Itinerary help Germany Czech Republic, Austria, Italy?

Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg make sense logistically. Easy connection by train. Connection to Venice by train is not as easy. If you decide for Venice consider flying.

If you've not purchased your airfares, you should consider going open jaw, which is into one city and out of another. Backtracking to your original arrival city is expensive and inefficient. Unless you've got any special reason for going to Frankfurt, fly into Berlin. Then take the train over to Prague and later down to Vienna. You could go west from Vienna to Salzburg and fly home from Munich. Or, if time allows, take the train from Salzburg thru Innsbruck/Brenner Pass to Venice. And you could fly home from there. Your itinerary is do-able, but may be a little optimistic. Remember that you lose a day on front end and back end, and a day each time you move. Berlin, Prague and Vienna are good for 5 days each, and Salzburg is good for 2 days. If you're looking for accommodations in Vienna, K&T Boardinghouse is very reasonably priced, and their 2 center city locations cannot be beat.
Our next trip will be a 2 week trip to Prague, Vienna and Budapest.

Laurie, I'm assuming you've already purchased your air tickets (YVR/FRA return)? If that's the case, your first suggestion is the most logical as train times will be reasonably short. Are you planning to stay in Frankfurt at all, or go directly to Berlin? You should also have time for Munich or Venice, but if you have to return to Frankfurt for your return flight, some careful planning will be required. At that time of the year, I would HIGHLY recommend pre-booking accommodations! If you haven't chosen hotels yet, you could check your local Library as the RS Guidebooks have lots of suggestions for good hotels in different price ranges and different parts of each city. At this point, your choices may be limited. As someone else mentioned, you'll have to allow for your two travel days. You'll arrive in Europe the day after you depart, and the last day will be spent on the flight home. Happy travels!

Hi, The above suggestion for Dresden as a day trip I very much agree with, makes sense time wise as Dresden is about the half way between Berlin and Prague. Take the early EC direct train so that you don't have to transfer in Leipzig, which in itself is a great place to visit, ie, another trip. This way you'll have most of the day set aside for Dresden.

It's late to plan a trip to Venice during the most crowded weeks of the year. You should do some hotel searching to see if you want to modify your ambitions - for example Salzburg doesn't have nearly as many hotel rooms as the larger cities you mention. Trains will also be crowded, and seat reservations are more important than they used to be. I suggest that you concentrate on your first list. For these eternal cities, you can start with an old Rick guidebook at your public library, especially his general travel tips. Then you can order (new) the one or two books you want to be current.

Thank you for all your suggestions. The flight has been booked as it was the easiest way to get to Europe from British Columbia Canada. Thanks for confirming that Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Salzbug was the best ideas for this trip. I think I will leave Venice for another European trip.

Thanks for confirming that Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Salzbug was the best Excellent decision. Use bahn.de (choose British English, works better than US English) to find train schedules. You can get considerable savings on the tickets by buying well in advance, for trains in Germany. I don't think there are discounted tickets from Prague to Vienna. Frankfurt is a very nice tourist destination too. I'd allow at least 2 days there, more if you want to day-trip (Mainz is just one option). You go through Dresden from Berlin. You could get an early train, spend the day in Dresden and then take an evening train to Prague.

The Frankfurt-Berlin-Prague-Vienna-Salzburg route is the way to go. It is a long haul to Berlin and likewise from Salzburg back to Frankfurt. I would suggest Dresden as was identified in the other post, but I would also include Gorlitz as well, spend a couple nights in Dresden with a side trip to Gorlitz. I would also suggest Rothenberg on the way back to Frankfurt. and if time permits, Hallstatt between Vienna and Salzburg. Don't miss Eagles Nest while in Salzburg.