Itinerary France to Vienna Austria in April/May?

Northern Italy has beautiful lakes; Lake Como is a special favorite here. I haven't been to that area recently, and all my long-ago visits were in the summer, so others will need to comment on the suitability of the lakes during your time period.

Northern Italy also has Venice for more water, history and historic architecture. Venice is fabulous, but the whole world knows it, so it gets many, many tourists. A large number of them seem to make short trips there and want to see the same things, so it's essential to allow enough time to see less-crowded parts of the city in addition to the areas around the Rialto Bridge and St. Mark's Square. Lake Garda is relatively near Venice, so those two could be combined rather easily.

It will be important to check your travel options before becoming wedded to any particular set of destinations. Yours is a short trip already (definitely make it as long as you can), beginning in Paris and ending in Vienna. I checked, and there are no non-stop flights between Strasbourg (Alsace) and either Milan (for Lake Como) or Venice. You don't want a large chunk of your trip to be eaten up with transportation. Strasbourg itself is an easy trip on the TGV (express train), but moving on from there to Italy would not be so quick.

This is so helpful! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer.

I honestly hadn't pictured going to Italy (I was expecting that people would recommend Germany or Switzerland) but you're right that there's so much beautiful scenery and opportunities to be on or near the water. Lake Como is certainly a dream of mine, as is Venice.

Do you have any recommendations for hotels in Lake Como or Venice? I'd say mid-tier pricing.

I'm a budget traveler, so not a good source for info on mid-range hotels. However, the topic of hotels in Venice comes up very often here, so you'll definitely find some suggestions if you read back through the Italy forum.

Most folks here who go to Lake Como seem to like Varenna, but other towns in the mid-lake area are also workable. Rick covers this part of Italy in his Italy guidebook. I think his tours stay in Varenna.

There are beautiful lakes in Switzerland and southern Germany, but I've read in tne past that it warms up earlier south og the Alps.

My initial though is to head east by southeast from Paris towards Switzerland, Southern Germany, and then Austria. You will need about three quarter-to-half-days on trains, depending on which cities you pick and does that city have high speed train service. Don't count on the train rides for magnificent scenery. They move fast and go through cities, suburbs, industrial areas, and farmland.

Lots of rivers and lakes along the way depending on which cities you pick to visit. Grab a day cruise on the Rhine, Mosel, or Danube as part of your planning. There are also sightseeing cruises on many of the largers lakes.

For such a short stay, leave Alsace and train to Bregenz. From Bregenz, train to Passau. From Passau, train to Vienna. Passau is a lovely town, with easy access to explore on day trips. Or is Passau is too off the beaten path, stay in Munich, then to Vienna.

Now for something completely different--Go to Budapest. You can fly there from Paris and it is only a 2 1/2 hour train ride to Vienna.

I am planning a trip in mid april - starting in Amsterdam - picked this time to see the tulips - one week in netherlands then on to Saltzburge and then Vienna. Unless you are going to Saltzburg with your friends, its seems like a natural if you are in the area. I'm not a cruise person, but there are lots of cruises in the area. Happy travels sue