Prague to Paris by car?

Hi Everyone,

My wife and I are trying to plan our next trip to Europe and were considering driving from Prague to Paris through Germany (bavaria)

We want to have a little freedom to stop and go, and see castles etc, but mainly want to get to Paris by way of some pretty sights.

We%26#39;d love to hear any stories of similar trips, or suggestions.

Thanks!!

-cris and kim

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It is quite a nice trip by car, just be aware of the nightmare traffic in Paris. Parking is a problem both in Prague and Paris and can be very expensive.

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Are you planning on spending a night or two somewhere in between? Prague to Munich takes 5 hours at the best of times. If you stop in Regensburg on the way down then that pretty much eats up the day. From Bavaria you would drive across towards Stuttgart, up to Koln and then across to Paris but again that is a 7/8 hour trip at least. Tough drive. Take lots of 50 cent euro coins for the German services and Fench tolls. I must admit that in the past I%26#39;ve gone out of my way to avoid Paris on trips to England i.e. going through Belgium but, if Paris is the destination I think I would stop somwhere maybe 2 or 3 hours away from the city for a night before driving in.

Jason

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Thanks, Experts!

We were planning to get the car on our last day in Prague and make it a several day journey with at least 2 or 3 stops in between, and drop the car off immediately upon entering Paris.

However last night I got some quotes from Auto Europe and Europe by Car and the tack on an extra $1000+ if you do not return the car back to Prague!!

So maybe Prague to Germany(Munich?) by train and then accross Germany by car? We were really in love with the idea of driving through the Bavarian alps.

-cris

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Prague - Munich by train takes about 6 hours and is a nice trip. The car rent within Germany should not be expensive, that is a good idea. I would fly to Paris from Germany.

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Hallo, it will be nice trip! I asked my friend who was in Paris by car and she told me, that the price she payd was 700,- USD. The rent a car company name is ASAP rent car - www.asap.rentcar.cz

I think the price will be better if you will go only to Germany...

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thanks for the tip!

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ASAP might turn out to be the ticket! Thanks again :)

Now we just have to compare the car to rail europe prices and see if the extra $$ is worth it for the freedom- but That%26#39;s like $700 less than any other quotes we got!

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I would fly to Paris - there are enough cheap flights. Spend the time visiting places, near to Prague and to Paris. Martina is correct in that driving in Paris and parking there is a nightmare. And between you have Germany where the autobahns have no speed limit - they are not for people who are used to driving at 55 mph when the slow lane does over 100 mph and the fast lane sometimes near double to that.

If you do venture, quickest route is Prague - Nurnburg - Heilbronn, Saarbrucken, Nancy and then down to Paris. Good places you can visit and stay on the way are Nurnburg, Heidelberg and Luxembourg

Munich to Prague - city centre - city centre yesterday took 4 hours with the new highway open

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I have some friends who did this trip from Paris to Prague in a rental car. They went round trip but they said it was great. They went at Christmas time and stopped off in the German Christmas market in Augsburg (i think), anyway there is some big Christmas market in Bavaria near Munich.

Peb7%26#39;s route is better than the Köln route mentioned above. My personal choice would be Prague to Munich to Karlsruhe or Baden Baden (Germany) then you can see the Black Forest. Baden Baden is a luxury spa resort and a day in the baths there will leave you feeling light years younger. From Karlsruhe you go to Strasbourg France which is probably a better tourist destination than Nancy with its cathedral, Alsacian cuisine and canals. From Strasbourg you have a straight trip into Paris.

If you are mostly interested in the scenery around Bavaria it might be a good idea to drop off your rental car in Karlsruhe (which is about 30 minutes by train from Strasbourg I think) stay a day or two in strasbourg and you%26#39;ll only have a 5 hours train ride to Paris.

Having said that, the Alsace- Lorraine area is great for exploring by car and if you keep the car you can visit cities like Metz and others where visits to vineyards are possible and this Alsacian culture (and language) you find there can%26#39;t be found anywhere else in France.

While it%26#39;s true that the Paris traffic makes it an unattractive place for having a rental car. You can ditch the car as soon as you arrive, so that shouldn%26#39;t be an issue.

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thanks for all of the advice!

We might get a 3 country Rail and Drive pass so we can have the flixibility of both the train and the car. We definitely do not want the car when we get to Paris though!!

The round trip would have been awesome, but we just don;t have that kind of time. Only 2 weeks this time.

-cris