Driving vs. Train

You don't seem to be an experienced traveler in Europe. What is the objective of the auto? If you are going city to city, the auto will sit in paid parking while you are touring.

Generally, rent a car if
1) Your party has 4+ persons
2) You plan on many stops outside of cities

Do not rent if
1) Your party is 2 persons
2) You plan on visits to cities

Go to the site rome2rio, and put in a route you wish to take. This will give you info about the transport from one place to another.

We have been to Europe in 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2019, as well as 5-6 trips over the years since 1980. We rented a car in 2011, since we were a party of 5. Since then, we have gone many places with no car at all save for a 5 day period in rural Bretania. We might have been able to do that as well with trains or busses.

No, I'm not an experienced traveler in Europe. Our objectives are to 1) see some specific sites within the areas I referenced, and 2) just be able to experience the countries at our own pace. Pull off the road if we see something interesting and resume when we want. I totally get the idea of maybe not having a car in a big city, when mass transit is available for that.

Yeah, that's what most Americans think - the freedom of the open road.

But here's what you will really do - drive from Prague to Munich, and stop 1 time for lunch. The rest of the time, the car sits in paid parking, while you are also paying by the day.

Well, don't take my word for it. Cost it out. Rentals are sky-high at this time, and mass transit (what most people really like in Europe) is pretty much the same price as years before.

Also how long will you be there? If 2 weeks, that's a lot of places in 2 weeks. Vienna-Munich-Berlin is a better trip. None of those places are close, so long travel between each location will be required.

I find train between cities and a rental for more rural side trips convenient. Usually returning the rental to the original location before moving on by train. I wouldn't take a car over a national border.
I took a train from Paris to Caen, rented a car in Normandy to see Mont Saint Michel and the D-Day sites at my own pace. then took the train back to Paris.
Also rented a car to go to Yorkshire from London and on another trip down the Romantic Road in Germany. Rented a car in Southern England for Canterbury to Cornwall. All worked well.

Europe has much better public transportation than the US. I have been to all the places you list except Krakow by train. And I just have not been to Krakow at all.

I would start by assuming you can do your trip by train and then figure out how long each leg would take. I don’t know how long you have in Europe but six dispersed locations for a typical two week trip is at least two too many.

I like Paul of the Frozen North's analysis.

Also, Americans that drive in Europe should be aware that traffic in general is more congested than the USA as a whole. The traffic in Europe is more like the most congested part of the USA, from Washington, DC to Boston.

Also, parking is more of a problem in major cities. Further, if you drive on the continent (not in the UK, you need an International Driver's Permit). Picking up a ticket can be easy, since you might unknowingly drive in a bus lane or in to a city restricted to outside motorists.

Further, renting a car in one country and dropping it in another many subject you to huge drop charges.

Still, renting a car for a brief period might be a good balance from just doing major cities. For example, in Germany, The Romantic Road from Wurzburg to Garmisch is a wonderful way to see medieval walled cites as well as great vistas.

just be able to experience the countries at our own pace. Pull off the
road if we see something interesting and resume when we want

To be blunt, if your trip is only 12 days, as you said in your other thread, you don't have the time to just pull off the road if something tickles your fancy. Have you checked the distances between these places, and the time required to get to your next destination from the last (adding in time spent getting lost, finding parking lots, getting gas etc if you drive? If driving and moseying along is REALLY what you really want to do, then trim back the number of places to 2 or 3 in the same country (or do a circular route ending where you started) and focus on stays in small towns and villages instead of cities.

But it doesn't sound like your planned trip is focused on the countryside. Your stated aims are primarily city centered. Take the trains. Or trains and busses. Travel in Europe is not like travel in the US. There are certainly circumstances where car rental is the preferred mode of travel, but this itinerary isn't one of them.

A point that hasn't been noted yet is that the "pull off the road when you see something interesting" scenario is absolutely impractical in reality. Any journey of more than ~150 miles basically requires the use of freeways/motorways, because regular roads are too slow in densely-populated central and western Europe. And even regular roads often lack hard shoulders and parking places.

Thanks to all, good information. The 12 days was initially a starting point to see what is doable and what isn't. Definitely not married to the days, as we can expand if needed, but also definitely not set on a car. I just have no frame of reference to know what I'd be in for, hence the reason for my question.

another trip down the Romantic Road

I think a lot of people rent a car and drive the Romantic Road in a day. That is a total waste. There is nothing special about the Road, itself. It's the towns along the Romantic Road, such as Donauwörth, Nördlingen, Dinkelsbühl, Rothenburg, and Weikersheim. You need to spend time in the towns to fully appreciate the Romantic Road.

I did the Romantic Road in 2007 without having a car; I used trains and buses. I did it in essentially four days (3 full days with two half days on either end), starting with Wieskirche and ending in Würzburg. I spent the night in four towns on the road and about 3 hours each in five other towns traveling between overnight stays. One day was all by rail, but I went between two RR towns and spent 3 hours each in two more. Two days were by bus, and two were split between rail and bus. I spent a lot less for bus and train tickets than I would have spent for five days of car rental.

On the two days that I traveled entirely by bus (Nördlingen to Dinkelsbühl to Feuchtwangen to Rothenburg to Weikersheim) we followed the Romantic Road on the same roads I would have traveled by car. I never saw any site that I would have stopped for if I had had a car.

dwrhoades, it helps planning to consider that every time you change locations, you will eat up 1/2 to 1 whole day of precious vacation time just in transit. Checking in/out, getting to/from transport, settling in to a new hotel, etc. So the fewer places you stop, the more quality time you have there. For 12 days (are you counting arrival and departure days?) three cities, max.

Some people find driving fun, but I find it very stressful. I'm on vacation, I want to reduce stress. Its not like the US - trains are convenient, safe and low stress means to get from one city to another.

Not counting arrival and departure. And your reference to eating up a 1/2 to 1 whole day of time just in transit is another reason I asked the question. I wasn't sure if any time is saved having a car SOME of the time when we might be able to depart and arrive earlier than what a train schedule might provide. And yea, I know, I'm still planning to check train schedules and more precise distances. I'm sure much of this will change based on the comments, but then again that's why I'm asking the question :-)

wasn't sure if any time is saved having a car SOME of the time when we might be able to depart and arrive earlier

Since you've never been to Europe, you don't know what the issues are with cars.

1) European cities have tiny tiny roads and streets
2) There is not much parking
3) Gas is 2x-2.5x the price of the USA

In addition, there are the intangibles. Like how to find stuff. I remember driving in Hungary, in Budapest, trying to find the freeway entrance. I must have spent 2 hours looking. The signage in Europe is different, and my navigation was off.

Also in Europe, my car was broken into in S France and in Hungary.

If you take a train, you get to the town, get off the train, and go to your hotel. No need to find parking, check the car for scratches, etc.

As others have said, driving in Europe is not like driving in North America. European cities are built with huge stroads where every small business is surrounded by a field of parking lots. European cities look like this: https://goo.gl/maps/LwdABjpHG9FjrEP67 (After all, that is why you come to visit them, isn't it?). w

But also, six towns/cities in 12 days? That is not realistic at all.

I basically agree with the analysis previously mentioned. We do get rental cars on many trips because we do go to off the beaten path places one can’t easily get to with public transportation. However, as Balso mentioned, it isn’t always easy to just pull off the road when one sees something interesting. Our off the beaten path stops are mostly planned ahead of time and not spur of the moment.

The 12 days was initially a starting point to see what is doable and
what isn't. Definitely not married to the days, as we can expand if
needed...

For a trip beginning in Prague and including "Krakow, Vienna, Salzburg/Berchdesgaden area, Munich, Berlin" you should probably work with a minimum of 7 full days within the cities of Berlin and Vienna. I'd suggest 2-3 minimum in Prague, 2 minimum in each of the following: Krakau, Munich, and Salzburg/Berchtesgaden. That's 15-16 days. You'll need to add days to accommodate your transport in between too.

I think at this point you should start planning out more carefully what you want to do in these places and what time they require. You'll probably develop some priorities and be better able to decide where to add hours/days - and which cities might get cut. Then, check rough travel times between cities and figure out how you'll fit in that travel without compromising your time on the ground.

I would not consider driving this specific itinerary myself.

I would highly recommend using well planned public transit for the trips you mentioned, as it will be a quicker and more efficient travel method, especially for such a short itinerary. Using a rental car will take longer and there are some "issues" to consider. In addition to the high drop-off fee, you may need an International Driver's Permit for some countries, you'd have to research your route to ensure that a Highway Tax Vignette isn't required for any of the countries you'll be passing through (hefty fines collected on the spot if you're found without one), you'll have to deal with tolls, speed cameras, parking, high fuel prices and tolls. If you park in a city to go for a meal or sightseeing, you may get a rude awakening when you return to the car.

OTOH, travel using trains (high speed where possible) will save a lot of time and allow more time for sightseeing. For example, there are direct ICE trains from Munich to Berlin with a travel time of about 4.5 hours. If travelling by train, you'll need to do some research though. Most large cities have more than one station so you'd need to know which station you'll be using. Reservations may be required on some trains. It's easy to buy tickets on line, either using the rail company websites or from ticket resellers like Trainline.com (there are others).

One of the best websites for researching rail trips anywhere in Europe is https://www.bahn.com/en . While they list rail details for many countries, I believe they only sell tickets for trips originating in Germany.

Doing some research for transit within cities is also prudent. Most cities have very efficient subway or suburban rail systems (ie: U-Bahn or S-Bahn in Germany). As I recall the DB Bus 840 travels from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden quite frequently, so that's an easy 49 minute trip.

Lee,
I agree with you there is nothing special about the highways of the Romantic Road. The draw is the towns and cities on the route.

Most are Medieval walled towns, but one is a larger city, Augsburg, Germany. Augsburg is worth a day, it was founded a little over 2000 years ago under Augustus Caesar.

Some factors you may not have thought of yet, or encountered:

• Some rental (or insurance) companies exclude some countries, for example sometimes Czech Republic, Ireland, Italy. When I rented in Zurich, I was specifically ordered not to drive in Czech Republic. I had to declare that I was going to Germany, but I may not have had the Umweltplakette city entry sticker (?)
• You are going to see a sign for some nice (?) tourist sight on the highway. It's at least fifteen minutes off the highway to get to the city, and then fifteen minutes to get to a paid garage and park in a narrow stall where everyone has to get out before you park. Similar time to leave.
• Unless your vehicle completely conceals your luggage, you will have a break-in risk at each stop. I've had rental contracts pre-printed "No cargo cover present" because it was already lost.

That said, there are occasions, like carefully pre-planned days where you want to make three or more small stops in parkable locations. That's hard to do with public transportation, because the routes tend to be radial. There are also big differences between countries, and between destinations. Extreme example: Cesky Krumlov is popular, but very hard to get to from Prague, by any means. The train is seldom the fastest, in that case. We used a car service for an all-day daytrip. In Germany, by contrast, the train is almost always fastest. But you need to develop train savvy; Connections vs direct, commuter cars with steps and no luggage racks, long lines at big stations for seat reservations you didn't get online at home.

It's a poor example, but even when we had a car on one trip to Germany, we left it at our small city hotel in Andernach and took the train each day to our flower show in Koblenz. That required buying tickets at a machine in an unattended station, using a Chip-and-PIN credit card. The car was really for the Mosel part of the trip, followed by eastern Belgium, with three small medieval centers a day-all planned in advance. Planning doesn't make finding parking any easier; It's just a matter of knowing when you want the car, and when you don't want the car!

Edit: There are locations where a car is very helpful. Among these are Tuscany, the Loire Valley, and sometimes in less-developed countries. But there is often a corresponding negative of fewer gas stations, tow trucks, or rental company offices in less-developed countries. Even in the USA, car rental no longer represents a firm commitment to a working vehicle for the period of your rental. There are all kinds of extra insurances and guarantees to be bought. How well will they work in, say, Montenegro? I once drove to a (different) airport in Florida to replace a bad car.

I don't know what your expectation is, but you are not visiting a wide-open, postwar, under-developed place dominated by farms and wooden houses.

I'll always pick up a car after my first extended city stay (no point having one in the city) and drop it off before my last extended city stay.

I now concentrate my itineraries to a single country, drop off charge isn't the main reason (one language is the big one) but it eliminates a sometimes exorbitant charge. It's worth costing out dropping on one side of the border, training across the border to your next destination, then picking up a different car later.

When planning my itineraries travel time drives my mode of transportation choice. I try to keep my travel time on a single travel day to four hours (sometimes it may be five or six but I try to keep four the rule). I find four hours makes your travel day reasonably unrushed through packing, checking out, breakfast, making connections, lunch, getting to your next lodging, unpacking and being ready for dinner without being overly stressed.

If it's more than four hours driving. I'll look into faster trains. If it's over four hours by train, I'll consider a plane. If I'm simply going city to city, even if under four hours driving, I'll take a train unless I have a real need for a car. I rent a car when it's needed for making my own stops that aren't easily accessible by train. As an example, I flew into Paris, took a train to Lyon, rented a car for lots of stops through Chamonix, Ardeche, Provence and the drive to the Riviera. Turned in the car in Antibes and used the train for all my day trips up and down the coast while there. Flew out of Nice back to Paris on Air France.

Very few people here are experienced travelers "in Europe"; but in parts of Europe, maybe.

Krakow, Vienna, Salzburg/Berchdesgaden area, Munich, Berlin

Krakow to Vienna: 1 hour flight, about $100; the rest by train (mostly under 3 hours a leg).

Better Idea

Krakow to Budapest: 1 hour flight, about $60 (spend a few nights); Budapest to Vienna and parts further by train (mostly under 3 hours a leg).

I would suggest avoiding the rental car option, as all the places listed above are easily done by train and also night trains, if you want that option.

Renting a car is no option for me, never did it, don't ever plan on doing that either in Europe. All the places listed above I have been to often by train, day or night.

In the greater Berlin area, I go out to the villages out in the sticks in Brandenburg but , luckily, I have not needed to rent a car, though there are certain advantages having one in terms of flexibility in reaching more places.