Munich to Paris
 

Planning to do 2 weeks in Europe, flying into Munich and making my way to Paris (dropoff). Any must see sights along the way? Would like to visit small towns in Germany and Paris. Want to see Frankfurt as well. Any thoughts?

We stayed in Versailles a for a couple of nights before dropping off in 2008. Stayed at the Trianon Palace. Great history and location. The hotel is run by Hilton now (Starwood when we were there), they have a current credit card offer that can get you two free weekend nights at the hotel.

To some extent my suggestions will depend on the time of year that you plan to go and what interests you. If it's in early spring, late fall or winter you might focus on Bavaria, Italy and southern France - unless you are a skier and/or like driving in snow. If you are interested in WWI and WWII you might visit Normandy, Belgium and eastern France. If you have a choice I would recommend you travel in September and October when the weather is usually good and there are fewer tourists - except in Munich during Octoberfest. Perhaps you would give us a bit more information about time of year, what interests you (museums, festivals, scenery, history, etc.) and what you saw on your last ED or any of your other trips to Europe.

Hi, planning to do the ED end of March 2013. In fact, just booked my flight and arriving March 31. Will be flying back from Paris, April 16.

Would like to see Normandy. Any route ideas?

Is Versailles and the roads in general still covered in snow around that period as I head West from Munich to Paris?

Last time I drove south to Innsbruck, Florence, Rome, San Marino, Venice, Salzburg and back to Munich.

Mulhouse has one of the greatest car museums in the World. The Schlumpf collection is the best collection of Bugatti's in the world and everyone recommends Colmar and the Alsace region is home to the Route de Vin or Wine Road. My itinerary is on the second page now probably but it is the Sept 29 Itinerary one. I am heading to Paris stopping in Mulhouse and Colmar then heading up to Reims, the Champagne capital before heading to Paris. Feel free to get ideas from it and the advice I got from other members.

I have no extended experience of April in Paris, but Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald seemed to think it was great - they both can't be wrong. I checked a couple of years on Weather Underground and it appeared that the likelihood of snow in April is pretty remote - but the weather can always surprise you.

I agree with MonkeyCMonkeyDo that the Alsace region of France is great. Cite de Automobile is definitely worth seeing. Colmar, Riquewihr and Strasbourg, more or less along the Route des Vins, are worth an hour or two each.

Heading west from Alsace there are numerous WWI sites - Verdun (a fort), Fort Hackenberg (a WWII, Maginot Line fort), Ypres in Belgium (where there is a very moving nightly ceremony honoring the dead of WWI at the Menin Gate) and then on to the Somme where a million lives were lost. Reims would fit in between Verdun and Ypres, or the Somme if you skip Ypres.

From the Somme you could head to Rouen where there is a cathedral which was the subject of several paintings by Monet. Not much further on is Giverny where Monet lived and also the pond and waterlilies which he painted many times.

From Giverny I would go to Normandy where there are many museums, cemeteries and sites worth a visit as well as the five landing beaches. You could then head down to Mont St. Michel and the Loire Valley. There are numerous chateaus in the Loire that will give you an insight into why the French "did away" with the aristocracy.

Using this route you will bypass Paris to the north and west and can go to Versailles without driving through Paris itself. Of course you cannot avoid the joys of driving through Paris on the way to the drop off point, but that's another day. I did this trip with my wife a few years ago and we really enjoyed it. I am sure that you will too.

I Agree with this!

Very good advise given here. I'll add don't miss downtown Mulhouse... a couple of hours for the main square, the folk museum (an old house on the square) and lunch.

This brings back memories. Way back then, 2001 for us, the Paris drop-off point was in an underground parking lot, close to the Arche de Triomphe. Anybody here remembers "la fille en camisole"?

Anyhow lets keep this short. So we left La Rochelle in the morning, took the "autoroute à PÉAGE" until we hit the "bouchon" (traffic jam) before entering the "Périférique" (beltway). So we decided to go to our hotel first, check in, drop the luggage and trash the spare motor oil we were carrying (that's another story). So we were due East of Place de l'Étoile (Arche de Triomphe), but because of the "bouchon" on the "Périférique" we decided to drive across town. It went very well until we got to "Place de la République". We tried to make it to the Champs-Élysées... but couldn't fight the traffic. Ended up along the Seine and finally back to Place de l'Étoile. We spotted the drop off location just before going around Place de l'Étoile, because the truck from Nice was parked in the street unloading cars for the next leg of their trip back to the USA. Got in the parking lot, parked at the wrong place and finally found "la fille en camisole". Relief!

I think your driving experience in Paris should be the beginning of a "Sticky" to help those planning their ED itineraries! I would add London, Rome and Naples to the list.

That would be interesting. Maybe that should go in the wiki.

We did this as well just last month, the grounds are very nice. Paris is not nice to drive in so I would say drop off your car before doing the city portion of Paris. Some are okay with it though but after seeing the parking/driving I was glad I did it that way..

Strasbourg is a great city to stop in if you are going north then west. Baden-baden is also near the border there if you want to try the hotsprings (we didn't get a chance to make it out there).

ditto on driving in paris. for us(& i commute daily into manhattan) paris was simply not an easy place to drive. madrid,munich, etc. is no problem

If you're into cars at all the Schlumph collection is a must. It does not disappoint.
Mulhouse is just about half way from Munich to Paris and there are plenty of unrestricted Autobahn stretches on the way.
If you can drive in a major US city you can handle Paris but a car is a liability there. We kept it one night and drove to Versailles the next day before dropping it off at the airport. Didn't miss having it and it gave it a head start for the trip home.
Bon Voyage.

I'm flying into Munich and out of Paris. I also want to visit Frankfurt and possible smaller towns in Germany and France. Normandy would be great. Should I drive and stop at the places suggested and drop off in Paris or should I drop off in Frankfurt and take the train to Paris, spend more days there?

Days in Europe are march 30-april 16. Travelling with wife and 4 year old.

I would drop off in Paris because having a car allows you the freedom to see more in a very short period of time. You will get a lot done, giving you greater value for your money spent on the trip. Just my $.02
Some will steer you away from dropping off in Paris. Driving IN the main center of Paris is gutsy. We did it, both during night and day times and didn't suffer a dent or a ding - even during rush-hour. But then we are from Miami and here they drive insanely albeit nothing like Paris.

The drop off isn't exactly in the center of Paris and it's at the airport. We washed the car right behind the drop-off point, dropped off the car, did the paper work and were shuttled to the terminal by TT employees for free in less the 45 minutes.

We really enjoyed seeing three cities (Reims/Epernay, Strasbourg, Meinz) in the course of a long day, I remember. However, your child will need to stretch those legs so perhaps I'm not one to listen too. I know that having the freedom to stop and entertain a young one is easier to do with a car than waiting on trains and in them!
Best of luck and have a great time. BTW, we dropped off the car at TT in Paris and it took 6 days to get from that drop off in Paris to Bremerhaven. It was in Bremerhaven for 9 days and then it was loaded onto the ship. One more day passed and then it sailed. We now are awaiting our re-delivery at the PCD but the ship is supposed to dock on the 24th of September, this month. So, expect it to take two weeks to get from the Paris drop-off to on a ship that is sailing, if you drop off in Paris.

we are picking up in munich and dropping off in Paris also. ED date is October 4
we are traveling from munich to belgium (rochefort then brugge) down to France (reims, strasbourg , annency, giverny) and then dropping the car in Paris. I'll be watching this thread for suggestions!

I am also doing the Munich to Paris route. I am using Cologne as my half way stop for 2 nights. Great city to visit to breakup the long trip, tons of good bars and easy to navigate. Then doing another 6 hour drive to Normandy for 2-3 nights then finally in paris for two nights of picture taking with the car (sorry can't resist the thrill of taking my own car on the Champs-Elysses.)

I would skip Frankfurt. I've been there upteen times connecting or on business and there is nothing particularly interesting-we leveled thd place in WWII. Compared to Strasbourg and some of the places in the Alsace or if you visited the Loire Valley in France...much better use of time. Frankfurt has a big airport and a convenient connecting train station, but thats about it. Their old town "Sachsehaussen" is weak. Its like coming to the US and targeting Dallas as a must see city. At the risk of drawing the ire of some board members and unless you are a modern office building aficionado, I recommend that you skip it.

Great advice so far. Maybe I will not trek up to Frankfurt. Any hotel recommendations, in Munich, Strasbourg, Alsace, Cologne, Reims, Paris, Normandy?

I have points from Hilton Honors, Hyatt GoldPassport, Starwood, and Priority Club. Would like to maximize these if possible.

Going March 30 (Munich) to April 16 (Paris)

Westin Vendome-Paris, right on Tuleries

Le Meridian, Munich

Is Zurich worth going to? Want to check it out if it is worthwhile to go from Munich.

See this thread:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=645745

MisterPeter lives in Zurich and does not recommend it as a tourist destination.

I am in Paris now and driving in Paris really sucks. Spent 3 hours in traffic and put the first scratch in the rims. I am from Boston and the drivers here are even crazier! Just drop off at CDG on the front end and enjoy the city. It took us over an hour to drive from Gare de Lyon to the Champs Elysses on Sunday night. Crossing my fingers there will be no more scratches before drop off.

Two things that are real different in Paris traffic:
1. Scooters & Motorcycles have perfected the art of the serpentine.
2. The dual lanes with one lane blocked for taxis & buses - you'd die to be able to use that lane (which scooters will), while you're sitting stuck ...

Reminds me of Chevy Chase and National Lampoon's European Vacation. We never did get stuck in any traffic circles.