Itinerary help with 8 day trip to Switzerland, Austria and Germany

When do you plan to 'see' these towns? You are going to spend so much time checking in and out of hotels and on a train. This seems like a crazy fast itinerary with NO time to enJOY the towns.

To rent a car in Switzerland and return in Germany will be very expensive.

If your flights aren't booked - I'd just do 2-3 of these towns. I don't see how this is going to work.

You could sleep in Zürich and day trip to Luzern since you must transfer in Zürich to get to Innsbruck.
Fortunately, there are direct trains from Innsbruck to Salzburg (2h), Salzburg to Munich (2h), Munich to Heidelberg (3h) but not all the trains are direct for the latter. There are also direct trains from Heidelberg to Franfurt (1h).

mhawkins106,
Just a few thoughts in response to your queries...

Going to a different town every day gives you at most a half day in that town. Not much time to explore (e.g. Leave one town in morning; arrive hopefully at new town around midday; check into hotel; spend a few hours exploring the town; sleep, next day repeat). Munich alone has enough to see and do for a week. It is a large city with the ambiance of a town. I suggest you do a little research of what there is to see and do in each of the places you mentioned. That will give you a better idea of how much you can accomplish. Also, your arrival day (if coming from North America) will be somewhat lost to jet lag and orientation. Your fly-out day will be lost to getting to the airport three hours ahead for your flight. That leaves you essentially with 6 full days to sightsee/hike/visit museums, etc. Travel between locations takes up a minimum of half day (checking out of lodgings, getting to train station, travel, getting to new lodgings and checking in....). And that is if the towns are not too distant from each other.

Perhaps you could look at a book such as Rick Steves travel guides to found what most interests you, then you can prioritize your options. Best of luck and enjoy your trip!

Totally agree that you are trying to jam in too much with your limited time there. Try to prioritize -- do you like nature or history more? Neither Zurich nor Frankfurt is the most exciting metropolis out there. Don't rent a car. Parking is a big headache.

Good feedback so far. These are simply not drive-by or train-by destinations. Suggestion for an improved trip...

ZRH Airport > Luzern is easy by train, 1 hour. Spend two nights there.

Luzern > Heidelberg is about 5 hours by train. You could maybe spend 2 nights there as well. But first, I would suggest an intermediate stop on the way to Heidelberg in Gengenbach, an old-world Black forest town with an old town wall and towers.

Luzern > Gengenbach takes just 3 hours by train. You can do some Black Forest hikes nearby, ride the scenic Black Forest Railway trains (one of Germany's most scenic train routes) to Triberg and to the excellent Black Forest Open air museum in Gutach. 2 nights in Gengenbach is about right. Then travel another 3 hours by train to Heidelberg and do those 2 nights in Heidelberg.

From Heidelberg you will have a reasonable train ride on Day 7 to Frankfurt for a day there before flying out.

The above plan is a more reasonable/doable/enjoyable trip, IMHO. Munich, Salzburg, Innsbruck... those can be combined easily but should all be a separate trip sometime.