amsterdam-germany-austria &switzerland in 8 days ??!!!

wow you will be on rail traveling and sleeping alot in order to cover your interests and seeing very little just zipping by. Have you thought about leaving Switzerland and Austria for another trip?
Frankly you would enjoy Netherlands in itself easily in 8 days. ie Amsterdam, Edam,Haarlem, medieval Brugge as an option would be ideal & not rushed and enjoyable.This would also save you alot in rail fare.

Well, Germany isn't far from A'dam and you can get in on the Christmas markets at that time of year. But I agree w/ the previous post that you probably have too much in mind.

I could see 2 nights in A'dam, 2 nights in Nuremberg (market) and maybe 3 nights in Munich with a daytrip to Salzburg, the most accessible Austrian destination - then a return to A'dam. But that still is a geographic stretch. I'd prefer to spend a day in Rothenburg (near Nuremberg) than Salzburg, personally.

It is possible. Flying out of Zurich, Switzerland would make it a lot easier. Either way, you will be busy travelling a lot. Here is a possible itinerary.

Dec 2 & 3 Amsterdam (night train to Nurnberg)
Dec 4 Nurnberg
Dec 5 Train to Rothenburg
Dec 6 & 7 Train to Munich
Dec 8 & 9 Train to Salzburg
Dec 10 & 11 Zurich - fly home

Other Options:
If you have to fly out of Amsterdam:
On the 7th, you could take an early evening train from Munich to Salzburg, spend the 8th in Salzburg, train to Appenzell on the 9th. On the 10th train to Amsterdam--fly out on the 11th.

Flying out of Zurich:
You could also spend 1 day/night in Salzburg, go to Appenzell for 1 night and then on to Zurich.

You could fly out of Munich, save Switzerland for another trip, still go to Salzburg but you could add another day to one of the above towns.

Of course, this is all dependent upon train schedules. My daughter was in Appenzell in December and said it was cold but absolutely beautiful. I can understand you wanting to see so much in a short time--your vacation time is obviously limited.

Something can be possible but not enjoyable because it involves too much time on trains and train stations and can be too hectic and costly for the small number of hours you actually end up having to see what you came to see. Or not--it all depends on the facts regarding how much non-compressible travel time your proposed itinerary actually requires.Whether this itinerary is the best for you, only you can decide, and to make the best decision someone needs to point you in the right direction so that you can obtain the facts on the amount of non-compressible travel time your itinerary is going to require. To do this, go to this rail travel planning website:click hereand use it to first estimate approximate travel time from "station to station", that is, from train station A to B to C.Then add to those "station to station times" a reasonable estimate of the time it will take you to pack up your things at hotel A, go to the train station, wait for the train, then the time on the train from station to station (the step described above), then the time to get from the destination train station to your hotel, check in, and then in the morning to pack up, go to the next train station, wait for the train--and repeat that for 8 days. Only after you've done this will you have a good idea whether this will be the best trip for you, or whether doing less will enhance the enjoyment of your trip.