Austria and Italy family trip

You've obviously done a lot of work on this. I would just suggest you look into what you'd see in Innsbruck and perhaps stay a night in Bolzano instead. In my opinion, Innsbruck has a romantic name and a rather pedestrian reality.

Some of the trains from Florence to Lucca are direct (no transfer required) and take only 1 hr. 19 min.

Thank you for your replies.

Since you're not going to be seeing much of Munich on your arrival day, why not go directly from there to Salzburg? It will save you half a day of travel. If your flight arrives in Munich in the AM, you likely wont be able to check into a hotel until the afternoon anyway, so you'll be wandering around in a jet lag haze - might as well be on the train to your real destination. Just a thought.

All is subjective. I find Innsbruck to be lovely and visit there often. You will enjoy the drive to Ortisei. I'd skip CT altogether as it has become packed with fellow tourists. The train platforms between towns resemble mosh pits. Getting around is no fun at all. Plus, many of the trails have been closed - check ahead if these hikes are important to you. Give yourself more time in Lucca/Pisa and Lake Como instead.

Looks like a very doable plan, as long as you know what you want to see in those locations. Basically you have 2 days in each location.

If it were me, though, I might reconsider your one night stops: head on to Salzburg from Munich after you arrive (if possible, depending on your flight arrival); the one night in Innsbruck - just head on to Bolzano (a long day but the train part is low stress); and what looks like one night in Lucca (do it as a day trip from Florence). I don’t know what time your departure flight is (or where you are staying at Lake Como), but you may need to be back in Milan nearer the airport on the night of June 29 for safety. You may have reasons you didn’t mention, but each hotel change eats time.

Getting from Cinque Terre to Lake Como just involves trains, with probably 2-3 changes - depends on exactly where you are staying in each area.

I’ve thought about taking a train directly to Salzburg on the day of arrival. We arrive into Munich at 1:40pm. I’ll have to look into the train route.

My husband wants to see Innsbruck because he’s heard nice things about it. I don’t really want to stop there. I try and avoid 1 night stops, but I was trying to make everyone happy. :)

I went to CT along time ago and loved it. I wanted to show my husband and son. I was planning on hiking from town to town. I will check more into it and see what is closed. Thanks for the heads up.

You have received some excellent advice. I particularly like the ideas of heading straight to Salzburg instead of stopping overnight in Munich, and of skipping Innsbruck in favor of an overnight in Bolzano. Here's why:

Coming from Portland, you will probably arrive around mid-afternoon. The S-Bahn from Munich airport to the main station takes about 45 minutes. The station is large and it takes a bit of navigation to get out of there and find the right exit for your hotel. The area around the station is a bit seedy, although there are a few nice hotels there now. ( We liked Schiller5). And not much in the way of restaurants. If you are heading to Salzburg the next day, you will have little if any time to see Munich's attractions.

If you head straight to Salzburg, the journey will be a bit over 2 hours--S-BahnCard to München Öst, change there to the Railjet or other train straight to Salzburg. You will arrive at a friendlier place and be able to settle into your hotel for. 3-night stay.

Add the night you gain by skipping Munich to Lucca so you have 2 nights there. Or better yet, add it tomthe Dolomites.

As for Innsbruck vs.. Bolzano, while either would be for just one night, we found much more charm in Bolzano. There are nice hotels within an easy walk from the train station, and good restaurants (some Italian, and some Sud Tirol). The Ice Man museum is well worth a visit. In the morning, you may need to get to Bolzano airport to pick up your rental car ( we did). If so, you can take a taxi straight from your hotel.

Another thought--- look into keeping your rental car for the drive to Florence, instead of returning it to Bolzano and taking the train. It would likely save you money and give you a chance to see more countryside. We did a similar thing a few years ago, picking up in Bolzano for the Dolomites and then driving to Venice to return the car. There was no drop fee involved.

If you do this, just make sure you can return the car without going into the ZTL area. I am sure others can suggest a good place--maybe the Firenze train station.

According to information posted here, two of the four main trails connecting the five Cinque Terre towns have been closed for several years due to deterioration caused by weather. It has been announced that they will not reopen until 2021.

The sections between Corniglia and Vernazza and Vernazza to Monterosso should be open, and those are enough hiking for most people.

I am ambivalent about Cinque Terre myself; when creating our itinerary for a trip with teen girls in 2010 it seemed half the people I knew who had been there loved it, and the other half said it was over-run and too crowded. We did find it very crowded in Vernazza in particular, but we enjoyed our 2-night stay in Manarola very much, along with the hike from there to Vernazza. But Vernazza itself was so congested we couldn’t wait to leave. And yes, the train platform was packed, as was the train. And that was almost 10 years ago. . . .

I went to the CT almost 20 years ago, alone, and loved it. I went back last year with my family, including 2 teens, and still loved it. We stayed in Riomaggiore and did a lot of hiking and jumping off rocks into the sea. It was lovely.