Itinerary check for Salzburg, Venice etc.

4-5 nights in Salzburg sounds just about right. I'm sure you'll consult a guide book for the major sites, but of course you'll want to take two days to visit the fortress, Mirabell gardens, Hellbrunn Palace and trick fountains, Cafe Tomaselli. On the other days, I would suggest a visit to Wolfgangsee on one day and take another day for Berchtesgaden. Personally, I would make my way to Gosausee for a day and do a hike, but that is just me.

For what it is worth, we spent a week in Verona and visited Venice for the day. I've been there many times before, however. We did love Verona.

I have been to all the places you mentioned, some more than once.

You can do Salzburg and nearby Berchtesgaden in 3 full days.

6-7 days in Venice, in my opinion, this is overkill. Venice is very expensive and you can do all the key sites and museums as well as an islands tour in 3-4 days.

Verona is great for one day.

Dusseldorf and Hamburg would not be high on my list. The German Rhineland is very nice, including the Mosel Valley. Cologne for a day, Trier and Vianden, Lux. Also, farther south, Heidelberg, Black Forest and Strassbourg, France. Paris is great and you can easily do more than 4-5 days there.

Thanks for your responses and suggestions of places to visit. The lakes area of Salzburg was also on our list, along with all of the lovely sites to see in the city. I think we'll have 21 nights (excludes arrival evening). So we could do 4 nights Salzburg, 5 nights Verona/Venice, 7 nights Germany and 5 nights Paris. I agree that we could do more in Paris - we were there eight nights on our last trip and we didn't want to leave.

We have friends who live in a small town near Düsseldorf, so that's why it's on the list (as a transportation site), and another friend who lives in a small town north of Hamburg, near the Baltic Sea, so we could fly into Hamburg from Venice. We spent a day and a half in Hamburg four years ago, and really enjoyed it. We came across very few Americans.

Near Modena I'd consider Bologna. I've been to Modena and didn't think it was anything special (unless you love Ferraris).

Sounds like a lovely trip with your daughter. You have new place, familiar places, and friends to see. And while you are covering a lot of ground, you aren’t racing. I would love at least 3 full days in Salzburg for a first time, with a day trip.

Thanks for your replies, and suggestions for day trips from Salzburg, and also for the Bologna suggestion, which looks like a good meeting spot with my daughter’s friend. We are indeed covering a lot of ground, and when we first started planning, we had Switzerland included, and more of Austria. Too much! We are flying into Milan now rather than Munich, and will make our way north, and still end in Paris. I'm still deciding on the Italy stay - six nights in Venice with a day trip or two, or split the stay between Venice and another city , i.e. Verona.

I really enjoyed a half-day at the Freilicht Museum, about a 40 minute bus ride from Salzburg's main train station.

In Italy, you could divide your time between Venice and Bologna. The latter is just half an hour by train from Modena. There is plenty to see in Bologna, and it is a great place to eat. I also like Modena, and I have no interest in cars. It has a very nice cathedral. It is also a much quieter city than all the other places you are visiting, so is more relaxed.

Look into taking the train directly from Munich airport to Salzburg instead of staying a night Munich. I think there’s only one connection. If jet lag is an issue, you won’t be doing anything the first day anyway and might as well get to where you want to be. This gains an extra day in Salzburg - which you could easily spend in the surrounding area.

Seven nights in Venice is too much. 3 nights are plenty. Splitting that stay is a good idea.

You have made reservation for your lodgings? For a trip beginning in 2-3 weeks sure hope so.

I do think that 5 days in Salzburg and 7 in Venice is an overkill. Travel to Salzburg the day you land in Munich (2 hours by train) to avoid one day of travel from Munich to Salzburg. If you take time away from Salzburg and Venice you can add Florence, Rome or another city to your Italy leg.

Hello. Thanks for the new responses. This thread got bumped up because I made an edit to an earlier post after someone sent a private message, confused by something I’d written. Yes, hotel reservations have been made and most train tickets. We fly into Milan now, not Munich.

Arrive Milan (Linate) in the afternoon, overnight in Milan (Hotel Berna),
train to Venice (4 nights),
train to Verona (2 nights, on a weekend; daughter's friend will meet us),
train to Salzburg (4 nights),
fly to Düsseldorf (6 nights, visiting friends in two different towns, one near Düisburg, one near Bremen),
train to Paris (5 nights),
Fly home from Paris

While in Venice, we may do a day trip, to one of the other islands or to Padua (I'd love to see the botanical garden). I really want to see Rome, and Florence, but will save those for another trip, hopefully when we can travel to Italy during the non-summer months. I’ll write a trip summary when we get home so that people can see how this all worked out for us. We leave in a little over two weeks!

Please make sure that while visiting Venice that your accommodations are actually in Venice Island and not Mestre.

In Mestre you certainly do find cheaper accommodations but you’re also NOT in Venice.