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self drive vs railpass

Posted by (Perth, Australia) on

Hi,

We are a family of four (age 3 & 4) travelling to Europe for 6 weeks from end sept to end Nov. Currently looking ar Flying in to Frankfurt we would like to go to Holland first (have family), France, Italy, and more of Germany if time permits and eventually flying back out of London.

We are deciding between self drive vs railway pass.
Car Pros
-we are not restricted by train schedules and our 2 boys.
-no luggin of luggage and boys at crowded train station
-It would also provide a 'place' for our boys while out and about.
Cons:
-Comming from Australia, am a bit concerned about driving with the wheel and the car being on the 'other side' to us
-Parking once we get into cities
-not know local traffic laws
Perhaps we need a combination of both?

Any advice is much appreciated
p.s. we were contemplating some tours, only to find out that most dont take our sons.

Thanks

Posted by
881 posts

Hi, Ruggie.

We just did the drive in Ireland for a week which is wrong side for us, and I was surprised, how much less difficult it was, than I'd expected (u-turns were about the only place I got confused.)

I would recommend a combination of both. Having lived in Holland, there is absolutely -no- need for a car there. Trains are frequent, fast, efficient, and omnipresent. Cars, fuel and parking are all very expensive, and not necessary.

France and Germany both have beautiful areas to drive through though, that are well worth your time. Even with discounts for the kids, I imagine car travel would be cheaper than train tickets (or close to it), for four of you. (And like you said, no lugging the kids and luggage).

I wouldn't drive in any mid size + Italian city - but for getting form one to the other, the freeways are great.

So yeah, I'd mix it up. Being able to enjoy the view from the train, while relaxing, and being able to walk around is nice. And the flexibility of a car really has some nice advantages.

Hope you have a great trip!

PS - Lots of folks on here will recommend a Garmin 270 GPS (or any of the *70 series). They work really great. We just used one in Italy and Germany, and buying was cheaper than renting...

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