Europe travel- Car or train/plane

Renting a car in Europe is a pain. It is expensive, and they all screw Americans when you return by charging extra fees and BS damage fines because they know you won't fight them from the U.S. for $200. The last time I tried to rent a car at Charles De Gaulle, I had booked it months in advance, waited 1.5 hours for it, only for them to tell me they did not have the car I needed available. I had to spend hundreds more booking from another place the last minute. Plus parking will be expensive or non-existent, and there are tolls everywhere.

In contrast, the trains and Metro are cheap and efficient and actually fun to take. Intra-continental flights are also inexpensive and not difficult to navigate.

I would take trains. I find them fast, easy and efficient all over Europe. Trains are a good way to get from city to city and cars are often useless in the cities because most towns are walkable and have good subway systems. And parking is often a problem.

I have rented cars several times in Europe but that was mostly when we were driving around the countryside such as in Tuscany and Normandy.

Add about an hour for food and bathroom stops for driving. So travel times are similar but like others have said, having a car in a big city is an expensive PIA. And 5 long travel days even over 25 days is too much IMO. I will be in Europe for 3 weeks this summer and have 1 long travel day of 9 hours and that is my limit.

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Amsterdam to Munich: Almost 9 hours

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7.5 hrs by train

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Munich to Lausanne: 6 hours

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5:45 hrs by train

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Lausanne to Barcelona: 9 hours

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10 hrs by train

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Barcelona to Pamplona: 5 hours

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3:55 hrs by train

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Pamplona to Paris: 9-10 hours

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12 hrs by train

If you're willing to go with a budget airline there are generally some really cheap fares in Europe.

We buy our train legs individually but we're in one country.

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Eurail pass

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I've looked into these routinely and really the only time you will save money is if you travel like a college student back packing with their hair on fire doing some stupid itinerary. They generally aren't much savings for your average or conservative traveler, especially if you are crossing a bunch of countries.

Pretty sure you said you are travling with your family correct? You really need to consider a lot of the travel costs because they can really add up with multiple people. For example, if you want to go in a straight line with 4 people through multiple countries a car likely doesn't make sense. But if you loop around and turn a car into the same place with 4 people, it can make a lot of sense.

One area where Europe can be vastly different than the US is the amount of public parking in suburban and urban areas. Think about driving and finding a free street spot, or paying the cost of parking in NYC, SF, downtown Chicago, etc.; that is the situation in even small European cities. In rural areas you would be fine.

Not saying you shouldn't rent a car, but if you do factor in parking costs.

In 3 trips over there, we’ve never done a rental…trains have worked best for us.

Also, in places like Munich you can get the Bavaria group pass, which allows up to 5 travelers to use one ticket for regional travel to places like Salzburg for like 35€ round trip total. There can be some good deals to be found, just have to look into it.

I hear your budget concern, but think of it a different way. What specifically is about Switzerland that you/kids need that you can't get in Northern Italy, Austria, etc.? There's great chocolate in Belgium, and that's a 90 minute ish high speed train from Paris.

Also, if you don't go in peak tourism season, costs can be half of what they are in-season. Whenever our school district sends out surveys on whether we want a later start or a sooner finish to the school year, this weighs heavily (not just international travel) on what I choose. One week in either direction in late May in Europe can cost many thousands of dollars more in lodging and flights.

You have three kids. If someone has to rent a car in Europe, I always suggest the smallest car you can get away with. You're not going to have that option, and unless you can drive stick, you are going to get ... eh... killed.

Take trains or flights in between major areas, and rent a car or a driver for excursions. Driving in Europe is not like being in the US; You may not see an ad for a petrol station for 30+ minutes even between major metro areas. Add in speed cameras that will auto-mail you tickets for going 2KM over the limit, and driving, if not necessary, is a big no thanks.

You *must* pay attention to the train routes you book, because you can ride between two cities on different classes of trains, and you can have a three hour ride or a seven hour ride.

Always, always, always reserve your seat ahead of time if it's available, especially with kids.

Consider this OP. This is your basic plan, and maybe I said this in your other thread. You are coming to the USA for 25 days and you are flying into NYC, going to Boston, traveling to Atlanta, then Miami, then going to Chicago.

You gotta look at it like that and rally decide if doing all of those make sense even if on trains and flights. Or maybe you just wanna road trip.

I love having a car in the country in Europe. But your trip is still a major push for me. But it’s doable, and I know of others that have done crazier and enjoyed it.