Tour of Europe - Car or Train?

[Cohenite]

DH & I are planning a European trip. We will probably be away for 10 weeks over the summer and would like to visit Greece, Italy, Spain, France, Germany & Switzerland as a rough guide.

Has anyone done this type of trip & if so did you travel by train or car and what would you recommend?

I like the thought of a rail trip but DH is thinking we could get to more out of the way places by road. My reservation with that is the feeling that so much driving would be tiring & become a chore.

Ay advice/thoughts welcome.

We drove to Rome last year and it was fab. It is NOT a chore like driving in the UK (we live "down sarf"). You basically drive for literally a couple of hours and then have lunch or see the sites in a completely new country!!
The standard of roadside food stops in gobsmacking especially in Switzerland and Germany (think fruit and salad bars, fresh food cooked to order including stir fries, fresh curries rather than burgers etc).

Longest drive was a day from Dachau in Germany to Austria for lunch (2 hours). From Austria to Bologna (5 hours) for dinner. Then to Florence (2 and a bit hours) to the hotel for drinks and a swim. But hey that's 3 meals in 3 countries in a single day and it didn't feel rushed or hard work!!

We had no traffic jams,queues or roadworks for the entire 2 weeks.

I don't know so much about trains but the ones in France and Italy I've used are subject to strikes and overcrowding that are unthinkable in the UK!

Good grief, three countries in one day! Did you stay in cities? Was parking expensive, I'm guessing not all city centre hotels have free guest parking.

We are doing a much smaller "road" trip to Italy/Corfu and Croatia during the summer and I went through the same thought process of drive or train... and I think we have now decided to get cheap flights to Italy...use trains ...hire a car for the odd day if there is somewhere special we would like to get too...and then island hop by boat from Cavtat to Split ... I think you will find using your car quite expensive in terms of petrol and tolls...

Cohenite No - we soon learnt that driving through cities wasn't going to work. As Belgium, Switzerland and France weren't destinations we just drove to hotels we found the night before (booking.com)via lunch in a nice town on the way.
We stayed on the outskirts of Milan and got the tube in to see Leonardo's Last Supper and parked in the suburbs of Rome for our stay there. Same in Germany.

Agree with lottysmum it isn't the cheapest petrol is very expensive all over Europe but it is "value" if that makes sense. Also we were amazed at the more relaxed attitude to payment over there (and the kindness of strangers! ) We were free car repairs, free rides on buses and extras at the service stations. None of which happens over here.

Thanks both of you for the helpful replies. DH & I will have a proper look at the pros & cons.

I quite like the idea of staying outside cities & using public transport to get in & see the sights.