Travelling from Italy to Ireland - Family of 5

Are you aware of the Schengen Zone limit of 90 days within any rolling 180-day period? It applies to Americans, Canadians, etc., and potentially could affect your time allocations. Ireland and England are not part of the Schengen Zone, so your time there will not be a concern. Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany are Schengen countries; your time there cannot exceed 90 days, and both your arrival day(s) and departure day(s) count.

I have no experience driving in Europe. With a family of five, it's an idea worth exploring for at least part of your trip if you want to see rural areas, villages, etc. There are some complications, though, including these:

• A vehicle large enough for 5 people and 5 people's luggage will be a challenge to maneuver on medieval streets and difficult to park. (And parking can be costly even for a small vehicle.) You need to be able to hide 100% of your luggage if you're making stops in transit, because theft from vehicles at tourist sights (or restaurants) can be an issue.

• Knowledgeable posters have said one large vehicle can cost as much to rent as two small vehicles.

• Ordinary rentals usually come with extremely high drop charges when the car is picked up and dropped off in different countries. The good news is that, should you decide it makes sense to have a car for the bulk of the trip, leasing may be a good option for you. It will probably be less expensive. I don't know how flexible the leasing companies are about international drop-offs.

• If you try to use the same car on both sides of the English Channel, the driver will be sitting on the wrong side of the vehicle part of the time.

• Car-rental agreements often disallow taking the car on a ferry. I have no idea whether the Eurotunnel would be an issue, or whether there would be problem making the crossing in a leased vehicle.

Should you decide to depend mostly on public transportation, you can potentially save a great deal of money on airplane and train tickets if you buy those very early. However, in many cases those advance tickets will be non-refundable/non-changeable, so you need to be careful about those purchases. Local, short-distance train tickets are usually fixed-price, so they can typically be bought on the spur of the moment without penalty.

Amazing, Thank you for putting that effort into a response for a stranger, I do appreciate it. A lot of good points, and no, I had no idea about the zoning and 90 /180 days. That would indeed be important. I am prepared to make everyone travel light particularly for the sake of dragging bags around and the space they would take up in a vehicle. I am thinking rent a car in each country for the sake of seeing that country - and taking bus/ train or plane to the next spot. Does thats seem reasonable ? - I would switch starting point to Ireland because I have to fly out of same airport as I fly in to - working our way from Ireland towards Italy, and after spending our max time in Italy , France, Germany we would go back to spend balance of time in England and Ireland. Can cars be rented at train stations ? I appreciate the help it is a work in progress obviously and I am excited to have my ideas become a plan. Thanks so much

Instead of backtracking you should fly open jaw. Into one airport out of the other.

Personally I’d fly into Germany, train to France, from Paris take the Eurostar to London. Explore England by car and train depending on where you wish to go and then from London or Manchester fly to Dublin.

Fly home from Shannon on the West Coast of. Ireland.

There are often rental-car locations at train stations. However, many folks do all they can to avoid driving in major European cities. European cities just are not like ours--the part you're interested in seeing is probably built on a medieval footprint with very narrow streets, you won't find parking just everywhere, in some countries non-residents cannot drive in the historic districts, and since they have a lot more public transportation than most US cities, there's the issue of bus lanes.

The degree to which driving is best depends partly on where you are going. You simply will not be using the car while you're in a major city; you'll just be paying to park it while you walk from sight to sight or take advantage of the normally-superb public transportation. On the other hand, 5 train tickets can get pricey for some trips. Are you traveling with children? What are their ages? Some countries have discounted tickets for children.

It sounds like you intend to cover a lot of miles on this trip; gasoline is a lot more expensive in Europe. Google tells me the average cost in France was $5.35 per gallon on June 1. In some parts of Europe highway tolls can be substantial.

Whatever you do: Carefully research the rules of the road and the signage in all countries you decide to drive in. Many, many people show up on this forum, reporting they've started receiving costly traffic tickets in the mail months after they've returned home. Those can be a significant post-trip expense.

But first, figure out the key places you want to go.

Have you already determined your flight to Ireland? Shannon Airport, in western Ireland, is handy for flying into and/or out of. Frankly, the western part of Ireland is our favorite by far, although there’s a lot in northern and eastern Ireland. Dublin’s the capitol and is famous, but depending on how much time you have, western Ireland gives you the most for your time. Check on the Irish airline, Aer Lingus, to see if their flights might meet your needs, including times and prices.

Also the Irish bus line, Bus Eireann (with an Irish Setter in the side of the bus, not a Greyhound!) could help move your family around. A car rental company, Irish or otherwise, might not have any issue with you taking the vehicle on a ferry, but make sure. There are plenty of drivers from Continental Europe, seemingly mostly from Belgium and Italy based on their license plates, who take their cars and vans over to Ireland/Scotland/England and manage OK. At least they’re used to which side the steering wheel and other controls are located, although they’re driving from the “other” seat. A separate rental car in Ireland will solve all of that, although it can still take some getting used to driving from the right side of the car, but take your time and let others pass if you’re not going fast enough. Drivers are courteous, and just use your signals, and make sure you’re going the right way at roundabouts! A car is excellent for seeing the country, but in any part of Europe, it’s often a pain in cities, both the driving part and the very expensive parking part.

Our last Ireland trip, we flew into Dublin, then immediately hopped on a Bus Eireann bus to Galway, That let us catch a nap (we were jet-lagged coming from the USA, but that might not be your concern, having flown from Italy) and arrive Western Ireland, ready to go. The bus actually passed thru downtown Dublin on the way, so we got a mini tour of Dublin! After a day or two in Galway pick up your car, then you can visit the Areann Islands, like Inis Mor (also called Inishmore), the biggest, and then north to Connemara and Mayo/Sligo/Donnegal, or south, to the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, and County Kerry, including the must-see town of Dingle for several nights. We went clockwise that trip, thru Northern Ireland, too ( pounds for money, miles per hours instead of kilometers per hour) and finished in Dublin. Our first trip, we landed in Dublin, bussed to Galway, finished at Shannon Airport.

Unless you got an incredible roundtrip airline deal to/from Italy, then as already suggested, fly open jaw, from your home to Italy, but from Ireland to home. Have a great trip, either way!

Ireland is miserable January to March and can have wall to wall rain/snow. I wouldn’t start the trip there.

To cover a 6 month trip from winter to summer and from the balmy Italy to the cold Switzerland and the wet Ireland means that you are not going to be able to travel light unless you are going to add to the growing global problem of buying clothes, not wearing them much then discarding them. Even with just one piece of hand luggage each, you are going to need something bigger than a compact car. How old are the children? Will they need car seats?

You need separate cars for mainland Europe and the U.K. and Ireland. If you just want to see cities, take the train.

Accommodation prices will be significantly higher and busier around school holidays, particularly Easter so try not to be at the coast or in busy tourist spots at this time.

You really need to go to book store or library and procure some travel books on Europe. If you didn't know about the Schengen Agreement, you likely have not researched such a trip.
And travel with 5 people is somewhat difficult. Too many for one small vehicle, but you'll find leasing a van to be your best bet for transportation on The Continent. Sometimes budget European airlines is the best way to go long distances.
As mentioned, flying open jaw into one city and out of another city is best. Lowest price is not necessarily the best value when it comes to travel overseas. I don't care to take 22 hours on a one stop flight when it'd be a non-stop 7 hr. flight for more $.
And any travel starting in January would be best starting in the south. We usually travel the end of March and into April--wen the countries thaw out.
When you get to the point that you set your itinerary, you should get a good map, or study the route on Google Maps. Distances in Europe are often somewhat deceiving. France, Germany and Spain are quite large countries.
I would assume that you've not traveled Europe before. Many travelers have decided that it's best to slow down and take in fewer stops--and just travel better. It's not possible to see it all on one trip, especially with kids that may see the trip as one big blur.

Welcome to the forum, travelfam17 -

Lots of important points have already been covered, specifically the max stays of 90 days out of 180 for the Schengen, some of the finer points of auto travel in Europe, and winter weather in Ireland. Be aware also that you'll need an international driving permit if planning to rent a car, and you should buy health insurance which covers all of you while abroad; this should include medical evacuation back to the States if necessary. This would be cripplingly expensive if you had to pay for it out of pocket. In any case, don't assume that the policy you have covers you adequately when out of the country. There has been some forum chat regarding COVID and travel insurance, and it doesn't appear that most policies cover medical treatment should one come down with it abroad but I'm no authority on that subject.

Reference the U.S. State Dept. website for other details regarding travel in the countries you've listed.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel.html

A question?

I have to fly out of same airport as I fly in to

Why is that? Not having to backtrack will save both time and $.

As others have mentioned, buying an open jaw ticket would be the best option in your case, flying in to Ireland and out of Italy or v.v. That might be a bit costlier than a return ticket, but saves you having to buy a ticket back to your first destination. And you really need to keep track of your days in the Schengen zone to avoid any trouble. And remember that it is 90 days, not 3 months!

Regarding best modes of transportation and best paths to take it is hard to give any advice without knowing how old the children are. Best modes of transportation depends on where you are going but in general I'd say train (and ferry between Ireland and Great Britain). You could rent a car for a day or two if you want to go somewhere where a car would make more sense. But in general the train network covers most of the continent and is fast, safe, comfortable and affordable. And there are buses that will take you around any town, in larger cities usually trams, metros and commuter trains as well. In contrast, towns and cities are not built for cars and driving in them in not a nice experience, parking can also be very expensive. Also, if you decide to rent a car, make sure you know the traffic laws and the road signs!

Whether you need a car depends also in which country you are. There is a big difference between Germany and England on one hand where almost every small village has a railway station and Ireland on the other hand where the railway network is more limited and you would have to rely more on buses.

I am thinking rent a car in each country for the sake of seeing that
country - and taking bus/ train or plane to the next spot. Does thats
seem reasonable ?

A bit reasonable, but you can see a lot without having a car, so it depends on where you want to go.

Can cars be rented at train stations ?

Usually, or at least close to. But another option if you are in a large city is to take the train the first bit and rent the car in a smaller town to avoid the big city traffic.

Ditto on the health insurance issues. Contrary to what some people say, health care is not free in Europe, and your US prescriptions are not valid for refills over there. Talk to your insurance company here before you go about procedures for getting reimbursed for medical care over there. Its not straightforward and the care providers in Europe are unlikely to deal with your provider.

We are a family of 5 and have traveled for several weeks at a time (4-6). Besides the rules and safety precautions, so much of travel is personal. We have rented a car everywhere we've traveled for part of the journey and never rented a van. In fact, we rent small cars because we want to travel cheaply, and its always been fine for us. If money is less of a concern, this might change, but even if we didn't care about spending more money on a rental car, I like having a smaller one for the reason people mention: European roads and parking are compact. We've never had any trouble driving anywhere. The reasons we have rented a car are that its often much cheaper than 5 train tickets for the same route or to travel around an area that lacks good public transportation or where we would spend a lot of time waiting for buses (and then 5 bus tickets are more expensive than rental car for a day). I wouldn't rent a car in a city because there is no need for one. We tend to rent from train stations because our first stop has never required a car (flew into Barcelona, stayed in Girona for a few days and then rented a car from the train station there. Flew into Paris, stayed a few days and then rented from a train station on the outskirts of there - to avoid city driving. etc). We each carry an Osprey 46 backpack, and with 5 bigger people (5'8"-6'2") have fit that into a small-is car. Do the kids love being elbow to elbow in the back-seat? Of course not. I spent time in the backseat to 'take one for the team', and it wasn't great, but it was fine. We always opt for trains when they make sense. Flying domestically is also quite cheap (we flew from Rome to Amsterdam for $50/ticket) so would do that. Really depends on the type of journey and how much you have to spend.