Driving holiday

Gosh, you're taking one of those drive as far as you can trips--and make it one big blur. I used to travel that way before European gasoline got so expensive.
I hate to tell you, but you cannot see it all in one trip. Have you gone on Google Maps and figured out how far it is from place to place? You don't want to send home a worn out car do you?
Most people today would chose to get an apartment or stay at a b&b in a region for 1 week. You could spend your days rambling through the countryside and getting up close and personal with the people. Then move on to another geographic region a day or less away by road. Many of the big cities are worth 4 to 5 days alone.
And remember every time you move is a wasted day.
You should consider limiting yourself to 8 locations over 2 months.

That's what I thought. I based this on Rick Steves sample 2 month itinerary, minus most of Eastern Europe. I think that itinerary uses trains though. I wasn't sure it's doable driving.. I'm thinking of cutting out most of Germany, Switzerland and Sorrento.

Hi mapet19. You current list doesn't reflect the time / days that will be spent driving. Suggest you get a good map, then, redo your list to reflect driving days. e.g. :
- X full days in Prague
- 1 day drive to Vienna
- X full days in Vienna
- 1 day drive to Venice
etc... You currently have 26 destinations; suggest you get down to more like 15 destinations of 1-4 days each, plus about 15 driving days in between. Enjoy your trip!

How about this route? Still too hectic or doable?
Not sure what else to cut. Thanks for all the feedback.

Gothenburg, Sweden (1) pick up car

197.1 miles, 3 hrs, 8 min to
Copenhagen, Denmark (2)

360.42 miles, 6 hrs, 32 min to
Berlin, Germany (4)

222.36 miles, 3 hrs, 41 min to
Prague, Czech Republic (3)

182 miles, 3 hrs, 35 min to
Vienna, Austria (3)

358.32 miles, 6 hrs, 4 min to
Venice, Italy (5)

162.89 miles, 2 hrs, 29 min to
Florence, Italy (4)

106.30 miles, 1 hr, 51 min to
Assisi, Italy (1)

115.25 miles, 2 hrs, 14 min to
Rome, Italy (5)

280 miles, 4 hrs, 36 min to
Vernazza, Cinque Terre (3)

338.64 miles, 5 hrs, 31 min to
Arles or Aix en Provence, France (4)

258 miles, 3 hrs, 42 min to
Barcelona, Spain (3)

389.97 miles, 6 hrs, 3 min to
Madrid, Spain (4)

401.49 miles, 6 hrs, 19 min to
Lourdes, France (2)

385.06 miles, 5 hrs, 20 min to
Tours or Amboise, Loire Valley, France (3)

139.39 miles, 2 hrs, 4 min to
Paris, France (5)

313 miles, 4 hrs, 55 min to
Amsterdam, Netherlands (3)

290 miles, 4 hrs, 32 min to
Hamburg, Germany (1)

324.44 miles, 6 hrs, 1 min to
Copenhagen (2)

171 miles, 3 hrs, 1 min to
Gothenburg, Sweden (2)

Drop off car

I don't know which website you used. I favor viamichelin.com in Europe. They show 196 miles from Gotthenburg to Copenhagen and 3 H 44 M. Their driving times don't take into account traffic delays, rush hours or pit stops. The time could vary depending on where in the city you start and where you end. They also estimate the cost at €100 (half for gas, half for tolls).

Take into account that driving in many of the historic city centers is often difficult with much traffic and driving restrictions. Parking is often hard to find and usually expensive. In Venice you will have to leave your car in a garage at the "entrance" to the city. In the Cinque Terre, you may want to leave your car parked "outside" the area.

I'm not saying this won't be a great trip, but be honest with yourself. You said "family" - how many, how old? Is there going to be room in the car for everyone to sit comfortably for hours every couple of days and enough trunk space to store everyone's luggage out of sight? There's no "down time" in your itinerary - time to relax, time to shop for essentials (in foreign languages), laundry. Is everyone going to handle that pace? Instead of driving time, estimate door-to-door time (really bed-to-bed time). Everyone needs to pack their stuff and load the car. When you arrive in the new place, you have to check in, unpack and get settled in the room. Are you going to reserve rooms in advance or wing it? Do you have special requirements? Most double rooms in Europe have a double bed. Twin beds are not common, nor are rooms for more than 2. Are you planning to go during a busy season? In the big cities (Paris, Amsterdam, Munich, Madrid, etc.) are you going to stay in the city center (driving in city traffic, paying a lot for parking) or outlying area and commute into the city for sightseeing?

This is a holiday designed for someone who wants to spend longer in the car than out of it! Why are you picking up a car in Northern Europe and spending most of your time in Southern Europe? It doesn't make sense. Assuming that picking the car up is fixed, spend some time exploring the gorgeous Scandanavia, say 2 weeks (assuming summer travel). Cut Italy and Spain from your itinerary, as the travel distances are too far.

Many of the places you list are not car friendly, such as Venice, Paris, Rome, Florence and Madrid. Berlin is being short changed in 5 days. You have 2 days allocated, most of which will be spent getting to/from there.

Rather than the whole trip being a blur, pick a mix if moving on and staying a week in a few places. You will need some down time for a trip of this length, say a day every 3 weeks. Don't underestimate how much petrol and city centre car parking will cost. In many of the cities that you intend to visit, most accommodation won't have free parking.

Focus on Scandanavia, Germany, Switzerland, France and Holland and you will have a great trip.

How wonderful to have a car available for such a long trip. I understand wanting to see the big cities we've all grown up hearing and reading about, but the best use of your car would be a trip more focused on the countryside and beautiful smaller towns--the sort of place that is harder to reach via public transportation. You will love Europe and you will be back, probably without a car at your disposal. That would be the better time to hop between major cities in Italy and Spain

As others have pointed out, you need to allow time actually to move from one home base to another, plus some down-time on a trip of this length. That could be a couple of days in one of the small lake towns our Germany experts can suggest. And it's true that Berlin, in particular, needs a lot of time because of the wealth of museums and historic sights.

I'd suggest building the trip around 3 or 4 major cities in northern/central Europe and filling in with regional highlights in the areas between them.

That's so many miles that your car will probably need to spend a day in a garage some where for an initial service appointment.

So you have flights to and back from Gothenburg? At the end (or perhaps beginning) of your 2 months, I might use the car to enjoy some of Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany for a week or two (and I'd avoid driving in/to Copenhagen, Berlin and Hamburg.) But I would probably add a flight from the north to some more southern airport (one that is central to a smaller selection of places) for the rest of your trip, and do the rest of that trip mostly by train, possibly with another flight.

About your Germany-Austria-Switzerland plans: Not nearly enough time in Berlin or in Switzerland. Bacharach is OK but remember that Rick Steves' selections are often just is personal, subjective favorites and may not be worth a huge detour just because they are prominent in his book. If you'll have the car in northern Germany, why not explore some of the scenic regions and attractive old-world towns there? There are some tried-and-true driving routes like the German Half-
Timbered Route; check out THIS SECTION of the route, for example. Celle and Wernigerode are two towns you can easily get more information about; nearby Goslar is in the area and very charming as well.

We are buying a Volvo so we have to pick up in Sweden. We don't have to drop it off there. They have other drop off locations. I was planning on looking for Airbnb so we can have free parking and explore big cities by public transport. There will be (3) drivers, my husband, daughter and myself. Our kids will be older, 19 and 11. We are planning the trip mid March to Mid July. Some of the stops, like Hamburg, was just to sleep and rest to cut driving time. Thanks so much. I'll work on it some more. I looked at Google and Mapquest for distances and times. I'll try via Michelin. I think we'll consider driving the car for 2 weeks, insurance is already free, drop it off then take train or fly to major cities.

Perhaps you haven't been to Europe before. Don't try to cover so much area.

I would eliminate Spain and do that on another trip.
Many cities you only have two nights, which will give you in practice only one day there. Consider stopping at fewer places and staying longer at others.

Rothenburg on the Tauber is a wonderful medieval city, but you go way out of the way to see the city. As another suggested, go to Prague then Vienna or Munich.

Switzerland is very expensive and you can see Alpine scenery in Austria,etc. so I suggest skipping Switzerland.

For Italy, three days in Venice is just right, but Florence deserves 4 days and Rome 5. Also consider driving for a half day stop in Siena.

Your plans for the Provence part of France are questionable. consider a visit to St. Paul de Venice as well as Monaco.

Arles and Aix are fine, but you might want to stay in Arles for more nights.

Perhaps you are Catholic and want to see Lourdes, if you are not, skip it. The Loire Valley is great and three days would be nice there. Four days in Paris are OK, but you could do more.

One issue, while in some cities, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Vienna, Rome, Paris, etc,, you will pay a pretty sum for parking. Not sure if some hotels offer parking. Do some research for where you park, since it can be very expensive.

Don't even think of taking a car into Munich unless you know your hotel can guarantee a parking spot. Parking in the center of the city is very limited, and it's a difficult to city to navigate by car even with a GPS.

Nobody has mentioned yet, but you will need a vignette to drive the car in the Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland.

And Reutte...Rick Steves uses it for lodging on his tours, but most of us are singularly unimpressed as a destination in and of itself.
Particularly in a region with so many beautiful towns.

Also, every driver will need an International Driving Permit.

are those numbers the number of days at a location or the number of nights? Planning based on nights is considerably easier than planning days.

I know that cars are built to no run-in on delivery and work perfectly as soon as you turn the key, but if I were in your shoes I'd have a bit of catch up time built a couple of times in your most arduous schedule.

You may say, well if Rick Steves prints it then it must be possible. But that is with all the driving and railway riding prearranged, all the hotels meeting the group at the door with all the keys allocated, meals all planned and arranged, and with all the timesaving that years of experience gives you.

You would likely find it difficult to achieve all that their professionals can.

Even if you go ahead to use Rick's recommended timing for number of nights to stay, it will make more sense if you put it on a calendar, together with the drive times. For instance you wrote Copenhagen (2), which I assume means 2 days and 3 nights if you're matching Rick's suggestion in the Scandinavia book. Then the next day you have the 6.5-hour drive to Berlin and again stay 3 nights in order to have 2 full days of sightseeing.

The "best use" of a car is to get to rural areas and smaller towns that might not be well served by train. The less-than-ideal use of a car is between big cities that have more traffic, steeper parking fees, would be easily accessed by train on another trip, and may be farther apart. So even if you keep about the same number of stops in the plan, I'd choose some smaller towns that are closer together. Rick's individual country guidebooks or country itineraries (under Explore Europe at left) are good for identifying more of those and are what I used to plan a long driving trip.

map,

The first thing to do is scrap the suggested two month Itinerary, as (IMO) it's far too ambitious for your situation. Doing that much driving, even in two months, is going to be exhausting. You'll be seeing most of Europe through a windshield rather than enjoying the spots you've come to see. My first impression in reading your proposed Itinerary is that it's a "if this is Tuesday, it must be Rome" trip.

There are also some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of.....

• EACH driver will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit for driving in Italy, France and some of the other countries.
• You'll need to obtain the highway tax vignette for driving in Austria (hefty fines if you're caught without it!).
• When driving in Italy, you'll need to be extremely vigilant to avoid the dreaded ZTL (limited traffic) areas which exist in many towns and cities. Florence is just about saturated with automated ZTL cameras, so DON'T plan on driving there, or hefty fines will follow. Most other towns have them as well, but they're not all enforced with automated cameras.
• Also in Italy, there are automated speed cameras and the devious Traffic Tutor system which measures not only instantaneous speed, but also average between two points. Violate either one and expensive tickets will follow.
• Violation tickets issued by a police officer in Italy often require fines to be paid on the spot!
• Be sure to budget for tolls on the motorways.
• Parking could be very difficult in Vernazza. It would be better to stay in Monterosso, as there are car parks in both the "old town" and "new town" areas. Some hotels there also provide limited parking for guests (usually on a "first come, first served" basis).
• As you'll be carrying all your gear in the car, you'll have to be very careful regarding theft of any items left in the vehicle when parking overnight.
• I wouldn't rely too closely on the driving times that you listed in your second proposed Itinerary. While a website can provide an approximate estimate based on distance and speed, I've found that driving in Europe almost always takes longer than planned (sometimes considerably longer).
• Packing along a GPS along with some good Maps would be prudent.

Good luck with your planning!

Just a few comments based on my experience from doing months and months of driving in Europe over many years...
1) Airbnb does not mean you will have parking...if an airbnb does come with parking it will usually be well outside of city centers. Make sure there is good public transport nearby. If you stay at an airbnb in a city center and have to pay for a garage then that is an added (and likely) expense. Prague is about $25 per day...Paris $30 - 40 depending on which part of the city you're in.
If there is parking and the accommodation is in a city center, then get ready...driving in big European cities is NOT, I repeat, NOT a pleasant experience. Traffic can be horrific, lots of one-way streets, tiny parking garages, etc. I would not want to navigate my beautiful, new Volvo in Paris, Amsterdam, Rome(OMG!!!), or Munich (one of the worst cities I've ever driven in), and Prague (done it a lot...really difficult because of constant construction).
Many cities have exclusion zones that you can't drive in without a permit...some of them are not that well-marked...Florence is an example of this. You don't want to get a surprise ticket in the mail in 6 months.
Just suffice it to say that you really, really shouldn't drive in the cities.
2) Do your numbers mean days or nights? This seems like an exhausting itinerary. Narrow it down to 10 - 15 destinations and you'll have a much better time...gas is quite expensive in most of Europe and you'll not see much out of the window of your car...you want to be able to enjoy the places you are going! Quality over quantity!
3) Try using Rome2Rio.com. You can plug in two destinations and it will give you approximate driving times between destinations. Always add at least 20 - 30% for traffic and construction.
4) Don't expect European highways to be traffic-free...quite the opposite. There can be tons of commercial truck traffic and there can be jams at some borders especially in the former eastern European countries. Going into, out of, and around major cities can be extremely busy, even on the ring roads that are meant to skirt traffic around the city.

Spend a minimum of 3 nights per stop or more nights if possible. Travel is exhausting and your trying to fit in way too much. Less is more! You won't regret slowing down. And 3 nights is still fast paced IMHO.

Here is what I would do. Put down a list of countries I want to see. Read R.S. Europe Through the Back Door and choose destinations accordingly. Use train which in Europe is usually much faster than car. If it would take over 6 hours start thinking about flying. I would save driving for Scandinavia because of its scenic countryside, expensive trains and less traffic than in the rest of Europe.

I would look at further cuts, namely Barcelona > Madrid > Lourdes, and add some intermediate stops as indicated below ...

Gothenburg, Sweden (1)
Copenhagen, Denmark (3)
Berlin, Germany (4)
Prague, Czech Republic (3)
Vienna, Austria (3)
Ljubljana, Slovenia (2)
Venice, Italy (4)
Florence, Italy (4)
Assisi, Italy (1)
Rome, Italy (4)
Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy (3)
Nice, France (3)
Arles or Aix en Provence, France (4)
Lyon, France (2)
Tours or Amboise, Loire Valley, France (3)
Paris, France (5)
Ghent, Belgium (3)
Amsterdam, Netherlands (3)
Hamburg, Germany (2)
Arhus, Denmark (1)
Gothenburg, Sweden (2)

If you can return the car in Amsterdam or Hamburg, I would think about putting the Amalfi Coast back in, or perhaps better still, slowing things down even more.

Hi,

I don't drive in Europe and would not, mainly I don't want to put up with the hassle of getting and paying parking tickets, car break ins, being stuck in traffic (Stau) and paying for gas by the liter. Unless you're used being stuck in traffic such as that in Southern Calif when all six lanes slow to a crawl, ie bumper to bumper, it's not worth driving and the gas expense.

You wrote: We are planning the trip mid March to Mid July. That's four months. Do you mean you are flexible, any 2-month period in that window? I could be wrong, but I'm thinking there could still be snow in the north in mid-March.

I agree with other posters who have opined that the itinerary seems to be overly ambitious and would therefore be quite stressful. Would suggest staying in northern Europe and then paying the 220 Euros to drop the car in Munich, thus removing the need to backtrack to Gothenburg to ship the vehicle home. A one-way trip would likely be much more cost-effective for you and would free up more time for exploring.
Also, your trip seems to focus mainly on cities where, as others have noted, having a vehicle is more of a hindrance than a help. The true advantage of having a car is to be able to explore the countryside at your leisure. Might be better to look for places in the countryside, ie outside the city centers, from where you could either drive or (better) take the train into the large metro areas as a day trip, thus avoiding the hassle and expense of taking your brand new Volvo into an unfamiliar and congested city center.

Thanks for all your great input. Sorry, I was just waiting for Volvo's reply about my questions. They highly recommend picking up at Gothenburg. I'll scrap the original itinerary and work on a new one. I listed big cities but it doesn't mean we have to stay at city center. Suburbs or nearby small towns are ok, close to public transport. Still planning on mid May to mid July. Checked via Michelin and the drive times are longer. I'll take that into account. I'll probably scrap Assisi, Lourdes (we're Catholic) and Cinque Terre, as well as Berlin, Vienna and Prague. Go instead around Munich, Frankfurt and add San Sebastián area in Spain and Bordeaux in France. I'll work on it. If you have any othe suggestions, especially where to stay at small towns around large cities in my previous itineraries, I really welcome your input. Thank you so much!

If your focus remains Southern Europe - Italy, France, Spain - then I wonder if you should be looking at French or Italian car makers rather than Volvo.

That probably would not be good idea. Especially French cars (Citroen, Renault) are known to be lemons.

Mapet19:
My only supplemental thought is to research Volvo's other drop-off locations to see if one of them might be a cost-effective and practical alternative for you and your family.

I researched this myself a few years ago and was considering a slightly modified version of your own proposed itinerary: Since it takes several weeks for the shipped vehicle to make it to a US port of entry, I thought about using the car in northern Europe for month or so, dropping it off for shipment, and then continuing our trip for another month or so while the car made its way across the Atlantic. Coordinating with Volvo, we would then fly back to Gothenburg to connect with the return flight to the US and have the car waiting for us on arrival. Might be able to modify your return flight to go straight to the terminal (Baltimore in our case), collect the car there and then drive it home rather than paying the extra cost for further transfer of the vehicle to a local dealer in your hometown.
Point being that there really are some creative options available while still working around Volvo's restrictions regarding Overseas Delivery....especially in the age of cheap budget flights within Europe.
Safe travels.