1st Time Germany

Very feasible trip,
Venice is about 5+ hours from Innsbruck on the train. There is also a night train between Munich to Venice.
I am sure a little research will turn up lots of white water rafting.
If you do decide to go to Venice, also consider spending a few days in the Dolomites for outstanding hiking in (IMHO) the most scenic mountains in Europe. The district is called Suedtirol, (South Tirol or Alto Adige in Italian). It is German-Italian bilingual (plus the local language, Ladino).

If you want to be in Munich in September, you should book a room right away because of Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest runs 9/17 - 10/3. I'd skip rafting that late in the year unless it's unusually hot.

Munich, Bavaria and Tirol is a region that's best traveled by rental car. I'd suggest picking up the rental car as you leave Munich, head east a couple of hours to Salzburg. Then drop down to Innsbruck and the Alps. If time permits, it's an easy drive down to Venice for a couple of days as 4 days are not required there. You'd just need to pickup a Austrian vingnette sticker (toll) before you get to the border.
I would suggest you Google "Innsbruck tourism" to get info on what all extreme sports are available in the region. I always loved watching the gliders come into the grass beside the Innsbruck runway at dark, and escorted glider rides are available. I also love driving from village to village up on the mountain, as the scenery is breathtaking.
You might want to be careful, as you're visiting right before the start of Oktoberfest in Munich. If you'll be in town at that time, you'll want to get your hotel reservations as soon as possible.

Thanks all!!
1. How many days would you suggest in Munich for it's history and attractions?
2. Day trip from Munich to Neuschwantsein and area?
3. Day trip to Salzburg from Munich to see the sights and do the SOM tour?

Or leave Munich and base in Salzburg for 3 nights and do Salzburg city seeing, SOM tour, Berchestgaden and day trip to Innsbruck for the bungee jump?

Then train to Venice for 4 nights (3 days) before either training or flying to Frankfurt for flights home?

I would love to visit the Dolomites but not sure I could work it on this trip.

Maybe I should skip Italy altogether and focus on that on another trip.

We spent a week in Garmish area last summer and we could have spent much more and not even scratched the surface. It's a great place to spend some time.

Decisions, decisions. Fortunately its a year away, so you have plenty of time. You can get a train to Venice from Salzburg if it is high on your list. Fly open jaw, into Munich and out of Venice.

My opinions: I've never understood why an American wants to see the Alps when there are many uncrowded snowy peaks at home. Seems like time in Europe could be better spent.

Munich: this is a super clean friendly and historic city with fabulously efficient transit-- so why did I find it a tad dull? After having been in Italy, Munich seemed so modern with the wide streets and bigger cars, it feels a bit like the USA. Also Germans and Americans share so many sensibilities. It just seemed like Europe lite.

So I would keep Italy in the mix, there's a direct day train and also a direct night train Munich to Venice via Innsbruck (8 hours, train stops all the time). There are connecting trains via Verona every 2 hours or so.

If you take a car from Germany you will have to return it there or face $1000+ drop fee to leave it in Italy.

There is plenty to keep you busy in Munich and environs for the time you have allotted - and more.

From Munich take the S-8 southwestbound to the end of the line at Herrsching. Walk from the S-Bahn platform to the street and you'll see a directional sign, "Fußweg nach Andechs." Follow the trail three miles up into the forested hills to Andechs, where the Benedictine monks have been brewing great beer since the 15th Century. Or walk about 200 meters to the lakefront and take one of the stately paddlewheel ships across the beautiful Ammersee to Dießen. An old market town of about 10,000 inhabitants, Dießen is not at all on the international tourist grid, but is a popular, friendly resort destination for German weekenders. Some good restaurants there, too. Walk through the town up the hill to Marienmünster Abbey (1729). Photos here.

In Munich itself, visit the newly-opened NS Doku-Zentrum on the site of the old Nazi headquarters building, just east of Königsplatz. The D-Z's website offers free downloads of maps and audio guides for thematic walks of Third-Reich-era Munich.

The self-guided Munich city walk in Rick Steves' Germany guidebook is excellent, too. It will take anywhere from two hours to two days, depending on your level of interest and curiosity.

Nürnberg is another easy day trip from Munich. Or, if you have a free Sunday, travel by train about an hour west to the spa town of Bad Wörishofen. Relax in the pools and saunas of Therme Bad Wörishofen. Then walk to the small grass airstrip, have lunch in the open-air cafe and watch skydivers do their thing while you wait for your 45-minute sightseeing flight in a classic 11-seat, Soviet-built Antonov An-2 biplane (reservations required).

Thanks all!!
1. How many days would you suggest in Munich for it's history and attractions?
2. Day trip from Munich to Neuschwantsein and area?
3. Day trip to Salzburg from Munich to see the sights and do the SOM tour?

Or leave Munich and base in Salzburg for 3 nights and do Salzburg city seeing, SOM tour, Berchestgaden and day trip to Innsbruck for the bungee jump?

Then train to Venice for 4 nights (3 days) before either training or flying to Frankfurt for flights home?

I would love to visit the Dolomites but not sure I could work it on this trip.

Maybe I should skip Italy altogether and focus on that on another trip.

You have enough time to visit Souther Germany and Venice but f I were you, I'd leave Italy for another trip or you will spread your time too thinly.

If you want to use bases then spend 6-7 nights in Munich. Do your cultural explorations and day trips to Neuschwanstein, Innsbruck, etc from here. Move to Salzburg for the remainder of your time for more cultural explorations, Berchtesgaden, etc. Once you start researching you will find there is more than enough to keep you interested for "12 days or so" based on what you have said you would like to be seeing and doing.

Alternatively, you could split your nights between 3 bases: Munich, Salzburg/Berchtesgaden and Garmisch/Mittenwald/Innsbruck areas.

Should I skip Italy or cut time from Germany? Any suggestions?

We went to Rome, Naples and Pompeii before heading to Munich around christmas. When I made the Munich Airport, I felt relieved and like I was back home! I love Rome, but it is intense! We have traveled much of Germany and Munich is one of our favorite towns in Germany. We love to go during Christmas. We rent a car and take day trips to all you have mentioned. We prefer a rental, because it allows flexibility in how, when and where we will go. I do recommend a GPS if you drive and my Garmin has never failed me!

We stay at the Platzl in Munich because it is central to many things we enjoy while in Munich and they have a garage!

If you are there around Christmas, make sure to see as many of the Christmas Markets you can. They all are a bit different. Nuremburg is a favorite, but Dresden, Rothenberg, Guteneck are all wonderful and there are many many morel!! Also Prague has a very festive market. My favorite time of the year to be in Germany and Austria!! Get a cup of hot Gluewein and life is good!!!

Thanks for the info everyone!! I am looking forward to visiting this area!!

Hi. You have some time. Get one or more guidebooks out of the library and make a list of things you would like to do in each place you have mentioned. It seems plans for Oktoberfest might be the only immediate decision to make.

You could make Munich a base and take several day trips, say to Salzberg, Fuessen, Garmish, etc. OR, you could build some of these locations into a general south-moving trip. BTW, I am all about the train and the day train specifically. The scenery and trip is part of the experience for me.

You could do Munich with day trips (Fuessen) then move on to Salzberg/Berchtesgaden > Innsbruck > Bolzano > Verona > Venice.

OR, Munich with day trip to Salz (no Bgaden) > Garmisch/Mittenwald > Innsbruck > Bolzano > Verona > Venice. Don't need to see crystals in Innsbruck? Keep going to Bolzano.

When making your list, you may see repetitive types of things pop up. If you are at Oktoberfest, do you need Andechs? (it is really fun). One thing I like at that time of the year is the Viehscheid or Almabtrieb (return of the cattle from the high alps). Look those words up now and see what is happening in 2015. You should find many Youtube vids of cattle festivals throughout the area. Pick a few favorites and look for 2016 dates next summer. I went to one just outside of Innsbruck. I took a local little train. Lots of fun.

If you end up spending days in Bavaria, I might skip Innsbruck and head right to Bolzano. Spend a few days and take public transport to Val Gardena or other hiking areas.

The train line is straight from either Mu through Inns on south or Salz through Inns on south through Bolzano to Verona. There, you can move straight to Venice. Note that so many places are within easy commute. Padua is very close to Venice. Either one could be a day trip from the other.

Again, I would start a list from guidebooks or online travel sites. Then look at what you have: several museums? how many incidents of beer gardens? how many of hiking? Can you do beer and cattle together? How about that white water rafting (there is some in Chamonix, but too far away for this trip)? Do you need the Zugspitze or similar high mountain experience?

Sorry I am not specifying how many days in each place. I think you will figure that out once you start researching. One thing I like to limit is what I think of as the agony of travel: too much shuffling from one hotel to another and a feeling of having to move on every day. So, I would probably not choose to spend each night in a different location. Other folks, though, might enjoy that.

I hope you write back later with the plans you formulate. Have fun!

If you could, try flying into Venice and home from Munich. We fly into Venice, had a one week apartment rental in Padua and day tripped from there, then took the train from Verona to Munich. Great scenery, slightly eventful train trip as we had an unexpected stop outside Munich, where a large number of Eritrean refugees were removed and then arrived in Munich. Although I've had several trips to Italy this was our first to Munich (and Germany). We loved Munich and Germany. I would spent at least 3 full days just for Munich and longer if you have day trips scheduled, like Dachau which I would highly recommend. We then continued on to Berlin which we enjoyed even more than Munich. Sights, people, experiences in Germany were all outstanding and a return trip is high on our travel list.

"Maybe I should skip Italy altogether and focus on that on another trip."
That would make sense to me. There's much more to Italy than Venice. And much more to southern Germany than Munich and the Alps.

"I am interested in architecture, history, scenery and outdoor activities... Munich is a must for it's history, palaces... want to spend time in the mountains doing some hikes, enjoying the scenery,"
Salzburg, Berchtesgaden and Mt. Watzmann are quite close to each other. Good choice. 3 days for the area is about right.
Munich's NYMPHENBURG PALACE would be a good choice. With Dachau you might want 4-5 days there.
IMO your idea of a day trip to Füssen and Neuschwanstein is a waste of a day - it's a late 19th century palace with a fake castle exterior that offers a rushed, crowded 30-minute tour, a place where Ludwig II lived for 6 months and nothing much ever happened.

With 12 days altogether and your taste for architecture I suggest you spend the other 4-5 days seeing a different part of Germany. Maybe 2 days in northern Bavaria (Franconia) and 2-3 days in the Middle Rhine Valley. Bamberg's well-preserved old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and Bamberg is renowned for its brewery-restaurants and smoke beer. Here's a Bamberg pub guide. Nearby Würzburg is worth a visit too:
Residenz (also UNESCO WHS)
Main River bridge scene
Marienberg Fortress
Riverfront Biergarten "Goldene Gans"

The Middle Rhine Valley (also UNESCO WH) shows off 40 castles/castle ruins in 40 miles of river and will take you back a millenium in time. Lots of old-world villages here to check out too.

Bacharach
Braubach, also the home of Marksburg Castle, which is open year-round for tours.
The Rhine Castle Trail (Rheinburgenweg) offers great hiking and scenery.

Fly home out of FRA (between Mainz and Frankfurt.)