Paris to Venice 17 days

A car rented in one country and dropped off in another incurs a huge drop fee ( typically $500+).

If you need to be a budget traveler a one way car rental is not your friend. Rental cars are good for places that lack bus/train service.

Joe32 I did notice that whilst researching but what other way would work easily for a family of 4? Remembering it doesn't take too many train trips to add up to $500 plus bucks either.

Hey Dave, just remember that fuel in Italy costs about AU$1.60 per liter. Tolls can be quite expensive and you have to by a vignette to use highways in Switzerland. To check toll costs, fuel cost and travel time, I’d suggest using the ViaMichelin app or web site. Remember that the drop fee is in addition to the car rental fee and parking in European cities is quite expensive. In Italy you’ll also need an International Driver Permit. I speak from experience having often hired cars in many countries.

For a family of four with the itinerary you propose, I would rent a car. Though it might be costlier than trains, the convenience and flexibility might very well be worth it. You could check out of a hotel and leave for your destination immediately rather than being tied to train schedules. You would also have the ability to visit sites on your route not available to you if traveling by rail. But the bottom line is the bottom line. If you cost out the expense of both means or travel, you’ll see if a car hire is a luxury.

Thanks Phillip, id love to hear from others who have done a similar trip as a family 4 and there experiences. ha ha on a side note we pay over $1.60 a litre for fuel in Australia ! I hired a car 2 years ago in Italy and they happily accepted my australian drivers licence.

I hired a car 2 years ago in Italy and they happily accepted my australian drivers licence.

Many/most car rental agents will be happy to see just your driver license..... should you ever have occasion to deal with the police, "happily accepted my australian drivers licence." is not what you will be reporting.

The one week I drove in Italy, I came upon 2 locations where the police were randomly waving cars to pull off. Once it was the car directly in front of me. I just got a wave on. Why they were pulling cars over and how they chose which ones remains a mystery.

thanks Joe good to know

There's certainly no shortage of great places to stop on or near the route from Paris to Venice. I have no personal experience driving in Europe, but others have warned about the challenge of acquiring a car large enough to accommodate four people and their luggage. If you plan to make mid-day stops for sightseeing or food, you'll need to be able to fit all your belongings in the trunk (those you aren't carrying with you, at least).

If it fits with your ultimate travel path, I recommend the museum housing the Iceman in Bolzano. The nearby Dolomites are a great area for outdoor activities, and staying there is usually much cheaper than comparable accommodations in Switzerland. I don't know what sort of weather you might run into in October, though.

Grindelwald is famous in the Berner Oberland. But you could also go Lucerne to Lugano on the Swiss Panorama Express which includes the Lake Lucerne Steamer ride from the city to the south end of the lake at Altdorf and then the panorama train across the Gotthard Pass into Ticino (Swiss Canton next to Italy) and then on to Italy (Lake Como, Milan, Verona, Bolzano, Venice, etc. etc.). You will never get closer to the Alps than through the Gotthard Pass - although it will all be through a window unless you can break the journey in Altdorf. It is perhaps not "budget conscious" but it is spectacular.

https://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html

and

https://www.postauto.ch/en/

https://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/travel-in-switzerland/panoramareisen/gotthard-panorama-express.html

Sstrassbourg is great, loved Interlakken and Lucerne Switzerland.

Milan, Verona, Venice.

If you decide on a car, look into leasing ( Renault and Peugot I believe have programs ). The drop off fee is not as big and they come with insurance

NickB thank you heaps, the Swiss Panorama Express looks amazing and I have found I can pre purchase a Swiss Half Fare Card which is Unlimited half price tickets on trains, buses, boats and public transport in cities. This also covers the Panorama express. Does anyone know if a Eurail Pass covers this ? So I could stay at Grindelwald a few nights then head up to Lucerne then south and into Italy. Slowly coming together. Please keep the suggestions coming.

The Eurail pass is not convenient for travel in France and Italy because you still need to buy "seat reservations" for Pass holders in these countries, which is a hassle, especially since pass holder quotas do run out (in France at least). So in France and Italy it is usually best to go with point to point tickets.

Italy and France look really close on a map and seem like a perfect combination until you realize why they are two very different countries with different languages, it's really hard to get from one to the other. Traveling through Switzerland seems the obvious route until you try to plan it and come to the realization that it's really expensive and not at all easy to pass through.
The most budget conscious/ efficient route for 4 people would be to fly a budget airline booked well in advance.
I have gone from Florence- to Dijon in a day by train( via Milan & Lausanne) but it was a looong day.
Spend time in Paris (do a bike tour, the kids and you will love it) and then fly to Rome or Florence. From there take the train to Venice. If you want to rent a car (I would) do it in Tuscany and you can stay in some really great places cheap compared to the big cities.
The flight will cost less than $100 compared to $100 or more for any high speed train ticket. Even with passes trains through Switzerland add up fast. The shorter train trips in Italy (or driving 4 people) will be much less expensive.