Flying into Europe

kristie, Which cities to use for your inbound and outbound flights will probably be a balance of cost vs. convenience. You'll likely find a greater availability of cheaper flights to major hubs such as Frankfurt. Using an open-jaw arrangement would of course be the most efficient method. Visiting six places in a three week time frame won't allow much time in any of them, but it's certainly feasible. You'll have to allow at least half a day for travel between cities, and in some cases longer. You'll also need to allow for your flight days, so you'll actually have 19 days "on the ground". You could consider something along these lines: > D1: Flight to Prague > D2: Arrive Prague (jet lag recovery) > D3, D4, D5: Prague, touring (day trip to Cesky Krumlov?) > D6: Train or Bus to Munich (~4-5 hours) > D7, D8, D9: Munich, touring (day trip to the Castles or Dachau?) > D10: Train and/or Bus to Venice (~6-8 hours) > D11, D12: Venice > D13: Train to Florence (~2 hours) > D14, D15, D16: Florence, touring (day trip to Siena?) > D17: Train to Rome (~2 hours) > D18, D19, D20: Rome (day trip to Orvieto?) > D21: Flight home from FCO There are many ways this could be arranged, and this is only one suggestion. I always pre-book accommodations, and especially in May I'd recommend that. I don't like to waste time when I arrive in a new and unfamiliar city looking for a place to sleep, and possibly having to accept something that's "less than ideal". If this is your first trip to Europe, I'd recommend reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. Use the country-specific Guidebooks to plan sightseeing, hotels, etc. in each place. Happy travels!

Ken's itinerary is about as good as it gets. And your chosen cities are fantastic cities. If you're a good driver, rent a car in Florence to wander from hill town to hill town in Chianti/South Tuscany. You could do this for a day or two. We also loved San Gimignano and Volterra. Due to traffic congestion and difficult parking, Siena is best seen by bus trip from Florence.

The way I'd do it would be to fly into my northernmost destination (Prague), and work my way down to my southernmost destination (Rome) - or vice versa. Doing it that way will minimize your backtracking. If you're locked into Munich as your first destination, I'd go to Prague next, then down to Italy, finishing up in Rome.

Kristie when is trip and how long is trip, I would say if going for a few weeks and say in late may then I would start in warmer places ( south) and work my way north..

It's clearly the easiest and I bet also the cheapest to fly into Munich.

I agree with the above comments. Either Cincy to Munich or Rome, depending on time of year. Should be the same price either way. You can get a one stop flight on Delta out of Cincy for $1150 open jaw, go into Munich and come back from Rome. You will have to buy a cheap flight from Prague to Venice, but the rest will be easy train rides. I looked at Cincy to Prague for fun and it was a more complex flight and cost an extra $110.

We are going for about three weeks...have no set itinerary...just want to do what makes the most sense time, travel,and money wise. We are going sometime around first of May. Any more suggestions??? Thank you all for the very helpful replys!!!!
Kristie