Feasability of renting a car in Germany and dropping off in France with senior passengers

Is this trip starting next week?

A rental car should not cost that much for use within Germany, but could cost that much if you drop it in a different country. You definitely don't want to drive within Paris. Although trains serve all your destinations, I'd look a booking a rental car from departing Berlin to arriving in a Munich or your last German destination. See lots of car rental tips at https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation.

Once you choose where that might be, then reserve train tickets to Paris through the DB link at How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online. Since it's too late for the cheaper advance-discount tickets, you might also want to compare flight prices at www.skyscanner.com.

www.viamichelin.com can help you plan routes and will estimate fuel costs as well as French autoroute tolls. No tolls in Germany.

Driving in Germany is easy and safe. Might cost a bit more than a train for point-to-point travel, but it's ideal if you just want to wander a bit. Especially if you want to explore the more rural areas not serviced by rail. Might want to look into getting an International Driver's License and familiarize yourself with basics like road signs and directional language so you're able to point yourself in the right direction once you're on the ground there.

-Is it worth scenically and financially to take a rented car to France, Paris, or should I leave the rented car in Germany at my last
destination and then fly/take the train to Paris?

Drop the car you rented in Germany on the German side before you go to France, to avoid the punitive fees of dropping a car in a different country from where it was rented. If you have your heart set on seeing some of rural France, you could cross the Rhine to the Alsace region of France, take in some of the little towns there, then pop back over to a decent sized town on the German side to return the car, and then catch a train to Paris. You won't need or want a car in Paris. Plenty of options (taxis, Uber, metro, buses) to help you and your parents get around to see all the sights within the city.

Depending on where you want to explore for a day outside the city once in Paris, there will most likely be tours that you can join, or trains or other public transportation that can get you there. As a last resort, you could rent a car on the outskirts of Paris, do your day of exploring or drive to a specific destination, then return it to the same place and metro/RER back into the city to your hotel. But with the relatively short amount of time you'll have, Paris itself should offer more than enough interesting things for you to do and see!

If you don't know if it a 8 or 9 day trip, do you not have your airfare taken care of? Do you mean you are leaving in 5 days?

It is quite a long way all the way from the far east of Germany - Berlin - to north central France - Paris.

Will your parents enjoy such long travel? That might make more sense if you had two or three weeks to make the journey, driving for 3 hours or so and then stopping for 3 nights or so, then going on another 3 or 4 hours and so on.

I'd worry that in the seven days you may have - you have to discount the first arrival date and the last departure date - they won't be able to enjoy it.

We can help but we need help with specifics. What do they and you want to see? Budget? What is actually set in concrete at this point?

Are you traveling with an unlimited budget for last minute reservations, or on the other hand are you traveling Space-A or buddy?

Thank you everyone for the really helpful replies! This is the first time I have participated in a forum so I am so excited to have gotten such great advice. Laura I will definitely look up the links you provided to help estimate my budget according to route. Hubestur, that seems like a great idea to use the car and then return it to Germany, thanks!

And Nigel, I have a long answer to your question. I'm afraid I am even more ill-prepared than you might be thinking. Plans for a Europe tour was made last minute. Basically it is actually me, my parents, my brother and my sister in law. We leave on the 2nd for Turkey. We stay there for 3 days then arrive in Berlin on the 6th. We are planning on staying in Berlin for 2 days then we have till the 14 to enjoy Germany and France which is where i need advice on what to do. 8th/9th is where I would like to separate from my brother and his wife so they can enjoy their honeymoon. Although it is ideal to share a car, we probably will each rent a separate car and go separate routes (they need their privacy!) or use trains. Finally my sister-in-lay has a conference in Italy which is where we will arrive on the 15th from France. My parents then leave on the 17th (I stay for another week).

Our plan sounds haphazard but is it doable?

Was a bit confused with what Space A meant. No, not Space A or Buddy travel. Definitely the cheapest option would be the best a long as it is not uncomfortable. you're probably right Nigel. If it such a long journey, they might not enjoy it. Would simply flying everywhere be a better idea then. Then should the trip simply be Berlin (2 days) -Munich and surrounding sights (3 days) - Paris (3 days) - Rome (1 day)

The arrival in Berlin and departure from Rome is set in stone. We would like to see the main sites in Berlin and then enjoy the beautiful countryside of Germany and it's castles. Lodging in a small rustic town which is close to day tours would be ideal, then we can explore the town after sight seeing in the day. In Munich, I was thinking maybe the Neuschwanstein castle and the Burge Eltz to explore. Any other suggestions? As mentioned, there is certainly enough to see in Paris so we'll probably stick to that

I really do wish you the best of luck, but this is going to be expensive if you haven't made any reservations yet. In particular, the budget airlines between European cities aren't very "budget" at the last minute. If it were me, I would stick to trains and not mess with renting a car (let alone two!). Trains are very comfortable, and allow people to get up and walk around. And as others have said, you don't need or want a car in the cities. Do you have accomodations booked yet? If not, you really need to get on that, or you will be spending a lot of your short time finding a place to stay.

Or ... Since you're commited to flying out of Italy, maybe France should be another trip and you could relax on the trains to Italy. Riding in a car for long stretches is NOT always comfortable; on the train you will probably have toilets, room to walk around, time to nap or look at scenery. (Things old people like me appreciate.)

yeah, I'm booking and finalizing everything today then, and thanks for the google flights site. So we will be using the train in Berlin, to Munich and then train/plane to Paris or straight to Italy. We'll all stick together, and if the cost is feasible use the car to explore more days in Germany near Munich such as the Black forest and Romantic Road and nearby castles. What do you all think?

In Munich, I was thinking maybe the Neuschwanstein castle and the Burge Eltz to explore.

to explore more days in Germany near Munich such as the Black forest and Romantic Road and nearby castles.

Please note that neither Burg Eltz nor the black forest are near Munich. Also the southernmost interesting point at the Romantic road (Nördlingen) is arrived after a 2 hours ride only. Even the trip to Neuschwanstein takes 2 hrs. one way.

I'd suggest you to look at a map for the location of your planned destinations and calculate driving times (100km/h on the autobahn, 70 km/h on highways at the most; don't trust google maps - it's way too optimistic).