestry (actually more of an embroidery) to see... a 900 year old cathedral - and you'll be all set for the early pickup the next morning for Band of Brothers.

We did this with our kids, age 18 and 20 in 2006. We used a eurail pass that we activated as we left Amsterdam/Haarlem. We did stay in Munich and booked a tour to Neuswanstein (our rail pass covered the train part and we didn’t have to worry about being late for a timed entry. We took an overnight train to Venice and pretty much followed the itinerary of Best of Europe. We added extra nights in Amsterdam, Munich, Rome and Paris—ended up being 27 days I think. None of us had ever been to Europe or used public transport much. We all learned so much and both kids decided to study abroad for a short time and were very comfortable using public transportation.
If you only have 2 weeks, you have listed a lot to cover. You may need to pare down so you can enjoy.
Have a great trip.