Road trip from Germany to Rome and back over the Week of October 9, 2022.

Yes, you could encounter snow. I live in a mountain town that’s seen snow on the 4th of July and on Memorial Day. If you’re not prepared for it, the odds of it happening seem to increase. If you rented an SUV, do you have experience driving in snow and ice? Many of the mountain passes may even be closed at that time anyway, especially if they get snow.

What exactly are you hoping to see? Would you compromise by taking the train across the alps, then renting a car for the Italy portion of the trip? Although from what I’ve seen, I wouldn’t want a car in any big city in Italy. Rental car prices are insane now, too.

Personally, I will not drive in Italy. You are likely to get a ticket a year later for an incredible amount. Also, parking is hard to find in most Italian cities. Take the train.

from where in Germany? It is an awfully big country, especially when you are driving.

Do you know that, depending on what route you need, you probably will have to drive through parts of Switzerland and/or Austria. For both those countries you will have to pay a fair bit of money to buy a road permit sticker called a Vignette and stick it to your windscreen.

Is there a reason you want to drive instead of the much easier and cheaper options of train or fly?

Is this a one way trip which will involve a major drop charge, or a two way where you have to drive all the way to (wherever)?

clindaas26, welcome to this newsboard with your first post.

Have you rented a car in Europe before? Been to Germany or Italy before? Cities for this trip? Plan for insurance is? Number of persons and ages? What does your "dream" road trip promise to deliver to you?

Thank you all so much for your input, you have been most helpful. No we have never been to Germany or Italy before, we are going to vacation with our son who is stationed at Spangdahlem. We have decided to cancel our rental vehicle and opt for a train, we would be leaving from Bitburg. Do you guys recommend a website to book a train with? Again thank you for your time and assistance.

Snow in the week of October 9th is frankly not a concern at all except on the very highest mountain passes (and even then, they normally close in late Oct, not before), which you can always skip.
What's more of a concern here is the distance: it's quite a way from Bitburg to Italy and back! Cancelling the car rental was smart for that reason (and that reason alone).
And even the train to Rome will take 1 day and 1 night, each way...
Perhaps you could fly from Luxembourg or Frankfurt Hahn (the latter served by Ryanair)?

Regarding buying train tickets, it depends. Since you are starting in Bitburg, this site https://www.bahn.de/ is the logical place to buy ticket for within Germany and also from Germany to the next country. After that, it depends on your route.

What cities do you plan to stop in on the way to and from Rome? It sounds like a trip that is 100% travel time with nights in different cities coming-and-going, unless you can figure out how to make a night train work for you.

Help us out on a planned route/stops and we can better help you plan.

before you go or after you return you might spend a little time in Luxembourg (the country, as well as the city). It is right across the river from Bitburg.

Transportation is free in Luxembourg.

You didn't say whether you have ever been to Europe before. I wonder if a less ambitious trip might be a better use of your son's week of leave. Does he go on time-off trips himself? If not, Amsterdam or Paris might consume less travel time for the family outing. If you have chosen Rome for family or religious reasons, it's hard to argue, but it's not as if Rome is a suburb of Bitburg. Even closer, Cologne/Duesseldorf/Aachen is good for five days. It just seems so far to go! Berlin is a major city of the world.