Hello, looking for advice on a trip I'm taking later this spring with my young adult son - we're meeting up in Amsterdam, spending 3 days there and then have about 7 days to make our way to Rome. I would prefer to take trains along the way (definitely don't want to drive). We're thinking of making three stops before Rome - the first stop might be either Luxembourg, Frankfurt or Strausbourg (only one of those 3!), then a second stop in Basel or Bern, Switzerland, and finally a few days in the Veneto region. That may be too ambitious given that we have to factor in train travel time. I would be so grateful to hear from people who have traveled this general route and have suggestions. Thank you!
Strasbourg, Luzern, Lake Como. I don't know what you want to see in Veneto, but you can skip Lake Como if it is important. It is a bit of a detour on the way to Rome.
There are direct trains from Amsterdam’s Centraal station to Frankfurt’s (Main) Hbf station taking 4h 15m: https://int.bahn.de/en which will be easier than going to Luxembourg or Strausbourg that require transfers.
There are also direct trains from Frankfurt to Basel’s SBB station (3h 15m) and a direct train from Frankfurt to Bern (4h 15m) but not many for the latter. There are no direct trains from either Basel or Bern to Venice or Rome. There are cheap flights from Basel to Venice on EasyJet but not every day.