Travelling 30 days in Europe by car and would appreciate help or input on the itinerary

I support your decision to keep this trip plan flexible and that should be easy enough to do with a car. It seems to me that you could just as easily cut Northern Italy and Switzerland as cut Krakow and Budapest. When departing Budapest, look at driving south via the High Tatra mountains, at Zakopane on the Polish side or small towns up the mountain from Poprad on the Slovakian side. Kosice and Eger are also worthwhile, mid-sized stops before Budapest, if you have time. www.viamichelin.com is a good estimator for drive times.

I'm not clear on your car arrangements, but the usual advice for a 30 day trip is to lease, not rent. The big leasing companies are French, and they charge a substantial fee for pick-up or drop-off outside of France. However, there may still be advantages in leasing. You should at least check into the whole issue of leasing vs renting.
BTW, congratulations! It's a great way to celebrate.

Laura
Thanks. I will check out all those locations you mention and I have viamichelin in my Internet Favorites. I'll come back to you if I have any further questions.
Rosalyn
Thanks, but I already did my research and decided that a rental was the way to go for me. I got a really good rate from Auto Europe, with a small drop off fee at a different city in Germany. If I had wanted to drop off the car in Paris, the drop off fee would have been punishing.

Trying to realistically encompass everything on your wishlist, this is nonetheless quite ambitious.

May
02. Munich
04. Cesky Krumlov
06. Prague
09. Krakow
11 Budapest
14. Vienna
17. Salzburg
19. Dolomites
21. Verona/Venice
24. Milan/Lake Como
27. Annecy/Mont Blanc
30. Burgundy
01. Karlsruhe

Obviously locations given are as a guide to timings as you will no doubt choose to stay in rural locations or on the outskirts of big cities, but with parking and convenient public transport.

Autobahns are rather regulated now and not the high speed free-for-all that may have once existed.

I've always thought a nice eastern leg includes Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna and Budapest. That's hard from Munich unless you catch a hop from Munich to Berlin right away, rent a car there and start. Krakow is kind of out of the way but not impossible, probably best after Prague, then start back through Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich then continue to Karlsruhe. I'm assuming it would be Karlsruhe to Strassbourg then back to Paris

If you limited yourself to the cities, you would probably be happier with trains. They take you straight into centers and there's no need to worry about parking a car when you aren't using it anyway. Plus no autobahn driving. I think you qualify for discount fares.

Happy 50th! That's a great accomplishment. I hope this trip is a nice chapter to start the rest of your lives together.

Regarding leasing. I leased from Amterdam to Rome. There was a pick up/drop charge but it was less than the rentals charge. If you drop anywhere in France, there is no drop charge but I'm not sure it's worth picking up there to save a pick up charge - too many additional miles/time lost.

I'm would imagine you have already done this, but make sure the rental car can go into all of those countries. We rent cars for our 30 day trips (often out of Germany) but once we had to change our car rental company because we were driving into Slovenia and they didn't allow it.

The autobahn can be fast, but you just stay in the right hand lane out of the way of those fast cars. But, it is faster than home. I think we average around 90 miles an hour. I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to high speeds and as weird as it sounds this doesn't bother me. I think their cars are made to handle speed much more than ours so it is a very smooth ride and doesn't feel as fast as you might think.

Make sure to get an international drivers permit at any AAA before you leave home.

We drove from Munich to the Italian Dolomites, over to Verona, Lake Como (Varenna), up to Switzerland (Gimmelwald), then to Burgundy France (near Avalon), on to Alsace wine region of France (Eguisheim) then back into Germany. It was wonderful!!

I almost think you need to eliminate some of your stops. It seems like too much to me for the 30 days. We find that 3 nights is really the minimum we like to stay at any given place, unless there isn't much there. That is only 2 1/2 days of sight seeing at each place, and don't forget it gets very tiring and we are likely 20 years younger!

Thanks to those who have responded.
I should probably have stressed that the flight to Munich was booked a long time ago and isn't going to change and the car has also been booked and paid for. I am happy with the transportation arrangements I have made so far, as I did a lot of research before making the decision. The main question for deliberation is the route we will take.

As some of you have mentioned, the itinerary is ambitious. Originally, we didn't even consider Krakow (Poland) or Budapest (Hungary) and just thought we would wander through the Czech Republic and back west through Austria. We still want to spend some time in the southern part of France, which is why I thought we could achieve that by travelling through part of Switzerland and northern Italy.

We were in Burgundy a few years ago and got as far south as Macon, so this time we would like to have a look further south. We will only be passing through the more northerly part of France on our way back to Karlsruhe (Germany), where incidentally Hertz only charges a 27 Euro drop off fee paid locally. If we are going to get into France to visit this area, it more or less seems that we have to include part of Switzerland and northern Italy, or at least, that route wouldn't be an extra diversion. That's why I thought that if we had to drop any choices, it would be Krakow and Budapest, because that is extending the trip eastwards.

You list mostly big cities. If you want to see big cities you don't have to travel by car, which are a nuisance in places like Prague or Budapest. A car makes sense if you want to see the countryside, castles, small towns, villages etc.. But in this case Germany, Czechia, Poland, Hungary, Switzerland, Northern Italy and France are way too much. There is so much to see between the few big cities you mention that three or four countries are more than enough. Just an example: between CK and Prague are Holasovice (World Heritage Site), Ceske Budejovice/Budweis, Hluboka castle, Tabor and Karlstejn castle. And that's just a short leg on your trip.
Your road trip would be much more enjoable if you would slow down.

Martin
You're right of course. We know there is so much to see between the cities I have listed, which is why we chose the flexibility of travelling by car. We can go as fast or as slow as we like and stop in the places that appeal to us.

This only a strategy at the moment. We are striving to get something settled in our minds.

We always start off with grand ideas and then pare them down to size, but 3 or 4 countries in 30 days isn't enough for us. It is unlikely we will ever be back to Europe for any more exploring, so we want to see as many of the places that we have read about over the years, as we feel comfortable with.

Driving routes are a tricky one, and it's not my area of experience, but the observation to be made is that a car comes in to its own when you stick solely to countryside areas. If you are looking at spending a large chunk of your time in the big cities then you are way better off choosing to travel by train.

Having spent a lot of time driving in Europe I can let you know some of the realities. The highways and autobahns CAN be really great if they are clear. I have found, though, that traffic can be quite heavy sometimes because of large amounts of truck traffic. Whatever your estimated time of travel between cities, you should add at least 50% to that in case you hit traffic, which is likely.
Parking in large European cities is not ideal but it can be done. I've done it in most of them but it takes pre-planning, cash, and some creativity sometimes. You will spend quite a bit of cash on this. Of the cities you list, I've driven/parked in Paris, Prague, Cesky Krumlov and Budapest. In Paris there are two chains of parking garages called "Vincipark" and "Indigo". They are scattered around the city, are very secure, and well-marked. The trick is getting there via the warren of one-way streets, getting through all of the traffic, and finding the entrance. You'll pay quite a bit to park in them but there really aren't any alternatives in the city center...street parking is practically non-existent for anyone besides residents of Paris who have special parking stickers. Temporary street parking is sold in multi-hour chunks and you can't leave your car in any one place for very long without having to continually going back to "refill".
Prague is actually quite easy to park in provided you know where to go. There are a number of shopping malls scattered around the city that have beautiful parking garages where you can leave the car. We used the Palladium mall nearly every time we went into the center of the city...it has a metro station and is quite easy to drive to if you are coming from the south.
Cesky Krumlov is easy...there are several large parking lots just near the west gate that leads into the old part of the city.
Budapest is by far one of the most difficult cities I have driven in. SO MANY one way streets and little public parking. We only had a spot to park because our hotel had a garage. I would hate to know what might happen if we didn't have that available to us. Tons of construction and very bad traffic.
My recommendation would be to string the city-visiting part of your trip together and take trains. Rent a car after that and visit the more rural areas.

Anita
We won't be driving in Paris, but your comments on parking in cities is noted.
We won't be focusing on cities entirely, but when we do arrive in a city, we will likely drive straight to the place we are staying and leave the car there, then walking everywhere or using public transport.

I'm just curious. Did you find a reasonable place to stay in Karlsruhe? I need a place for one night, also dropping off a car, and want something with a bit of charm. I'd like to stay in a smaller village within about a 30-45 minute drive to Karlsruhe. Thanks!

The south of France encompasses many attractions but you are unfortunately constrained by your need to return the car in Karlsruhe on June 1. That rules out the Dordogne area, but still leaves you Provence.

I'd spend at least 3 nights there, in the Rhone Valley area, maybe more. Since you have visited Burgundy before, I propose stopping in Lyon on your way north, for 2 or 3 nights.

Have a wonderful trip.

Recently I checked some car rental deals in North America and Japan (we might travel to either area in the near future) and I was surprised to read that the maximum age for renting a car from them was 70 (possibly 75 in one case).
I am not sure if this a regional issue or if every car rental company has similar regulations. You might want to check this before planning a trip that includes renting a car.

Lorri

Yes, I can recommend a hotel in Karlsruhe.
We stayed at the Rio Hotel in the city and found it to be perfect for one night. It is a smallish family run hotel and it shows. We were greeted efficiently and were each given a coupon for a free beer at check-in. How nice is that?
We stayed in the Annex, which is just over the road from the main hotel building on a quiet street.
The curving ramp down to the parking is quite narrow, as are the parking spaces, all designed for smaller cars quite a number of years ago.
The room was very clean and quiet and the bed was the most comfortable one we slept in throughout our whole 9 week tour of Europe and the UK.
The dining room provides a top notch breakfast and dinner, so although we thought we might eat out in the evening, we decided to return to the hotel to dine and had absolutely no regrets. It was first class.
I have no trouble recommending the Rio Hotel. 5 stars from me.

Klaus
I had no problems in Continental Europe or the UK.
The car was booked well in advance and all questions about age were cleared up at the booking stage.
I used Auto Europe as a broker to arrange the rental and can recommend them highly. Extremely efficient and attentive and much better than booking direct with the rental company. It was cheaper for a start and they went out of their way to provide assistance when I had a problem with being offered a car by Hertz that wasn't up to standard.
It is a while since I rented a car in North America, but am aware that some companies have an age limit of 70. I hope you manage to find one that will waive this limit. Unfortunately, I am unable to offer any advice here.

The south of France encompasses many attractions but you are unfortunately constrained by your need to return the car in Karlsruhe on June 1. That rules out the Dordogne area, but still leaves you Provence.

I'd spend at least 3 nights there, in the Rhone Valley area, maybe more. Since you have visited Burgundy before, I propose stopping in Lyon on your way north, for 2 or 3 nights.

Have a wonderful trip.
Adam
Thank you for your comment.
The trip is now complete and as you thought, we were not able to go to the Dordogne as a result of taking our time on the eastern part of the trip.
We did however, manage to get down to Provence and actually visited Cannes during the Film Festival. That was a surprise, as I had no idea it was being held at that time. We stayed north of there for one night and then moved on to Rousillon for two nights; too early for the lavender fields unfortunately. On our way north, we stayed at Tournus and Chalone sur Saone, where we have stayed on a previous trip. We like both of those places.