Finding a van for 6 people and 6 suitcases

Bonnie - Kent and Al's advice is good. I think that once you compare prices, you're likely to find that renting two cars will be easier. Apart from everything else, the parking and maneuvering in small towns will be much easier. It would also allow your group some variety in your touring - one group can go to the museum in the next town, the other could taste some wine!

For a situation like this you need to talk direct to one of the major rental companies. You need something like a VW Transporter T28 or a Ford Transit or a Mercedes Sprinter.

Don't try and do this using web pages. Talk direct to the major rental companies. If you need an automatic make that crystal clear. Get a clear indication of what the cost will be and make sure they quote for full 100% CDW. You credit card CDW will almost certainly not cover a rental of this sort. Be prepared for a very hefty bill and then calculate if it will be cheaper and easier to rent two medium sized station wagons instead. If you do go for the van you need to book well in advance. You may also need to fax them copies of drivers license in order to establish that you are valid to drive a vehicle of this type.

Kent - northern France and Germany.
Al - thank you for the information; I had no idea this was such a complicated concept when I started!

Bonnie: Suggest you closely follow Al's advice. Renting a car over there is different than here, and what you want to do makes it even more complicated. What Al said about the CDW is important. And try to get a GPS, navigation and route finding in Germany won't be so different from here, but if you have not driven in northern France before, you'll be glad you got the GPS and an automatic.

Bonnie: The narrowness of some of the roads in northern France, once you get off the controlled access toll roads, can be an unpleasant surprise to American drivers who haven't driven those roads before and are in large wide vans such as you are talking about. And you'd want to be cautious about assuming it will be easy to drive to and from accomodations in towns in northern France--these towns were laid out for horses and buggies, not cars. Just a heads up--the driver should be prepared for conditions not encountered in the US.

For travel in Germany, there are lot of ways to save on the train, and no concern with amount of luggage.

1. Group prices: six for the price of three

2. Länder-Tickets: up to five people on regional trains in 2nd class, all day in one state, €27. In other words, all six can go anywhere in, say, Bavaria, all day for €54 - much less than a van, if you can find one.

If you do rent two cars, take along a pair of small two-way radios so that the cars can stay in touch with each other. We've done this every time we've traveled in a larger group. It's great for consulting on the route, commenting on passing scenery, or just indicating a need to stop along the way.

Just keep in mind that the small Motorola FRS radios common in the US are NOT legal for use in Europe. You may get away with using them because of their short range but it is still illegal.

PMR446 radios are legal for Europe.

PMR446 and FRS walkie talkies, although they may look identical, operate on different frequencies. FRS radios as stated previously are not legal in Europe as the frequencies on which FRS operates are assigned for other uses in Europe.

My thanks to all of you - I really appreciate the information, advice, and concern from each of you! I'd been feeling quite overwhelmed and having all this input has been quite a relief. I've presented your thoughts to my traveling companions, and it looks like we're going with the two smaller cars option. We'll definitely take either radios or cell phones for communicating. Our focus is primarily on WWI and WWII sites, so rail is really not our transport of choice. Anyway, thanks again!