First Time Europe Trip Help : Berlin-Prague-Munich OR Italy Big 3

How exciting!
Travel is so subjective, but our interests align and I've been to all your potential options (except Prague).
I would advise to save Venice? But see what other advice you receive. Linking Munich and Berlin was really insightful for me, personally.
I flew into Munich from the US early last June a few days before a RS Alpine tour. You absolutely don't need a tour to meet your itinerary goals, using trains and perhaps day tours. With the Internet and relative ease using English once there, it's easy.
I had 2 full days in Munich and focused on WW2 and specifically the rise of Hitler. (I used a private guide in both Munich and Berlin for a day and although really expensive it was, for me, worth it.) But there's a plethora of affordable options. For example, Dachau is accessible by public transport, too
From Munich you can get to Neuschweinstein Castle. I saw this combined with Eagle's Nest as a day tour but ended up skipping the latter. Bavaria is so very different than Berlin!
I returned to Berlin a few months ago and stayed in one hotel and had 5 full days and it was barely long enough! Absolutely fascinating!
Against the backdrop of current political change it's all the more compelling.
I hope you receive lots more good advice (especially for Prague and adding Venice). I have received so much helpful advice from the Forum!
Safe travels!

I think the Germany option fits better to your interests.

Berlin offers lots of history and sights about WWII.

South of Berlin you can visit Lutherstadt Wittenberg (easily by train) where Luther's Reformation began. I recommend to add Wartburg close to Eisenach, then Weimar, Dresden and finally Prague.

More tips about the German Reformation around Luther provides the German language website https://www.luther2017.de/.

I 2nd adding Dresden to your itinerary. If you train from Berlin to Prague you go right through Dresden. The Historic Green Vault was spectacular.

How many nights will you be in Europe?
A direct train from Berlin’s main station to Prague takes 4h 15m. A direct train from Prague’s main station to Munich takes 5h 45m and a direct train from Munich to Venice takes 7h. You’ll lose a day traveling from Prague to Munich and Munich to Venice and there are no direct overnight trains from what I can see: https://int.bahn.de/en.
A direct train from Berlin’s main station to Munich takes 4h 15m. A direct train from Munich to Prague takes 6h.
Where do you want to go in Bavaria? Are you talking about the Bavarian Alps? If visiting mountains add a night in case the weather doesn’t cooperate.

All, I appreciate the responses!

Mary, we will be in Europe for 11 nights- 4/21-5/2.
Regarding Bavaria- we want to be in Munich for spring fest, the Neuschweinstein castle, and Dachau concentration camp. We would like to go into the mountains if possible. Right now we are debating between leaving from Prague or Zurich.

I can't help you with Germany, as I am on here trying to plan my very first trip to this area right now for July 2025!

But, I would say you are not crazy for trying to plan your first European trip on your own! You can do it, and save lots of money and probably get nicer accommodations and so much more for your money overall than doing a tour!

I'm always tempted to do a tour, to save all the time and hassle of planning, but after being where you are now--questioning my sanity and hoping I didn't mess things up majorly on the trips I was planning --I've still bit the bullet and planned my own trips and loved them! We did our first trip (whole family with kids, 7, 11, 13) to England/Scotland (London/Cotswolds/Edinburgh) in 2017, anniversary trip to Normandy/Paris in 2018, and Italy Trip (Florence/rural Tuscany/Venice) just last summer.

So, if you do end up having any Florence/Florence day trip/Venice questions, let me know. Good luck!

Berlin, Munich, Prague, sure. One full day of travel out of 11 isn't terrible. Since this is your first trip and you seem a little loose, what about Munich, Salzburg and Vienna? A little less travel time and a sweet trip but maybe a tad more expensive in Austria. Or compare what you come up with to s Gate1 Tour of Germany.

As for the original Italy idea. That would be my first choice. Some day you tell the grand children that you were there for the Jubilee.

If this helps with context, we are both mid 20s, and this trip is something we want to do before having kids. We want to do this cost effectively.

Mr. E, That would be a story I would love to tell, but we have come to terms that we can tell our grandkids about visiting Italy another year.

Germany it is.

Now the question is becoming- Prague or Zurich/Eastern Switzerland? We love the mountains, and would contemplate trying to ski for a day, just to say we did it.

Are you considering flying in or out of Zurich? Fly in and out of cities you are visiting. Zurich is a gateway to the Lauterbrunnen Valley not a destination must-see compared to Berlin, Prague, Munich and Venice.
If you fly into Munich, take a direct bus from Munich’s airport to Garmisch-Partenkirchen (2h 15m) to explore the alps: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Bavarian_Alps. A good day trip from Garmisch-Partenkirchen is Oberammergau that’s a 45m direct bus ride away.
From Garmisch-Partenkirchen take a direct bus to Füssen to visit Neuschweinstein but you may need to spend the night because I don’t think there is luggage storage at Neuschweinstein or in Füssen.

From Füssen take a direct train to Munich (2h). Most trains require a transfer but I see one departing Füssen at 12:20p. Dachau is a direct 30m train ride from Munich's main station (Hbf). Another good day trip from Munich is Salzburg by direct train (2h) that also departs from Munich Hbf.