Sixty days in Western/Central Europe

So, what's the difference between this thread and your other thread - have you abandoned that singular idea?

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/live-as-a-local

Part of the fun of travel is experimenting with different ideas until one resonates.

I’ve been in Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, London, Florence, Venice.

So, unless one is calling you profoundly, why return? There is a lot of world to see.

Since your mind is wandering I thought I would throw out a random idea.

Milan (“live like a local” for a month+ in a small town outside of Milan. Bergamo for instance).

Then start your road trip: Because you seem to like Italy, start with Milan (3 Nights Minimum) to Verona (1 N min) to Trieste (1 N min). Then to broaden your experience head into Eastern and Central Europe and on to Ljubljana (2 N min) to Maribor (1 N min) to Graz (2 N min) to Vienna (3 N min) to Budapest (4 N min).

Those stops are all 1.5 to 3.5 hours apart, so travel is not arduous. Not all are accessible by train. You will need to mix in a bus or two. But relatively sort trips.

After you could do the rest in as little as 17 nights but 21 or even 30 makes more sense.

OR

Do 3 weeks outside of Milan, then do the road trip to Budapest in about 3 weeks then "Live Like A Local" in Budapest for another 3 weeks. That would give you a pretty extensive experience of two worlds and the world between the two.

I would like to start in Italy and work my way up north.... I ordered
Rick Steves book “Europe through the back door”. Any other that you
can suggest?. I love how he travels, it’s my way of travelling .
(Staying away from tourists areas if possible).

• Avoiding tourists: Use Rick's book with caution. His back-door philosophy does not have much influence over his book's recommendations for specific places, hotels, sights, and his popularity encourages increased tourist traffic to all his favorite destinations.

• Traveling north from Italy: Sounds like you intend to visit Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. Expect to pay 2-3 times whatever you consider "reasonable" in Switzerland. I enthusiastically recommend this travel book author:

Earl Steinbicker

Daytrips Germany

Daytrips Austria

Daytrips Holland Belgium and Luxembourg

The books are dated as regards prices, and details but the walking maps, the information on sights, strategies for outings, and tips for worthwhile things to see and do are still wonderful. Visit your local library or pick up used copies online.

Some of his chapters can be viewed for free online. This page has chapters for Mariazell (Austria,) the Chiemsee (Germany) and Nuremberg (Germany) among others.