Munich, Salzburg, Prague, Paris - Itinerary Comments

I'd give the time to Paris over Prague anytime.

Why back to Heidelberg in the middle on both ideas? Seems to be a time-killer unless family's involved.

The problem with #1 isn't so much that you're not spending enough time in each city, it's that you're spending too much time in transit. In addition to the actual duration of each train ride, you have to consider that it also takes quite a bit of time to orient yourself to each destination, find your hotel, unpack, get settled... and then repack, check out, and get back to the train station. In this regard, #2 is a little better, but you'll still spend a lot of time going somewhere, as opposed to being and enjoying somewhere.

If possible, I would front-load Heidelberg, rather than going to Munich right away. You will need time to recover from jetlag. Otherwise, you'll be pretty exhausted by the time you reach Munich.

If you haven't bought your tickets yet, consider flying open jaw out of Paris. This would save you a lot of back-tracking. As it is, both itineraries waste a lot time going back and forth to Heidelberg.

Thank you for your input. With some of your suggestions, we revised the schedule a bit, specifically removing the stop in Heidelberg in the middle of the trip. The stops in Heidelberg at the beginning and end are to see family and is somewhat based on their schedule, so that isn't as flexible. Also flights already booked through Frankfurt.

Here's #3:
Day1 - arrive Frankfurt, train to Heidelberg;
Day2 - to Prague early am;
Day3 - Prague;
Day4 - to Salzburg late afternoon;
Day5 - Salzburg;
Day6 - Salzburg;
Day7 - to Munich early am;
Day8 - Munich;
Day9 - to Paris early am;
Day10 - Paris;
Day11- Paris;
Day12 - to Heidelberg midday;
Day13 - Heidelberg & surrounding area;
Day14 - depart from Frankfurt.

Is this any better?

I agree with Tom - unless you have to go back and forth to Heidelberg for family reasons spend your time there at the beginning of your trip. Traveling from one city to another takes a lot of time and to go to the same city 3 times in one trip could be time better spent somewhere else.

I also agree with flying open jaw if possible. You could fly into Frankfurt and go to Heidelberg, then to Munich, Salzburg, Paris and home from Paris.

At the very least do Heidelberg at the beginning and end of the trip and don't go back in the middle.

I have not been to Prague, but I can't imagine going anywhere that takes 8 hours to get there and then get to my next destination to spend only a day there.

I have not been to Prague, though I would love to go there. But there is no way I would spend 16 hours of my trip to get there and back, especially when it's just to spend one day there. And more more importantly, it will take away time you could be spending in Paris. Paris is a fabulous city with so much to see. Try to maximize your time there.

Lou, I like your new schedule. In order to expand your siteseeing time even further in some of the cities, I would consider taking an overnight train for some of the longer train rides. In/out of Prague would be good for night trains. These trains do require reservations--best to make them weeks in advance. Yes, your itinerary is ambitious, but you're young and can handle it. Depending on what you want to do in Salzburg, you might be able to shave off a day there. Have fun making lifetime memories!

I agree that you're still spending too much time to get to Prague, and not accounting for jetlag. That's why frontloading Heidelberg, to give yourself a chance to recover, would be a good idea. My feelings on this? Drop one city, and given what you've committed to so far, Prague would be the best choice.

About night trains... although these sound, in theory, like a great way to free up site-seeing days, many people have difficulty getting a satisfying night sleep on one. You won't save any time if you find yourself too tired to appreciate the destination.

Lou once you go to Europe you will be hooked and go back. Plan on it cuz you will. Prague is phenominal but cannot be enjoyed in one day. Spend the time on this trip in the other cities so you can relax and really enjoy them and save all that travel time and money. The next trip you can do something like fly into Berlin, spend a few days in Prague, Vienna and fly home out of Budapest. All of these places are cool and worth IMO 3 days each (better yet if you have time Berlin and Budapest are worth 4 or 5 each).

I'm sorry its early in the morning and I forgot to add something important. Since you are young and no doubt still in love the best part of Munich and Salzburg is walking at night when almost everybody else is holed up in their hotel. In Munich in the Marienplatz there are great classical musicians if you like classical music. One friday night there we found a pianist who had his full size grand piano brought to the platz by truck and he played for 3 hours without repeating anything he played. The next night in almost the same place we came across a string quartet who were very good. I played the violin for 14 yrs and know a good musician from an ok one and these musicians were very good. Both Munich and especially Salzburg have all the buildings churches and squares lit up at night and you guys will be talking about your nightime walks for a long time. Take a good digital camera that can do nightime shots. Have a great trip.

Thanks for all of your help. Based on your suggestions, I think we will cut Prague out of the trip and add time to other cities. Like Terry said, we will just have to make another trip sometime soon!