Paris, Germany, Italy in Oct

You don't want to rent a car in one country and return in another, unless you want to pay a big price for your freedom. You could take the train from Munich to Verona and rent a car for Italy there. Or you could look into flying from Munich to Florence or Lucca, rent a car there and turn it in before staying in Florence. I think your schedule looks pretty good.

You can take the TGV train from Paris Gare de l'Est to Frankfurt. It takes 4 hours and if you buy 3 months ahead, it's a whopping €35 for the ticket (nonrefundable).

Unless something's changed drastically or you're very rich, there's no (quick) 'flying b/n Munich and Pisa/Florence/Tuscany', unfortunately...been there, tried that for days LOL! I'm with Andrea on training to Verona (€39,00 2nd cl, €69,00 1st cl advanced-purchase ticket from bahn.com) then renting a car from there. There are several of these non-stop trains each day, but those great fares do sell out - you can start purchasing them 92 days before departure. The trip takes 5h30m. Maybe take a picnic onboard... A rental would be a good idea in the hilltowns, especially if you're looking at ones that really can't be (easily) reached by train anyway. http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml EDIT: I'm with Chani on that, too - I just assumed you had already booked airline tickets by the way you worded your thread...but I'd take the train. Of course, I'm a train freak LOL! But still - you have to spend time getting to the airport and arriving early to go through security (in a foreign language/culture, too!), getting on the airplane, hoping it's not delayed, getting from the airport back into the city, blah blah blah, I'd definitely take the train for a 4-hour trip. IF you haven't already booked the flight ;-)

Thank you for your good input. I will look into the train from Munich into Italy. Happy to hear it is ok to rent a car in Italy. Do I buy the train tickets on-line thorugh
Eurorail? I looked into day tours in Paris & Florence today. Are bus tours recommended? Thanks.

I bought tickets online for my Verona - Munich ticket from the German website --- www.bahn.com. It was very easy. The scenery is great too!!

Hi Andrea, Thanks for the tip.

I believe you need an international driver's license for each driver for car rentals in Italy. I think you can get them at most (some?) AAA branches.

Logistics comments: Flying from Paris to Frankfurt seems odd. Door-to-door, a train will take the same amount of time, maybe even less, and cost a heck of a lot less. You haven't said what you departure airpot is. You seem to be intending to rent a car twice - - two short term rentals will cost a heck of a lot more than one of a longer term. Renting a car in Italy is expensive since you have to choke the cdw yourself since your credit card won't cover it you can rent a car in Germany and take it into Italy without the cdw problem, however. Kayak shows that you can rent a car in Frankfurt and drop it anywhere in Germany (18 Oct to 4 Nov) for five hundred bucks. Parking it in Munich for five days (assuming you don't use it for your day trips) will stiff you another two hundred. You can drive from Florence to Munich in a day and still have time for stops in Verona and Innsbruck.

"Fly to Frankfurt - rent a car -drive Romantic road - stay in Rothenburg 2 nights -drive to Fussen - stay 2 nights drive to Munich - turn in car." Sounds expensive. Buy an advance-sale ticket soon (limited quantities) at the DB site and you can probably train from Paris to Rothenburg for 39 Euros. They're sold 92 days out - so today you can buy for as late as 10/17, tomorrow for 10/18, etc. Read the details. One traveler? A Bayern ticket will get you from Rothenburg to Füssen and from Füssen to Munich by public transport for 21 Euros per day. http://www.munich-touristinfo.de/Bavaria-Ticket.htm The itinerary you outline here would cost 81 Euros total this way.

We're taking a direct flight to Paris (only direct flight to Europe from Pittsburgh) I wish I would have explored the train before purchasing the air tickets. I've been told it is very costly to rent a car in one country and drop off in another. I like the idea of train from Munich into Italy - maybe Bolonga or Verona. Thanks for the information on the driver's permit. I did apply for this. AAA is very inexpensive. Is there a better car rental company in Europe? I'm curious as to the one for $500.

For car rentals I always check them all, and put a hold on the cheapest one. I do not prepay, just in case...so I use the companies that do not require this... Hertz,a Budget, Avis, etc. There is never one that is always cheaper so you have to check them all. I keep checking till right before I leave, because one might go down, then I change my reservation. There can be a huge drop fee, but not always. Each time it is different, so do not be afraid to ask. If it means the convenience of having the car when and where I want it, I will pay the drop fee. Not worth reworking my whole trip to avoid this fee. You do not need your car to drive around Munich, but if you take day trips and have a vehicle you might as well drive and explore. There are hotels in Munich where you can park your car, and its not $50 a day for the car.