Driving between Brussels and Vienna in July

It's 700 miles from Brussels to Vienna, which is a long road trip. I once drove Vienna to Amsterdam in one exhausting day. I would suggest flying on Austrian Airlines or Brussels Airlines between the cities.

If driving, I'd suggest you stay in Bacharach, Germany--on the Rhine River just south of Koblenz. See BavariaBen.com for a list of some great B&B's. The second night, I'd suggest staying in Munich and taking the sights of the big city (beer halls.)

The autobahns are all over southern Germany, so you'll have no problems making good time. But $5.80 gas per U.S. gallon does get expensive, and often flying a budget air carrier is cheaper/less expensive. The current Euro/U.S. Dollar rate has been kind to those driving.

With 2.5 days and only 11 hours driving time you have many options. One idea is a cruise on the Rhine, the best section is only a one hour cruise. We took the boat both ways from Bacarach and had a lovely picninc on the top deck with fresh coffee served by waiters. You do not need reservations and there was plenty of parking. It is also pomssible to take a train back to your starting point. You could stay nearby or drive further that day -- with the long day length in July, sunset is quite late.

Another place we stopped along the road was Swabish Hall, which I learned about from this forum. We stumbled upon market day and enjoyed the local merchants and diplays, there is a nice church which was holding a huge wedding that day and we had a nice lunch in a tiny cafe :-) a great break on a long drive day.

You could just drive as far as you want and then get a room, rather than reserve a particular destination. I would not drive into any big city for a short stop or one night, there are many easier to drive in/out smaller towns or out skirts of a city near the autostrad.

I hope you are aware of the huge drop off fees for returning a rental car in a different country. Plan a circular route to avoid that.

Enjoy the planning and the trip!

kelly,

Keep in mind also that if you rent the car in Brussels and drop in Vienna, there will likely be a substantial drop-off charge. The car will likely not be equipped with the Austrian highway Vignette so you'll have to be sure to buy that to avoid hefty fines. Here's an example from Wikipedia.....

"A €240 fine with an additional obligatory payment of a substitute toll are charged to travelers without a valid vignette, and unpaid fines lead to penalties between €300 and €3,000. Furthermore, the vehicle may be confiscated from foreigners to guarantee payment of the penalty."

If you'd don't mind travelling by train, you could break up the trip with an intermediate stop which would fill in your 2.5 days. Here's one example.....

• Train from Brussels to Wurzburg, Germany. The shortest trip is a departure from Brussels Nord departing at 10:34, arriving 15:02 (time 4H:28M, one change in Frankfurt).
• Spend a night or two there enjoying the sights.
• Train from Wurzburg to Vienna. There are numerous departures of direct trains (no changes) with a travel time of ~5H:35M.

Travel via train (especially the high speed versions) will be faster and more efficient than by car, probably cheaper with pre-purchased tickets and certainly more comfortable. Just a thought.....

Don't lose sleep over the Austrian vignette. Just tell the car rental company you need one and they should be able to supply it. If not, many petrol stations near the Austrian border sells them as do Automobile clubs. You can even order one by mail.

And would you please clarify the statement "we'll be taking a car." Renting, borrowing, driving it for someone, stealing?