driving from Paris to Switzerland to Munich

Picking up the car in France and dumping it in Germany.

Yes

That's what you should be concerned about, it wasn't a question.

Ed is referring to the extra fees for picking up a car in one country and returning it in another. Posts here have quoted various fees, as high as €600. So, check carefully before planning to do this. You will need a vignette for Switzerland (40 CHF per year, purchased as you enter the country). This is a windshield sticker that covers the "expressways" in the country, instead of tolls. How long will you have for this trip, how many of you are there, and what did you plan to see? This will help others figure out if a car is the best way to do your trip.

We are doing a similar trip in Sept 2014. We will be 4 traveling together in a car. We will pick up the car after spending time in Paris. We have driven a lot in Europe and like going to places off the beaten path so a car is nice to have. We will drop off the car in Munich so we won't have the car to pay for parking. In Switzerland our car will be parked since we will stay in Murren up the mountain. We usually lease a car for 17 days so this will be the first rental we have done in Europe. Happy travels.

We are you to paris then heading to gimmewald and
then from their we wanted to see the romantic road, Ludwigshafen castles before ultimately heading to Munich for oktoberfest! I ha no idea fees could be that large! I would appreciate some suggestions!

For starters, you can drive from Munich to Paris in an easy day. Leave early and you can make it for lunch.

If you will not be seeing anything else in France besides Paris you don't need a car there. You could train from Paris to Switzerland and pick up a car there. Drop it off somewhere in Switzerland and train to Germany. Pick up a new car there. You don't need and probably don't really want to deal with a car in Munich. My first time in Munich my car sat parked the entire time I was there. Another trip, during Oktoberfest, I stayed outside of Munich and took the train in.

Don't know how many "We are", nor when the trip is... Nevertheless Positives: Can park anytime. Can veer off the planned route easily. Negatives: Slow traffic, especially around Paris Slow traffic both sides of the Rhine on Autoroute or Autobahn, south of Strasbourg Slow traffic, especially around Munich Slow traffic, generally, on German Autobahns Expensive French tolls CHF 40 Swiss Vignette Very expensive drop charge All the time that you are in the Lauterbrunnen Valley you will be paying daily for a car on which you are paying parking, too, as well as transport because the roads and villages are forbidden to cars Concerns: Be sure not exceed the speed limit, even a little, in any of the 3 countries named. If you do you are likely to be smiling on a photo of you and the car and get a large, expensive bill when you return. Please lower your speed to lower speed limits in tunnels in Switzerland (usually 80 or 100 kph) or you will likely get a ticket in the mail; the French and especially the Swiss are very sensitive about safety factors in tunnels after a number of unfortunate incidents. Don't speed in tunnels - and there are lots of tunnels Trains are usually very much cheaper and much much faster. No car can legally go at 300 kph. The extra cost of the extra time in a car is extra hotel nights along the way.
The extremely high cost of fuel. I regularly drive in Europe, have been extensively in all 3 of the countries mentioned. I drive my own car, though.

We have travelled a ton is Switzerland and I must say we find it very easy to travel by train or bus. If you are not used to driving in the mountains and at speeds that they allow there you may not want a car anyway. My husband grew up driving there and I have to say I was terrified of the hairpin turns and such.

I got an estimate for train and car. Train-USD $1,055 car USD $535 including drop off fees. My husband is a good driver. What do people think?

How did you get your train price estimate? If you used Rail Europe, start over. Rail Europe is a reseller with a mark up. Instead, for trains from France to Switzerland, use http://en.voyages-sncf.com/en/, choosing France as your ticket collection country. For trains starting in Switzerland, use http://www.sbb.ch/en/home.html, remembering that the initial price shown will be with a half fare card (so, if you're not getting a half fare card, you need to double it). And for trains starting and/or ending in Germany, you use the Bahn website, following Rick's directions: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/db_tips.htm. Start by checking prices on your routes for tomorrow. These will be the full fares. But if you can commit to non-exchangeable and non-refundable tickets (or accept significant limitations on these actions), you can buy advance tickets for significantly less (exception; domestic trains in Switzerland). Look at dates two months or so out, to see what I mean. Be sure to put in the number of travelers; at least for German rail, there's quite a discount for advance purchase with two or more traveling together (no discount for two or more at the last minute). For example, when I went from Berlin to Dresden, full fare was €38 per person, but advance purchase was €19 for one and €29 for two (so, on that round trip alone, we saved €94!). Finally, while a train pass covering multiple countries is rarely a good deal, a pass for Switzerland is often a good deal. There are half fare cards and Swiss passes, and figuring out which is best can be confusing. If you post more details of where you want to go, others can help with this.

Where did you get the car estimate? It's an easy one-day drive and should cost about $350 even if you just have the car for a single day.

We are going From Paris 9/19/13 heading to Murren til 9/22/13 and then to Munich where we end our trip and fly out (after some Oktoberfest partying). I cannot figure out the ticket system to save my life and that is why i called rail europe they did it for me =). We would have the car for 4 days thats why the estimate is higher i think and were dropping off in another country.

We drove from Munich to Paris at the end of May. We left our hotel on the east side of Munich about 11:00am. We reached Forbach, France, about 5:30pm. Forbach is just over the border from Saarbrucken, Germany. There was a lot of road construction on the Autobahn. Obviously, that slowed our driving time. It took us about 4 hours to drive to our hotel near CDG. We checked into the Mercure hotel at Roissy and then returned the car. There was a Mercure shuttle available at the airport to return to the hotel. It wasn't a real easy drive due to the traffic and construction but we enjoyed seeing the countryside in both countries. And yes, there are road tolls in France.

We are going From Paris 9/19/13 heading to Murren til 9/22/13 and then to Munich where we end our trip and fly out (after some Oktoberfest partying). I cannot figure out the ticket system to save my life and that is why i called rail europe they did it for me =). We would have the car for 4 days thats why the estimate is higher i think and were dropping off in another country.

For the car price you got, please add the French tolls, and CHF 40 for the Swiss vignette. Fuel is going to be between US$8.00 and US$9.00 per US gallon, depending on where and when you fill up. Add in parking while the car is marooned in Lauterbrunnen and you are up the hill, and your mountain transport. Do you have to return the car in Munich empty - or more likely pay them for a tank which can really add up. The train price you got seems, well, RailEurope-ish. It seems very high to me. You still haven't, I don't think, said how many in your party and ages - that is important. I'm guessing, based on other answers, that it is just you and your husband, both pre-retirement age? There is a TGV from Paris to Basel on the 19th September at 6:15 for €104 for the two of you. If you want more sleep there is one at 8:23 at €130. Travel time just over 3 hours (it would take much longer in the car). It would run about €200 all the way to Interlaken Ost but it is likely that you might get a Swiss or Berner Oberland pass for the Swiss portion so that the rides you want up into the mountains was covered. I'm not the expert on Swiss passes, there are others here much more qualified than I. Then the ride from Interlaken Ost to Munich on Sep 22. The simplest trip would be at 8am from Interlaken Ost (you have to get down the mountain and leave early enough to do that to make your 8am departure) which only has one change at Karlsruhe. That ticket is available now at €89 per person. If you were willing to do a bit of changing - at Bern, Zurich, Schaffhausen, and Ulm - leaving Interlaken Ost at 8:30, you would actually get there quicker and the cost would be ... wait for it ... wait ... €39 per person. So, not counting the Swiss portion and mountain railways, if you book today (second class, very comfy) €182 = $242.62. RailEurope must not have looked very hard.

Sarah, During your stay in Mürren, your car will be parked and gathering dust in Stechelberg as you can't drive to Mürren. I'm not sure what the cost of parking is, but you'll have to add the cost of mountain lifts from Stechelberg to Mürren, via Gimmelwald. The three longest legs of your journey (Paris - Mürren - Munich) can easily be done by rail, which will most certainly be faster (since no cars can legally travel at 300 kmH) and more efficient and possibly cheaper with pre-purchased tickets. "I cannot figure out the ticket system to save my life" I'm sure the helpful and knowledgeable group here can help you figure out the rail system far better than Rail Europe! If you're planning to explore a few out-of-the-way places, I'd suggest renting and returning a car in one country. If you rent in Switzerland, the highway tax vignette should be provided. You will not need (or want) a car in Munich, as the city has exceptional public transit. Happy travels!