Germany, Austria, Italy, possibly Switzerland if time permits

For the places you listed, flying into Munich would be best. But if you also want to visit the Rhine, then Frankfurt would be better. The Romantic Road is difficult to do without a car. Lee who posts on this forum did it by bus. You can visit parts by train.

You have plenty of time. You might consider Salzburg in Austria. There is a nice train ride from there to Italy

For something different in Italy, consider staying in monastery/convent accomodations. My wife and I love them. They usually have several single rooms. You don’t need to be Roman Catholic or any type of Christian to stay there. www.monasterystays.com

What daily budget do you have in mind?

I'd suggest you review RS videos and the RS Guides, as your question is too broad. No one knows your interests, travel style, age, budget, pace, etc.- what's best for someone else may not be best for you. Review the posts under these countries here on the Forum, and the Trip Reports. Please do some research first, and when you have more specific questions, we can be of more assistance. Are you spending time in Italy before the cruise? Have a great time planning. You have an exciting adventure in your future !

I hope you will spend a lot of your time in Italy including at least five days in Rome, one of the world’s greatest cities with history around every corner. Venice is unique in the world. Florence is the art capital of the world. There are so many places to visit in Italy that I could go on and on. It is my favorite place in Europe, no contest.
Ironically, one of two places we did not like in all of our many travels in Europe was Neuschwanstein. Not that old for Europe, built in the 1800s, the fantasy of a disturbed royal. We were upset that we had we had traveled out of our way to go there. Our favorite place in Germany is Berlin. We also enjoyed the area around Lake Constance.
Salzburg in Austria is charming and Vienna is a beautiful city.
If your best route is to travel is via Switzerland, then visit the Berner Oberland with its incredible mountain views. Or stay in Lucerne(Luzern) on a lake surrounded by mountains.
You should travel by train. Look at the website
www. seat61.com for excellent help with trains in Europe. It will make your train reservations so much easier!

Which book did you buy? Looks like it might be Rick's, based on your choices.

You do not have to rent a car in Germany. Buses are for urban transport. You'll be using trains almost exclusively to move from place A to Place B. Trains go nearly everywhere.

October is a nice month. I assume that going to Austria and Italy as well means you'll have maybe 10-11 days just for Germany, correct?

"...personal advice is invaluable."

OK, but it would be helpful to hear about some of your personal interests if you would like suggestions for destinations. Art? Opera? Medieval History? Hiking? The Hanseatic League? Metal concerts? Gothic cathedrals? Top-end automobiles? Anything would be helpful if you want personalized input.

For starters... Your title says "Germany" but the only places you mention are in Bavaria. Bavaria, which is only ONE of 16 German states and makes up just 1/5th of Germany's land area, is not Germany. It's said that many Bavarians consider themselves Bavarian first and foremost - being German is secondary. With only the Bavarian destinations you've named, you'll come up shorthanded if you're looking to get a feel for what Germany is all about. I think you have 4-5 days tied up already with the "must-do" Bavarian destinations you named. That's about half your time. So I strongly suggest looking into some destinations that are outside Bavaria too... and after that, giving your current choices a careful re-evaluation. That's maybe where your own interests might kick in.

We drove the Romantic Road after a week in Austria and were terribly disappointed. I wouldn’t put it high on your list, even with a rental car.

You could fly into Frankfurt and take the train to Rothenburg. Spend 2 nights so you have a full day to explore. Then train to Munich. It’s an easy half day trip to Dachau by train. Spend 3 nights in Munich. Then train to Fussen for 2 nights. Be aware that many are disappointed in Neuschwanstein. There are plenty more real castles available near Salzburg. I much prefer Salzburg to Munich, and could easily spend a week there. I would devote at least 4 nights to Salzburg and surrounding spots (Hallstatt, Berchtesgaden, Werfen).

I would consider 4-5 nights in the Berner Oberland. Maybe add another night to position you for the Bernina Express train ride from Chur, ending in Tirano. Continue on to Varenna and stay there 2 nights.

How about 3 nights in Venice, 3 nights in Florence, 3 nights elsewhere in Tuscany and add a 5th night to Rome.

Rothenburg - 2 nights
Munich - 3
Fussen -2
Salzburg - 4
BO - 5
Varenna - 2
Venice - 3
Florence- 3
Rome - 5

That gets you to 29 nights. You could add a stop, or add a night here and there. Some of these places are not as easy to get to (darn Alps in the way!), so you might want to break things up based on transit hubs (Milan?). Or maybe add a few nights in the Dolomites?

zoozerbe1, welcome to the forum. What an exciting adventure you will have. As Pat said, give us more information about your must sees, travel style, and yourself so we can help you.

How did you decide on the things you listed as your “want to see”? Did you research using guidebooks and/or the internet? If not, they’re good starting points. Although it’s a little difficult to use, the search feature on this website can give you lots of good information.

As a starting point, get a Europe map to draw out your route. It will help put distances in perspective. Look at Rome2Rio to get a feel for transportation options and travel time. Once you decide where you want to go, you can start to fill in the blanks—how to get there, what to see, where to stay. You’ll change your mind about some sights as you fine tune your trip. Keep asking questions. The forum family is very helpful.

I started solo travel last year. And am leaving for Germany and Austria in a month, partly on my own and partly on a RS tour.

EDIT after reading a couple posts ahead of this:
I love castles, the older, more historical the better. I have no desire to visit Neuschwanstein. From Munich you can visit Salzburg. Then over to Vienna where you can see Schonbrunn and Hofburg palaces.
Don’t rush through Italy. Venice and Rome deserve time. (Florence is on my must see list for next year.)

On an earlier trip, I got a large map of the areas I wanted to visit, then I had it laminated. I could then use wipe-off markers to trace proposed routes , and indicated travel time. Really helped me visualize the itinerary, and build a practical trip.

From Travel4fun's post it was suggested you fly into Frankfurt and then go to Rothenburg to spend 2 nights. I would have to disagree with that advice, as unless you are very familiar and comfortable with train travel, it could be confusing and difficult having flown overnight and just arrived in Germany from the US. To journey from Frankfurt to Rothenburg there wilI be several train changes. I believe a better plan would be to take the train to a small village on the Rhine (such as Bacharach or St. Goar) to spend a couple of nights before you go to Rothenburg. You can have a more relaxing start to your trip by doing a day cruise on the Rhine where you can view many, many castles in the scenery. There are a few you can even tour if that is your desire. By then you will feel a bit more comfortable with using the trains and ready to make all the necessary changes for your train journey to Rothenburg.

Some ideas on travel right after arrival at FRA...

Re: Joy's suggested train to St. Goar or Bacharach for a first night after arrival at FRA:

If it turns out that you actually have time for at least 2 nights on the Rhine, as Joy has suggested, this might be a reasonable plan. Unlike Rothenburg and Neuschwanstein, the Rhine has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site, and for good reason. And it is indeed easier to reach from FRA after arrival. Figure 1 hour by train to Bacharach. However, expect a change of train in MAINZ to get there; of the 9 trains that go there between 7:00 and 13:00, only 3 go directly to Bacharach (7:09, 9:24, 11:23.) The connecting-train journeys require 1 hr. 20 minutes.

St. Goar, the other suggested option, has some advantages over Bacharach, as I see it. Waterfront hotels with extra-nice views right near the KD dock. Superior spot for cruising. More attractive river scenery. Rheinfels castle (tour) is right there in town. To reach St. Goar, which is just 2 train stops north of Bacharach, you'll spend 1.5 hours on the train ride - and one change of train is always required.

Train tickets: There's no advantage to pre-purchase. Just get to FRA's Regionalbahnhof station, buy tickets and get on.

Alternative: Just take a direct regional train to Mainz (25 minutes) for 2 nights. There are multiple trains every hour. It's a great town to visit. And you can visit the Upper Middle Rhine Valley on Day 2 from Mainz.

Re: the possibly "confusing" train ride with "several changes" from FRA to Rothenburg: You should probably take a look at the schedule yourself. The ride is long - between 2.75 and 3.25 hours if you include high-speed trains. That's the main drawback IMO after such a long flight. But there are only 2 changes of train. I don't see a huge difference between one change and two changes, personally. Regional-train-only journeys OTOH will be slower (3.75 hours) and require 3 changes.

If you choose to do the Rhine first and then go to Rothenburg: Take into account that the Rhine is in the opposite direction from Rothenburg, and any Rhine > Rothenburg trip will be longer than a FRA > Rothenburg journey. Figure roughly 5 train hours from St. Goar or Bacharach. Staying in Mainz will shorten the trip to R'burg significantly.

To make progress toward Rothenburg right after arrival at FRA: Consider the 1.5-hour direct train ride from FRA to the Romantic Road town of Würzburg. Würzburg is on the train route to Rothenburg anyway - it's the first place you'd change trains if you were going all the way to R'burg that same day. The next morning, your regional-train ride to Rothenburg will take just 70 minutes (one change of train.)

You have many good suggestions so far, but I will try to add more.

First, doing the Romantic Road is best done by car. I highly recommend renting a car for this portion of your trip. You won't need it for the cities like Munich.

The Romantic Road starts in Wurzburg, but you could go directly to Rothenburg. You can take the road all the way down to Garmish/Fussen, then head to Munich or stop at Augsburg and head into Munich, then down to Salzburg/Berchtesgaden. From there then go to Garmish, which I recommend staying rather than Fussen. While at Garmich, go up to the top of the Zugspitze, on the cog train or cable car.

Not sure if you want to see Vienna, it would be a bit out of the way if you were in Garmich and wanted to head south toward Italy or Switzerland. Your could stop for a day in Innsbruck, Austria, then head toward Switzerland. Interlakken and Lucerne in the center of the country is great.

For Italy, I suggest focusing on the three main cites of Venice, Florence and Rome. Still, you could stop in Milan if you are coming to Italy from Switzerland. Verona is worth a stop as well on your way to Venice.

In Florence, recommend the Hotel Baluster, which is on the Arno River and downtown. In Rome the area around the Pantheon is my favorite for hotels.
We have done three transatlantics and one transpacific cruises and love to do that as you are planning. That is great planning, since you save on airfare and don't have to fly home.

Thank you for all of the input. All of you have provided great input. After reading about all of the train changes (for some reason I was thinking trains went straight through to major stops), I am even more nervous. I am now somewhat considering a tour that starts in Frankfort and ends in Vienna - 15 days, I would leave a bit earlier and it would end 10/2. I could then spend a lot of time in Italy.
After a tour to Peru, I am hesitant about tours and being rushed, but this would ease my mind on getting around.
My question now would be, luggage. I was hoping to take one carry on with an under the seat bag. My only concern with that is the cruise portion. Perhaps the person who has done the transatlantic cruise back to the US will see this and tell me how the navigated the different types of clothes needed on a cruise vs road travel.
Thank you again.

"After reading about all of the train changes (for some reason I was thinking trains went straight through to major stops), I am even more nervous."

There's really no reason to be excessively nervous about changing trains here or there in Germany. IMO Joy really overstated the relatively small task of changing trains. Once you've done it, you'll think it's a snap. The only real problem is if you can't carry your own luggage up and down steps comfortably. Pack accordingly.

If you can't find your track and jaren't sure to walk, ask someone. Germans speak good English, as a rule. Your travel schedule will tell you what track to go to and what time your train leaves. Just as there are at airports, there are also electronic signs in many station lobbies showing upcoming departures and track numbers - and in Germany they are often in English:

http://www.nature-motion.de/wcm/wp-content/uploads/081_2528.jpg

Tracks are numbered 1, 2, 3, etc. and there are signs in the stations with arrows that guide you to your track, just like flight passengers use in airports.

https://www.kaiser-gleisbau.de/images/stories/referenzen/BadDuerkheim/DSC00217.jpg

"for some reason I was thinking trains went straight through to major stops"

That's exactly what trains do between major destinations like Berlin and Munich. And of course these trains make stops at other important towns on the way (Nuremberg for example.) Rothenburg is a tiny backwater town at the end of a rural trainline. There's no reason for large numbers of Germans to go there.

"Perhaps the person who has done the transatlantic cruise back to the US will see this and tell me how the navigated the different types of clothes needed on a cruise vs road travel."

I haven't done the transatlantic cruise, but I did take a week's cruise around the Mediterranean followed by a week on my own in Paris. For the cruise I packed a reversible dress, a couple of scarfs and a pair of heels. If instead you need a suit jacket and men's dress shoes, that's bulkier. Would it be crazy to buy the shoes when you get to Rome?

Hope this helps,
Marty