Traveling to Italy, Switzerland, Austria & Germany with family of four in Early June

As seasoned travelers, you have a good idea what you want to do. I think you will be spending a lot of time on trains and not enough time in Venice and Varenna, especially. I would add a night to each of these and cut somewhere else.

It's a lot of moving around. Trains are fun, but so is being somewhere. Here's how I see your itinerary:

June 3-5, Venice - 2 nights, one full day, jet-lagged

June 5-7, Varenna - 2 nights, one full day (probably OK)

June 7-9, Lucerne - 2 nights, one full day

June 9-11 (Sat is the 11th), Lauterbrunnen - 2 nights, one full day - absolutley not enough time in this magnificent area. The lifts and trains here will thrill you!

June 11-12, Stein am Rhein - 1 night???

June 12-14, Salzburg - 2 nights, one full day

June 14-16, Munich - 2 nights, one full day

I think you are missing a lot by trying to include so much. I would at leastdrop Varenna and Stein am Rahn, add a night to Venice and 2 nights to Lauterbrunnen, making it the centerpiece of your trip. I like Salzburg, but it seems Munich should have more than one day.... Drop Salzburg OR Lucerne to free up more time in Munich. Just my two cents, but I think you need more focus.

You guys are great. Thanks for the advice. If anyone else has further ideas let me know! :)

Honestly, my children would revolt with a schedule such as this. You only have one day in each location and then spend, in most cases, 3-6 hours on a train. I'd recommend at least 3 nights in the Jungfrau region and that's if you arrive early on the first day so you have three actual days to explore. The hiking and cable cars are amazing. I'd also recommend you stay in the mountains instead of the valley. Look at Chalet Fontana in Murren. I'd say way too many stops in two weeks. You could, in theory, do a daytrip to Lucerne from the Jungfau region. Maybe go directly from Varenna to Lauterbrunnen and do five nights there with a daytrip to Lucerne? Another option, if you skip Varenna, is to take a flight from Venice to Basel and train from Basel to Lauterbrunnen (about 3 hrs). The flight is about an hour and it would save you 13 hours of trains. You could explore the Aldstadt area and the Rhine in BAsel for a few hours before taking a train to the mountains.

Venice - 3 nights (to recover from jetlag)
Flight to Basel
Basel to Lauterbrunnen - 5 nights (daytrip to Lucerne)
onwards to Austria and Germany (I've no experience with this leg)

My kids are ages 9-13. We started travelling in Europe when my youngest was 5. Our max for trains is 4hrs one way in duration.

Venice - 3 nights
Varenna - 2 nights
Lauterbrunnen - 4 nights (with stopover option in Bern en route to Lucerne)
Lucerne - 1 night
Munich - 3 nights (with daytrip option to Salzburg)

Fri, Jun 3 arrive in Venice at 9:05 AM
Sat, Jun 4 - Venice
Sun, Jun 5 - Venice

Mon, Jun 6 Venice to Varenna
Leave Venice in morning get to Varenna afternoon
9:29 AM - 3:35 PM (6 h 6 min)
Tue, Jun 7 - Varenna

Wed, Jun 8: Varenna to Lauterbrunnen
Leave Varenna right after lunch get to Lauterbrunnen evening
12:25 PM - 6:55 PM (6 h 30 min)
Thu, Jun 9 - Lauterbrunnen
Fri, Jun 10 - Lauterbrunnen
Sat, Jun 11 - Lauterbrunnen

Sun, Jun 12: Lauterbrunnen to Lucerne
Leave Lauterbrunnen morning, visit Bern for late morning and lunch
8:33 AM - 9:52 AM (1 h 19 min)
Leave Bern after lunch, arrive in Lucerne late afternoon and evening
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM (1 hr 00 min)

Mon, Jun 13: Lucerne to Munich
Leave Lucerne afternoon, arrive in Munich evening
3:10 - 7:59 PM (4 h 49 min)
Tue, Jun 14 - Munich
Wed, Jun 15 - Munich (Daytrip Option to Salzburg)
Thu, Jun 16 - flight from Munich

These are terrific ideas. I think we might add a day or two as well. I'll post our itinerary once we sort it out.

Also, given our itinerary, is Stein am Rhein a "must-see" for us? Thoughts on checking out Appenzell?

I stayed in Appenzell for a night or two about 30 years ago. My mother and I both enjoyed that area, which I remember as being mainly rolling hills/dairy country, though Googling definitely finds pictures with mountains in the distance. We woke up one morning to the sound of cow bells clanging as the cows were taken through town to pasture (or for milking?). Expect to smell the cows, though.

This could be a nice change from your other Swiss stops if the transportation works out.

Here a revised potential itinerary and we are thinking to extend the trip by 2 days... Still maybe too much bumping around but with the extra 2 days it feels better to me...

Venice 2 nights
Varenna 3 nights
Lauterbrunnen 4 nights
Lucerne 1 night (stopover in Bern en route to Lucerne)
Salzburg 2 nights (day trip to Hallstatt)
Munich 3 nights

The reason Venice for only 2 nights is that we have heard it is maybe very overrun with tourists. I know it is a tourist town and I live in one too, SF, but maybe it is ok for 2 days? I was last there in 1988!

We dropped Stein am Rhein, but maybe someone here thinks it is a must-see?

Hi, I'm thinking that the boys would enjoy Venice more than Varenna. Riding the vaporetti to other islands, Doges Palace Secret Itinerary, a rowing lesson perhaps. Our time in Varenna was lovely, recovering from jetlag but very quiet and peaceful. Any boys that I know would find it boring. Remember, Rick calls it a great honeymoon location. IMHO, I would switch to 3 nights Venice, 2 nights Varenna. Have a great vacation.

I agree very much with the most recent comment.

You only have to go a little off the main drag for Venice to come alive with its freshness. Because most people are in the same few places much of the rest is mostly uncrowded.

The kids would love the place. It will be so different and so much fun.

Here is a trimmed down version. Maybe a winner?
Venice 3 nights
Varenna 3 nights (day trips to other towns on the lake)
Lauterbrunnen 3 nights
Salzburg 3 nights (day trip to Hallstatt)
Munich 3 nights

I think your latest itinerary is much improved!