Germany - Austria - Switzerland - Italy - 31 Day Itinerary

Come back for feedback once you have done some studying and have some destinations in mind. I would also delay the car/rail decision until you've done that. Trains in Germany are often the cheaper alternative, more fun, and not at all impacted by the shady rental agency practices one finds in Germany. I'd do the car thing only if truly necessary.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187275-i116-k4081322-Don_t_rent_a_car_from_SIXT_that_s_all_I_am_saying-Germany.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187337-i301-k4818586-Dollar_Thrifty_car_rental_is_running_a_Scam-Frankfurt_Hesse.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g187337-i301-k5675839-Frankfurt_Airport_Budget_Avis_BEWARE-Frankfurt_Hesse.html

Trains often follow the same scenic routes that cars travel, as you see here along the Mosel River. But on the train, even the driver can enjoy the scenery fully. In big cities, a car is useless, but you still pay to park it and of course the rental fee. Day passes like the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket are great for families, make outings cheap, and offer a flexible way to get around with no one having to take the back seat.

What I would do:

Rick's 14 day best of Europe tour. This would be a great option because it economically knocks out a all of the big sites that you might want to hit. I went on that tour after I have travelled Europe quite a bit and really enjoyed it. The best part is that someone else does all the logistics and everyone else can just relax and enjoy. Since you're flying into Frankfurt you could stay there for a couple of days or hit somewhere else in Germany and then make your way to the start of the tour. While you're on the tour you can talk to the guides and other people on the tour and decide how to spend the rest of your time in Europe.

• More time in the Alps

• Get some sun and beach time in Italy somewhere or possible over in the islands in the Adriatic, specifically Hvar or Korcula in Croatia. I could easily spend a week or two there! And it has prices more like USA, so that helps too.

• More culture and cities in Vienna, Berlin, or Prague

Since you're staying in Europe for so long, you can choose where to fly home based on where you can get the most direct flight home. Then no matter where you end up in Europe you just need to make it back to the departure airport a day (or possibly two to be extra safe) before your flight.

What do you think?

"... tips on how to save on lodgings for a family of 4" =
In a word, Ferienwohnungen (vacation apartments, holiday flats) are a great deal in less urban settings, places where Germans like to vacation. Local tourist offices and their websites have the most complete offerings. These can often be rented for as few as 3 days. They will cost less than two rooms (rooms for 4 are rare) and prevent you from having to eat out for every meal. Some samples for you to get a feel for such places are below:

St. Goar (Rhine River Valley town)
Boppard (also in the Rhine Valley)
Cochem (Mosel River Valley)

My number one tip for saving on lodging for a family of 4 would be to stay outside city centres and in smaller town, whenever reasonable. For example, when we visited Rothenburg ob der Tauber the first time we stayed here it's only 5 minutes drive outside Rothenburg but we found the prices better than staying in the centre of Rothenburg. This needs to work for your style of travel and the things you want to see, though. We don't feel the need to be in the heart of the places in the evenings.

If you are choosing a place for a 'hub' stay, from which you plan to do day trips, don't be afraid to look outside the places listed in the guide books. For example: we stayed here on a trip to the Berner Oberland a few years ago (the rates have gone up since then) and paid a fraction of what we would have paid for the same accommodation in a place like Murren. The views were amazing, the community was quaint (if not guide-book worthy) and it was only a 10 minute drive (something we didn't mind) down the mountain to Interlaken.

Look for apartment rentals wherever possible. We have found some great deals for our family on those occasions when we wanted to stay in the centre of towns ... and in the countryside, too. Many places will rent for only a few days you just have to ask. This also allows you to save by being able to cook your own meals (and enjoy shopping at some of the amazing markets!!). On our last trip, we ate at restaurants/cafes/food stalls for lunch and cooked our evening meal in our apartments. It saved us a lot by the end of the trip.

Don't forget to calculate the extra cost of transportation into your accommodation prices when you stay outside a city/town centre. If you stay in the suburbs of Vienna (like we did), for example, you will end up paying for the public transportation into the city centre for everyone each day and factor that into your cost. For us, this wasn't an issue as we prefer to be in the countryside and only made two trips into Vienna over 5 days.

Lastly, don't compromise! Sometimes paying extra for the hotel in the heart of everything is the best deal.

As for your questions about itinerary, we need more information - what do you want to see, where do you want to go, etc.

The Explore Europe section of this site is divided by country, like Rick's guidebooks, with summaries pulled from the books. For more ideas about stringing together a multi-country route, see the Europe tour itineraries, but note that these are traveling pretty fast. You may need a little more slack in the timing.