Alternative post-cruise from Venice (Switzerland/Austria)

[Bruin Steve]

Assuming next July (2021) is a "go" of course...

 

We are scheduled to disembark in Venice on July 26...

We currently have a reservation home from Zurich on August 4.  The original thought was to rent a car, spend two nights in Innsbruck, two or three in Lucerne, two or three in Lauterbrunnen, then head up to Zurich the day before, turn in the car and fly out...

The question comes with the ungodly one-way drop-off charges for picking up a rental car in Italy and dropping it off in Switzerland (as much as $1200+ on top of the cost of the car!).

One thought was to attempt a similar trip using trains.  However, my wife doesn't like trains--she doesn't like dealing with the luggage and the schedules often waste a bit of time...but, if it's workable, it's still not out of the question...

Another thought would be to change the flight home to one out of Venice or Milan (means giving up a nonstop back to LAX for one with a change of planes somewhere in Europe)...but, it would mean a MUCH cheaper rental car, though a little longer route circling back to Italy...but, with 9 nights, there's lots of time to adapt.

The other thought is to scrap Switzerland and head over to Salzburg and Vienna instead.  We've never been to Salzburg or Vienna, so a bit of interest in doing that.  We could fly home out of Vienna--though same one-way rental car issue, so it might entail trains from Venice to Innsbruck, Innsbruck to Salzburg and Salzburg to Vienna...Or, we could fly home out of Venice, doing a rental car pick-up AND drop-off in Venice.  Of course that means a 6+ hour drive back from Vienna to Venice, though, with 9 nights we could do 2 in Innsbruck, two in Salzburg, three in Vienna, one in Lubljiana or Zagreb and one in Venice the night before the flight home.

 

As you can see, this is all up in the air and very fluid. Even which day we fly home can be moved--I arbitrarily picked the 4th as "enough time".  We were briefly in Switzerland a few years ago on a pre-cruise (drove up through St. Moritz and through the Alps on the way to Venice) but haven't really spent much time in Switzerland in many, many years.  We were last in Innsbruck almost 40 years ago and have never been to Salzburg or Vienna.  I'd rather not drive for some reasons, but I do appreciate the convenience--though not sure if it's worth having a car while, for example, staying in Vienna for multiple days.  I am not certain as to the cost of using trains (does a Rail Pass make sense?).

 

Any thoughts, recommendations or suggested itineraries would be appreciated.  Thanks.

[bennybear]

Ok, so many possibilities. The drop offs are so steep you need to circle back to Italy or take a train to say Lugano,  Switzerland or Vienna both very doable.  

 

One other glitch, it’s very expensive or tricky to take an Italian rental car to Slovenia, better to take a bus/train perhaps.  

 

You won’t  need a car in Vienna.   

 

So where to go?  The Italian Lakes are gorgeous and well worth visiting,   We enjoyed Lugano, Como, Desenzano di Garda...   You could combine them with some time in Switzerland.   We love the Jungfrau and Gimmelwald.  We also enjoyed Lucerne, Berne and staying in a smaller village.  

 

The area around Bologna is also well worth exploring.  Parma, Modena, Mantua, Maranello for Ferrari’s.   So if you like to cook you can visit the Balsamic museum in Spilamberto.  

 

We also enjoyed Trieste and exploring the Palladian villas in the countryside around the Veneto.  Lots to see in Verona, Padua etc.  

 

You are really spoiled for choice.    So depending on your interests? 

[Bruin Steve]

Strongly considering this alternative:

Switch the air reservation to fly home out of Venice...Rent a car in Venice to be returned in Venice 26th to the 3rd--No one-way charges, so, relatively cheap-- $254 for a midsize with auto transmission.  Drive from Venice to Innsbruck upon disembarkation on the 26th--about a 4 hour drive...a little more with photo stops...387 km...Spend two nights in Innsbruck...

 

Drive to Salzburg...2 hours, 186 km...Spend two nights in Salzburg...

 

Drive to Vienna...3 hours, 295 km...3 nights in Vienna...

 

Drive back toward Venice with an overnight stop somewhere--say, Villach...3 hours, 40 minutes...337 km...One night in Villach...

 

Drive to Venice...2 hours, 40 minutes, 250 km...turn in car...one night in hotel in Venice, fly home on the 4th...

 

Total driving time under 15.5 hours, but spread out with no driving day over 4 hours...under 1500 km.  The Opel Insignia Automatic should get between 6-8 litres for 100 km, current gas prices in Austria are a little over 1.0 € per liter...so, conservatively, figure we use 120 liters and prices go up to 1.5 € next summer, our fuel costs for the trip will be around $200 US...So, $454 for transportation--cheaper than a Eurail Pass and with far more scheduling convenience...even if we won't need the car while in Vienna, for example...

 

So, the questions with this itinerary become:

**Do any of these stops merit a longer or shorter stay? (Yes, I know EVERYWHERE deserves a longer stay, but assume it's only a 9 night post-cruise.  And, yes, I know Venice merits a longer stay--but we've been to Venice MANY times, we'd just stay here the one night on this trip to get a little taste of the place and in order to be sure we make it back for the flight home without stress)...

**Is Villach worth visiting and staying the night...or is there a better nearby town?

**Are there any places that absolutely MUST be visited along the route--even if a slight detour?

Also, note that the flight home could be a day earlier, a day later, whenever...it's still flexible.  But also note that, prior to this post-cruise, we will have spent four nights in Barcelona, seven aboard the Apex, two nights in Rome...and seven more nights aboard the Infinity...add a night on the overnight plane and nine more here...and it's already a 30-night trip!

 

On 8/11/2020 at 2:12 PM, bennybear said:

So where to go?  The Italian Lakes are gorgeous and well worth visiting,   We enjoyed Lugano, Como, Desenzano di Garda...  You could combine them with some time in Switzerland.   We love the Jungfrau and Gimmelwald.  We also enjoyed Lucerne, Berne and staying in a smaller village.  The area around Bologna is also well worth exploring.  Parma, Modena, Mantua, Maranello...We also enjoyed Trieste...Lots to see in Verona, Padua etc. 

Thanks for the thoughts, Benny...

Last time we cruised out of Venice, we flew in to Milan and rented a car and drove to Lake Como, St. Moritz, Merano, Verona and Padua before the cruise.  On this coming itinerary, Trieste is actually the last port before we end in Venice...

Edited August 13, 2020 by Bruin Steve

[dogs4fun]

Oh, I love your choice & hope the trip comes to fruition. Austria is simply gorgeous and Vienna is fantastic (so much to see and do). I am a dedicated Mozart fan so I also love Salzburg - if you are not really into Mozart, Salzburg could be whittled down to a single night with an extra night to be spent in either Vienna or maybe another location of your choice around the Attersee.

[bennybear]

Ok good to know what you’ve already done😄. I cannot get enough of Venice.   My only concern is that you may be exhausted,  this is a busy trip.  But I have been known to do similar.  Make sure to visit the castle in Treviso. 

 

  We have driven out of Venice, that’s easy and to Innsbruck  which we’ve enjoyed.   Not sure we would drive in Vienna.  Sometimes we will book outside a main center and take public transport in.   The surrounding wine villages would be pleasant to stay near, and you could easily travel into the city.  Make sure to stop at the abbey of Melk,  the library is truly spectacular!  We’ve been twice and there are some beautiful lakes.  

 

Haven't visited Villach, but our son enjoyed Klagenfurt but he is an artist and there is special artwork in the church.  He took the train from Vienna to Klagenfurt and then on to Venice.  

 

Also Udine in Italy would be worth a stop, a ducal Palace. And nearby Palmanova, a very cool star shaped town. 

 

In all our visits  we haven't purchased a railpass, we just purchase by the trip sometimes ahead

 

. 

Edited August 13, 2020 by bennybear

[Bruin Steve]

On 8/13/2020 at 9:57 AM, dogs4fun said:

Oh, I love your choice & hope the trip comes to fruition. Austria is simply gorgeous and Vienna is fantastic (so much to see and do). I am a dedicated Mozart fan so I also love Salzburg - if you are not really into Mozart, Salzburg could be whittled down to a single night with an extra night to be spent in either Vienna or maybe another location of your choice around the Attersee.

 

We changed the reservation to fly out of Venice, arranged for the car rental...and made tentative hotel reservations--two night in Innsbruck, one in Salzburg, three in Vienna, one in Graz, one in Villach and the last night in Venice...

Figuring all of the car rides are relatively short, we can adjust how much time we spend in any of the stops by adjusting when we leave town...or arrive at the next...and we can make intermediate stops or detours on the route without making any day's drive be overly long.  The rental car pick-up and drop-off is at Piazzale Roma--so, perfect for getting off the ship and for turning in the car before our last night in Venice (booked the Hotel Olimpia--which is right on the Piazzale Roma).

 

The Austrian hotel reservations are all tentative...Tried to find first class hotels near town centers so we can park the car while there and walk.  For example, in Vienna, we booked the Hilton Park Vienna (of course the 35 euro per night parking charge is a little steep, but we're thinking the location is worth it...and 160 euros per night--including taxes-- doesn't seem bad for a Hilton), but I'll keep looking in case I find something I like better...

[dogs4fun]

34 minutes ago, Bruin Steve said:

The Austrian hotel reservations are all tentative...Tried to find first class hotels near town centers so we can park the car while there and walk.  For example, in Vienna, we booked the Hilton Park Vienna (of course the 35 euro per night parking charge is a little steep, but we're thinking the location is worth it...and 160 euros per night--including taxes-- doesn't seem bad for a Hilton), but I'll keep looking in case I find something I like better...

Looks like a great location in Vienna as you are very close to the Innere Stadt (old town)  - wish I could be a stowaway on your adventure!

If you like schnitzel ... your hotel is only a 10 minute walk from Figlmuller - excellent schnitzel (reservations are a must). The Backerstrasse location serves authentic wiener schnitzel (veal) and pork schnitzel whereas the Wollzeile does not serve veal (just pork).

https://figlmueller.at/en/wollzeile/

Edited August 17, 2020 by dogs4fun

[NBliving]

I'm so glad I saw your post! We have a 9 day Med cruise September 2021 Barcelona to Venice.  We are thinking of doing a similar post cruise trip.  I just don't know if we would have trouble with snow while driving in early to mid October.  I need to look at weather trends. We are fine with trains so we may do trains.  Nice to see your itinerary.  Very similar to what we want to do although we may try to spend a little more time in Switzerland or at least do a scenic train while there.  Hoping 2021 brings back the ability to travel! 

[Hlitner]

Enjoying the OP's post as its a nice change from the usual COVID stuff.  We are big fans of rental cars in Europe so have an added interest.  The OP has discovered that one-way drop charges between European countries can be absurd.  It has been that way for many years and there are few good solutions.  So many years ago when these charges became ridiculous we learned to carefully plan our driving trips to avoid international drop fees.  Circular routes with the drop being in the same country as the rental is the easiest solution.   There are also some lease options (primarily in France) which lessen the drop fees.

 

So my advice to the OP is that "you are on the right track" and should be looking at options to pick up and drop off within the same country (not necessarily the same city).  AutoEurope and Kemwel often have rental car deals (through either Hertz or Europcar) that avoids one-way drops within a country.    Also keep in mind that if you do drive into Switzerland you will likely need to pay their Vignette fee which can add another $50 (approximate) fee.  We have no problem paying the Swiss Vignette fee when we are planning to spend a few days or more driving in Switzerland,  but their fee is annoying for those planning a quick transit through the country.

 

So this gets us back to the OP's problem and we do suggest looking at routes that begin and end in Italy (assuming that the OP is set on renting in Italy).  Those one-way fees rub  me the wrong way and we have been known to add days (and a lot of miles) to avoid the extra fee.  I might add that I am on the same time as the OP's wife in that both DW and I prefer to avoid European trains when we are traveling with luggage.  We find cars much more convenient and even less expensive.  Not only does a car allow us to avoid the hassles of train travel but it provides us with transportation to places not accessible by train and expands our hotel options (we do not need to be near train stations).  While I do understand the OP's desire to use non-stop air, a properly planned connection is not too painful.

 

Hank