What's the best way for a family to travel in Europe - by rail or rental car? We only have two weeks.?

For many people the decision becomes a financial one. In Europe, especially now, the price of gas is extremely high. That, coupled with the very high tolls on major highways (e.g., France) you might find the group fare offers of the German rail system (Deutsche Bahn) to be worth considering.

Add to that the cost of parking a car in the city center (sometimes as much as $17 for a few hours) to be an added pinch to the wallet.

The train system is efficient, the trains are clean, no hoodlums on the trains, monitored in person and by surveillance camera and the train stations often enjoyable to browse on their own.

Travelling by car across the border (from Germany) to the Czech Republic has been described by some (me included) as completely unenjoyable: the roads are not modern, the trucks are slow, and on arriving: hard to find parking.

I live six months of the year in Europe and have a car but prefer not use it for the above reasons.

Good Luck. Explore these options on the internet and ask questions in fora like these.

Thank you for the prize (BEAMING)!
If you do decide to drive and are tempted to put the pedal to the metal on the German Autobahn, should the authorities decide that your speed exceeded that which was "sensible", your fine may be decided by reviewing your yearly income.
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Rail, unless they can learn to drive, the British way.

Compared to US, Europe is small. So so, even if trains are very quick more comfortable and much used than in the US, I tend to think thaht for a family a car is better because it allows to visit the countryside and little villages and not only the main cities.

If you are adventerous, by all means get a rental car. Many of the best vacations happen when you stop at quaint little villages and talk to the locals.
If you are only interested in sightseeing major metropolitan areas (i.e. Paris, Berlin, Milan, Rome,etc), and if you want to avoid the hassle of finding parking spaces and driving through the busiest streets in the world, the rail is a steal. You can buy a ticket for unlimited rail travel for a day, week, or month.

Either way is fine, but I think I would go by car. That way you are on your own schedule. Just know that the driving can be crazy, especially in Paris and throughout Italy. It's fun to drive on the German Autobahn, but it seems like everywhere I go lately there is construcion and that sucks and sometimes you end up just sitting there in a stau (traffic jam)

Europe may be bigger than you think. You can't "do" europe in two weeks. If you want to discover one country then a car is probably best. If you plan to hop from London to Paris to Berlin, to Rome then Vienna (exhausting) then train is probably best.

use a sensible combination of the two, but the most important thing is your itinerary. i spent three weeks in europe last summer with family. we rented a car when it required multiple stops in and around southern france, switzerland and italy and our interests were the things that were a bit off the beaten path. if you plan traveling to mostly cities definitely by train.

gasoline is rather expensive and parking is usually a huge nuisance in most large cities especially near tourist attractions. you will see less on the train in my opinion but have more opportunity to meet and talk with people. so it's a trade off. on the other hand if you are a true blue american and like having a car that works too but will probably require you to stay at bigger more american style hotels away from the central parts of the city.

And do check wether it's the European holiday time when you're travelling. If it is, use the train and book your tickets well beforehand, otherwise you're caught on endless traffic jams!

I would definitely recommend flying in Europe, too. There are numerous extremely cheap airlines in Europe which connect all the major cities. It is far less time consuming than driving. You can visit many countries and you can always rent a car in the new country. I recommend Ryanair.com, AirBerlin.com, Germanwings.com. Sometimes you can find tickets at Ryanair for less than 1 Euro plus tax. You can't beat that especially because fuel prices are about twice that of Stateside prices. My family lived in Germany for 4 years and did a lot of traveling all overy Europe.

I would go with Rail or Airlines. The trains leave nearly constantly and are quick, but you can't beat the airlines for price and if you are looking to go over 500 miles.

I've done both and used:

www.ryanair.com
www.easyjet.com
www.germanwings.com
www.hlx.com

Go to their sites and check out the rates, you'll see what amazing possibilites 2 weeks can offer you. I did Southern Spain, Rome, Dublin and London in the course of 8 days. It was a bit rushed, but saw everything big in every city with time for nice meals and nights out.

For a family I would suggest to travel by car. It may be a little more expensive but you want have the problem of getting separated. My husband and I and our two friends and their two daughters all went on a train trip in Germany one weekend. We were supposed to get off at this one stop. The two girls were in a stroller and I went to the door to get off. As I was getting off with the girls the door starts to close (you can't open it once it starts to close) so I jumped off and the train took off with my husband and our friends. I had to wait for about an hour before they were able to get off at the next train stop and come back. The trains in Germany are really good but if you have to get off at a smaller town then they don't give you much time to get off. So for a family I would suggest traveling by car. Sixt rental is really good from my experience. I hope you enjoy your trip.