28 days Amsterdam, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Krakow--- maybe Munich--would love advice please

I can't imagine spending only one night in Salzburg.....

If you're in Prague, I'd suggest then going to Cesky Krumlov [3 hours via CK shuttle] 2 nights.
And from Cesky Krumlov, to Hallstatt [also via CK Shuttle], one night.
Train [about 2 hours] to Salzburg, at least two nights.
Salzburg to Vienna, [train about two hours,] many nights.
Day trip [via train] from Vienna to Melk/Krems area for a boat ride, Abby tour, bike rides.

I don't know Amsterdam or Budapest - yet- but just offering options to be considered.
Safe travels!

28 days seems like a long time, but remember you lose one day on arrival and on your departure day. And your planned itinerary has you moving 6 times--more lost days. You have chosen to travel to great cities, and they often warrant more days than you have allotted spending in them. That itinerary may be a little too much.
Have you considered this itinerary:
Fly into Munich. 4 days
Train to Salzburg 2 days (89 miles)
Train to Budapest 4 days (339 miles fast train)
Train to Vienna. 4 days (154 miles)
Train to Prague 4 days (205 miles)
Train to Krakow 4 days (330 miles)
From Krakow to Amsterdam is 755 miles, which would warrant a flight and KLM is the only airline with that route.

As you can tell, Krakow is a long way to the east--out of the way. And it will be quite expensive detour for the four of you. Another option would be to go from Prague to Dresden for a couple of nights and then into Berlin for the remainder of your time on this leg of your trip. Berlin has a good airport to fly out of.

We have been to all these cities except Krakow. I know a couple of great places for rooms in Vienna, Copenhagen and Budapest if you'll PM me. We've also been on the cruise around Scandinavia and St. Petersburg--great, great trip.

All great places. One night anywhere is short unless it's a forced stop to break up an unacceptably long travel leg.

I'm like you: I like long stays so I don't leave priority sights unvisited. I think, though, that I might move one night from Krakow to Prague. However, you should ignore that comment if you've already checked multiple sources and determined that you need more time in Krakow than in Prague to see your targets. I realize that you're probably planning to go to Auschwitz, which is a good chunk of a day. It's not that Krakow isn't worth the time you have allotted to it, but Prague is considerably larger and 3 full days plus a few hours seems short to me.

Another possibility would be to split this into two trips so you have time for some additional stops in these fascinating countries. I think when push comes to shove, you're going to have considerable difficulty finding time for side-trips outside those cities because there are so many great sights in the cities themselves. And if that comes to pass you'll end up with city-city-city-city-city and no small towns except Salzburg.

I covered a lot of the same territory last year but had more time, so I was able to include some smaller towns. I ended up spending 5 weeks in Poland (not enough), which is so much more than Krakow. If you postponed Krakow until your next trip, it would allow a little more time at your other stops and (later) a more comprehensive visit to Poland.

Ok, so taking in some of the advice, and doing some additional research, I have come up with this plan:

Amsterdam 4 nights
Fly to Krakow 5 nights
Fly to Prague 3 nights
CK shuttle Cesky Krumlov 1 nights or skip and add 1 day back to Prague
CK shuttle to Hallstatt 2 night
CK shuttle to Salzburg 2 nights
Bus to St Wolfgang 3 nights
Bus/Train to Vienna 5 nights ——day trip options, Bratislava, Brno
Train to Budapest 4 nights
Fly to Copenhagen

I have the habit of doing this - Once I start looking at day trips, I start thinking I would rather stay in the area. This happened around the lake. We would love to have a day or two to relax and enjoy some beautiful hikes and scenery. I realize that there are 9 travel days but I believe there are 30 days total, so that's a lot of time. We did 3 weeks in Ireland by car and stayed 2-4 days each place and we didn't feel like we were in and out too much. Does this look doable and reasonable?? I decided to eliminate Munich, as Germany will be a trip in it's own right one day. As for Krakow, I just would really like to go! I know Poland deserves an entire trip, but I have several trips that I will likely take before that will ever happen.

Hello I'm sure you will love Krakow and the great day trips around the area! If you are looking for a place with beautiful hikes and scenery close to Krakow, then may I suggest spending a few nights in the Polish resort/spa town of Zakopane, quite popular with local Poles.

Zakopane, about 1:45 hr south of Krakow, has many fun summer activities for younger folks, like ATV excursions in the mountains or tobogganing down Gubałówka mountain. Zakopane also makes for a great base to explore the breathtaking Tatra Mountains, which are part of the Carpathian Mountain range between between Poland and Slovakia. This year, the Tatras were named the #1 European destination in Lonely Planet.

One of my favorite sites in the Tatras is the unique lake known as the Morskie Oko (Polish: Eye of the Sea). The lake is flanked by several tall forested peaks. It is fifty meters deep and is the only one in the Tatras with a natural stock of fish (one of the reason why it is called Eye of the Sea).

Let me know if you need any more day trip ideas for Krakow, I've traveled quite a bit in the area :)

I think you'll find your travel legs on this trip are quite a bit longer than they were in Ireland--but I'm guessing becausee I haven't been to Ireland.

Will the experiences in St. Wolfgang and Hallstatt be different enough that it makes sense to go to both places? You have a lot of time allocated to those two small lake towns.

Ok I will look in to Zakopane! Of course it will likely confuse me even more, as to my agenda!!

Also, I don't know......are the sights in Hallstatt and St Wolfgang that much different?? If so maybe I can just do one. Is that a better option? And if just one, which one?? That is exactly the information I am searching for.

I loved the salt mine tour in Hallstatt, and the vistas from the top of the mountain, where the salt mine is, are incredible. The town is lovely.
And- I would recommend taking the train out of Hallstatt, not the shuttle. To get to the train station, there is a regular ferry going across the lake. The views- and pix- I got from the ferry, leaving this beautiful town, are some of the best pix I got on that trip.
However, the Hallstatt town is very small, and one night would do it.
[ I haven't been to the other location.]
Safe travels!