My husband and I are travelling at the end of May. We will land in Paris, travel to the Romantic Road and drop down thru Switzerland, head to Venice and then end our trip in Rome. I've checked prices for renting a car and for railpasses and the price is fairly close (taking into account VAT, gas estimates, one-way drop fees etc vs. the cost of the pass and seat reservations). For our particular route, would train or car be the better option?
Posted by
Lakewood, Colorado
19118 posts
Before you decide, look at the p2p fares. For instance, most travel on the Romantic Road is by regional train, and a Bayern-Ticket gives you unlimited travel for a day on regional trains in Bavaria for only €29 (for 2-5 people). You will also find that advance purchase fares for German Rail, including to Switzerland, will give you substantial savings vs a railpass.
Posted by
Oak Park, Illinois
4535 posts
The question isn't so much one of cost comparison but what you plan to do and see on the trip. If your intention is just to get from Paris to Venice, then take the train. It's a very long drive and though it will be pretty, you'll spend more time in the car then you really want to and driving can be very exhausting. If you plan to spend time taking in the scenery and stopping in towns and seeing rural landscapes, then a car is the way to go. But be sure to plan enough time to do that, like several days. Same is true for Venice to Rome. You could always just drive to Venice and then take the train.
Posted by
OP
Oklahoma City
2 posts
Okay, so I ran a few train routes through the time tables and due to connection times and available routes, I think we are going with the car option. Also, my husband has never been to Europe and I think the flexibility to go/stop will play a big part in his experience as well as being able to see the smaller towns in depth. Thank you for your replies!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32929 posts
Don't need a car in Switzerland, and it will be a liability. If you do, you MUST have a CHF40 Vignette in the window. When you go into the mountains you will be parking the car. Most of the best villages are car free. The Gottard Tunnel is quite an experience. You will be parking (very expensive) at Venice - no cars. You don't want to drive to or in Rome - search this website. The Romantic Road isn't. Driving in Germany is rather good fun if you are off the beaten path. You do need an Umwelt Plakette in the window. Driving in and around Paris can take some getting used to. Make sure when looking at train times to use the Bahn website - if you look at RailEurope you will only see a few of the possible trains and they are often overpriced. A big pass like you are contemplating can be cut down. TGV to Germany will, for example, if bought ahead certainly be less than having the extra country on the pass. Good Luck
Posted by
Newport, Minnesota, USA
112 posts
If you decide to go by car, I would highly recommend that you have a GPS. I am usually very good with maps so when we had decided to drive the romantic road through Germany, I didn't think we needed a GPS. We ended up spending the whole day getting lost. It made for some funny stories later but was pretty stressful at the time. We found that roads are not marked in Germany like they are here. Their signs show what city the road heads towards such as instead of a number and direction such as "I-90 East". We were always well past the intersection before we could even find the city on the map. As far as trains go, we have met some very nice people while traveling by train. In fact just today, I was e-mailing some friends from Scotland that we met on a train on the way to Salzburg 4 years ago. We will be traveling to Edinburgh in May and are hoping to meet up with them. While you don't have as much flexibility with trains, I find the time to be very relaxing and I know I will reach my desired destination. Happy travels to you.