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Car rental vs leasing? Month in Europe

Posted by on

I would really appreciate any advice about renting a car or leasing a car for a month this Fall vs using Eurail. We are flying in to Zurich on September 10th and leaving out of Rome on October 7th. We plan to go thru Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia and Italy. It looks like a Rail pass would get us about 10 days travel within 2 months for about $600 ea. x 4 peoples = $2400, but, we would need more than one each for a month? Rail has advantages because we don't have to navigate the roadways, so, much less stressful, but, we plan to have a GPS loaded for all countries and would probably just park the car outside of major cities like Munich or Venice or Rome. It seems that even with parking fees and gas, renting a car or leasing may be much less expensive than the train?

We are trying to plan this so we have at least 2 to 3 nights minimum in one location.

Has anyone ever used SIXT car rental or leasing?

Posted by
8889 posts

Before you decide on a car, which, as you say has to be parked outside city centres (for which you pay) , and you still have to pay for public transport to get into the city, read this: www.seat61.com/Railpass-and-Eurail-pass-guide.htm
Especially the statement: "If you'll forgive me for saying so, overseas visitors often seem brainwashed into thinking that taking a train in Europe has to mean buying a Eurail pass. Of course not."

"using Eurail." - THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A EURAIL TRAIN". Eurail is an agency which sells passes which are valid on many of the railway companies which operate in Europe. Unless you are travelling every day, and for significant distances every day, a pass is a lot lot more expensive than just getting "normal" tickets for each journey direct from the company which runs the train.
Read the rest of that site: www.seat61.com for all you need to know for rail travel in Europe.

Also, a one way car hire from one country to another (Switzerland to Italy) incurs a large surcharge. Have you got an estimate for the car hire including this surcharge?

I think you will find individual train tickets, bought in advance at the discounted advance-purchase rates will be cheaper than a car.

P.S. 2 to 3 nights should be an absolute minimum in any one place. The big names (Munich, Venice, Florence, Rome etc.) need 4-5 nights. You may want to review the list of places you are going to, and cut a few out. Save them for next time.

Posted by
16893 posts

Most passes are the flexipass style that you mentioned, so you don't have to "travel nearly every day" for a rail pass to make sense. But you would not buy a 10-day flexipass if you didn't have 10 travel days of significant length; there are more "smaller" choices this year than last year for both the Global and Select passes. The one- or two-month validity window of pass starts when you have it activated at the train station, so you don't need more than one. Ticket costs will be easier to compare when your itinerary is more firm.

Take a look at your connection plan from Croatia to Italy; train is not particularly convenient, so you'd probably fly (www.skyscanner.com) or take a ferry (www.jadrolinija.hr) or drive. Certainly four people in a car is the best way to share the associated costs. See also https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/car-rental-costs if you didn't already. You can also do train between cities and just use a car for a more rural portion of the trip, such as departing Vienna, into Slovenia and Croatia, and dropping at Venice (but with a 2nd-country drop fee).

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