Venice, Frankfurt,Munich,Salzburg

I am traveling with my cousin she is a 1st time traveller I have traveled once before to Paris and loved it. We are traveling from UK and we are spending 3 days in Paris and then 3 days in rome my sussestions were Salzburg and Munich others have said the other 2 my cousin wants to see the alps this is why I picked salzburg which ever we pick it will be for 2 days in each.

Munich and Salzburg are close to each other, so that makes the most sense. You don't lose very much time on travelling in between cities this way. Plus it is very pretty there.

My suggestion is the same as Jo's, for the reasons she gave. This is based on the four destinations you listed. However, your cousin who wants to "see the Alps" should understand, to avoid disappointment, that from Salzburg you will not "see the Alps", only the foothills of the Alps. If she wants to see glaciated rock faces above the tree line, real mountains, you need to figure out how to get her 15 to 20 miles south of Salzburg and into the mountains there that top out at 2000 to 2400 meters. These are still not the big mountains of the Alps but may be more of what she has in mind.

Thanks for that so the best way is to drive those 20 min our is there another mode of transport or tour to get out and seethem I think they will be big enough for her to see, is there any one thing in these places that is a must to see.

There are very many things to see and do in both Munich and Salzburg, so many that we can't describe them in the space we have here. Rick Steves has written a book on Germany & Austria that describes Munich and Salzburg in detail. And he lists bus tours of the Salzburg area, mostly "Sound of Music" tours for Americans of a certain age but hopefully including bus tours south to the mountains.

You can probably take a day trip to the nearby Berchtesgaden and Obersalzburg area. Although the mountains here aren't quite as high as the western Alps (like the Matterhorn, Jungfrau or Mt. Blanc), they're still very impressive.

The Berchtesgaden area has Germany's third highest mountain, the Watzmann. The Watzmann is only about 9,000', but the town below it is 3000', so the difference is fairly impressive. There is an hourly bus from Salzburg to Berchtesgaden. While in Berchtesgaden, you could also go to the top of Mt. Kehlstein and see the Kehlsteinhaus (Hitler's Eagles' Next). From the top you can see a lot of Alpine mountains.

From Munich you could make a day trip by train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is at the foot of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain. There is a cog train and cable car to the top of the Zugspitze.

I have been to both Munich and Salzburg, and they would be my choices, short distance by train, lots of things to see and do, and we found that the locals very nice in both places.

Kerry,

I have to agree with the others - Munich and Salzburg would also be my recommendations. A few suggestions and comments on both locations:

MUNICH - in addition to exploring Munich (which is a wonderful city), many travellers take day trips either to Dachau (for those interested in WW-II history) or to Ludwig's Castles in Fussen. You can visit either of those sites either on your own or with a tour (I used Radius Tours for both and they took care of all the details; their Guides were excellent). Note that with the Castle tours, these must be pre-booked and tickets specify the entry time - you MUST be there at that time.

Munich also has so many interesting places. I found the Munich Walks tour very interesting, but other popular sites are Marienplatz, the Deutsches Museum (16 kM of exhibits!), Viktualien Market, English Garden, etc.

SALZBURG - another beautiful city! In addition to the city, I had a great time exploring the Castle above town. There are also some great day trips possible from Salzburg!

As mentioned in other posts, Berchtesgaden an easy trip. Spend a few hours seeing the town, but there's also the Documentation Centre just above the town (again for those interested in WW-II). Visits to the Eagle's Nest are possible only in the summer months, as the road is impassible in the winter. There's also a Salt Mine, which can be toured.

Another good day trip from Salzburg is the beautiful town of Hallstatt (which is older than Rome). There's also a Salt Mine there which can be toured, and I found that very interesting. The best way to arrive in Hallstatt is via train, as the view of town from across the lake is spectacular. If possible spend a few days there (it's a good place to recover from strenuous travels).

You can take day tours of both Berchtesgaden and/or Hallstatt with Bob's Special Tours (or other firms) from Salzburg.

Happy travels!

Thank you to all for all the sugestions and Ken we took you to your word we are going to spend a few days in Hallstatt staying at the Gasthof Simony we have been checking it out ofer the last few days and I dont think we could pass that opportunity up as we wont get back to these parts again so thank you all.

Kerry

Munich and Salzburg areas. Plenty to do as others have mentioned. Hallstatt is beautiful, small and relaxing. I think you will enjoy staying at Gasthof Simony. Old 500 year old building and the stairs squeak as you go up which adds to the flavor. The salt mine tour that Ken mentions is a lot of fun and you can slide down the bannisters and no one will fuss at you. I could never get away with that as a child.