Prague/Germany/Austria

We started in Prague and took the train to Vienna in DEC about 5 years ago. It was a interesting way to travel if you decide to do these two countries. All of the countries you have suggested are really beautiful and are all worth a visit.

Option 1 and 2 both look good. Salzburg is a little longer train journey than doing the Berlin, Prague, Vienna triumvirate with direct 4.5 hour train journey between. Same for the Munich, Vienna, Prague trio. See the "Munich vs Berlin: CAGEFIGHT" thread elsewhere here for the pros & cons of these 2 cities.

The Prague airport is fine. It is quite small, perhaps about the size of SLC. There is a bus which goes from the subway. Unfortunately, I don't recall which subway line to which stop to which bus.

Well, as I was just stating in the aforementioned CAGEFIGHT thread, what to recommend really depends on your interests, and one-off comments like "Skip Berlin" aren't really helpful. Berlin, Vienna, and Paris are my three favorite cities in Europe, so for me, recommending Berlin and Vienna makes perfect sense. But I'm a big city girl who likes sophisticated food, hip bar scenes, and fantastic museums, so it's not surprising I like those cities. On the other hand, Munich and Salzburg are close together, and close to/set in areas of incredible natural beauty and quaint towns. Also good for touring castles, whereas Vienna and Berlin have amazing palaces, but the palaces aren't the same as the fortress-on-a-hill type castle that you might associate with the word "castle" (even if the most famous one near Munich, Neuschwanstein, isn't a fortress at all but a "modern" romantic palace). 12 days isn't a ton of time, so I would pick a series of destinations that make sense geographically. Berlin-Dresden-Prague would make sense in the northeast. Prague-Vienna-Salzburg/Munich make sense in the southeast. But late October will be colder and greyer and that would generally be a time that favors city visits as opposed to nature. I think it's also off-season in Switzerland, as it's too early for skiing and too late for hiking. Switzerland experts can correct me on that.

" I think it's also off-season in Switzerland, as it's too early for skiing and too late for hiking. Switzerland experts can correct me on that." Not that I'm an expert in Switzerland, but yes, that's generally true for the Alps.

I did this trip 10 years ago. I did Munich, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg. I would definitely see Prague, it is so different. Then Vienna, then Munich. You could skip Salzburg unless you are huge Sound of Music fan. Of course the time spent in each City would depend on your interests. I took an architectural walking tour of Prague and loved it.
One thing about Prague, when we were at the train station it was complete chaos, no one spoke English, and a man kept trying to grab our bags so we would pay him to carry them. Very agressive. That was 10 years ago, I can't imagine their airport. I think it would be smoother to fly Munich/Vienna.

I flew out of Prague a couple of years ago, took a private car service from the hotel. It was somewhat less than a cab. With luggage, the metro can be a hassle, especially when it's crowded. I have never seen a subway car more tightly packed than in Prague on Sunday late afternoon. . . worse than rush hour in New York, London or Paris. I got the name of the service (don't have it now) but the person who gave it me found it on the internet. With 12 days, fly into one of your 3 destinations and fly out of another. Don't waste a day getting to an airport (say, Salzburg to Vienna). Any 3 will be winners. I've been to Berlin, Prague and Vienna. All good, I'd spend the most time in Berlin - there's just so much more to see there.

Hi, Given the above options and to take maximum advantage of the time available, I suggest option #1. If you want to do this open jaw flying, then I say do it out of Vienna, since that is the terminus of the trip. You can get to Prague direct from Berlin, a bit over 4hrs. Option #4 is all right too, focus on Munich, Salzburg (maybe), and Vienna with a day trip to Graz (Steiermark). Skip Switzerland.

Hey - Definitely do NOT skip Prague. My sons and I flew in and our of Prague last summer (mostly because the airfare was the most reasonable),stayed in Austria for a week , but spent mpost of our time driving in and out of Germany. The airport was very manageable, and Prague was the city we enjoyed the most. We took a car service from the airport to our hotel in town, then rented a car (from an airport location - more reasonable price than renting the other countries) to drive around Austria/Germany I agree with a previous poster - I would skip Salzburg. It was our least favorite (and I AM a big Sound Of Music fan). Loved Prague, loved Munich. Don't skip Prague.