Help for best Itinerary leaving Venice

First question: how much time do you have for this epic journey?

Sorry, I should have included that 26 days. I now have complete understanding of why folks hire tours. I've been at this since December and am wild eyed trying to plan this and only just completely Italy.

Hang in there. Perhaps you need to delete some of the places on your list. Does the 26 days also include your Italy travel? It sounds like such a whirlwind trip, exhausting. Fewer locations usually equals a more enjoyable trip.

I can see the wisdom in your words.
Italy will have been completed before we get to this point.
If you were to pick only 3 places each in Germany Austria and Switzerland where would they be?

You received a lot of good advice in your previous post in October. You might do well to go back and check some of that.

It can be overwhelming planning things on your own, but if you take some of that advice, in particular, to spend at lest 3 nights in fewer places, rather than trying to see everything, you will have a much more enjoyable experience. You won't see it all, so save some for another time.

Your last post hints at that, but still, 3 places in 3 countries means 9 places in 26 days. I don't have the travel experience to answer your question as to where, but others will chime in. Also, you can look at some the the Rick Steves tour itineraries on this website for the areas you want to see, and see what they visit. (If you do that, you will see that his tours frequently spend only 2 nights in places, but remember, transportation is practically door-to-door, so no finding the station, no finding your accommodations, which all eat up a lot of time when traveling on your own.)

Your journey sound exciting, but give yourselves some time to relax and enjoy it.

Salzburg is in Austria not Switzerland.
In Switzerland I would visit Lucerne, Grindelwald, Pontresina. Grindelwald is in the breathtaking mountains, wonderful hiking, excursion to Jungfrau. and Interlaken is down below, a transit hub, not charming. I added Pontresina to see another part of the country, a pretty, traditonal town. Or Lauterbrunnen but we found it dark down in the valley- better to ride up to visit Wengen or Murren nearby, high up in mountains.
Austria- Salzburg, Hallstat, Vienna.
Germany- Berlin, Dresden, Bavaria including Munich.

Does the 26 days also include your Italy travel?

I have the same question, Patricia, and am wondering what just the Italy piece of your itinerary looks like? That said, I don't know how you'd sanely do 5-6 more countries in the time that you have. Your last post indicated 30 days for this trip - including or not including arrival and departure days? - so if your 26 doesn't include the Italy piece, it looks like you're intending to spend very little time there: something like 3.5 days, maybe. Are you only doing Venice?

Moving around a lot gobbles a considerable amount of time and energy. You could get very tired of packing, unpacking, getting to train stations, sitting on trains, finding your hotels, etc. in a big hurry if you're relocating every other day.

The first and last days of any European trip are wasted. And every time you move from one city to another, you lose a day.
And let me warn you that distances on your planned itinerary are great. I am good on a train for 3-4 hours, but any longer and I am flying on a budget airline. Eurail passes are not very popular these days anyway.
We used to rent a car and travel as far and to as many cities as possible. We now travel slower--and better. We like to travel in a straight line, and to cities that compliment each other. We also prefer to stay in a B&B or Agriturismo and do day trips by rental car. We often fly in to the farthest city (open jaw) and work our way back to a major city/airport with non-stop flights back home.
Let me just say your p!anned itinerary is just not possible in the time allotted. You need to slow down and simplify your route--cutting out visiting many cities.

Whew, I'm worn out from just reading the list of locations, and to give you perspective, my family says no one could keep up with the pace I can move!

We've traveled several years to Europe, and for the quantity of days you're planning, we've never covered more than two countries. Why? Because you want to create fond memories of really enjoying each location - not a blur of trains & hotel changes. Look up www.rome2rio.com to give you an idea of how it takes between locations. Stay a minimum of two nights because you can easily spent 3-4 hours to reach the next location which only gives you a day & a half to sight see. We have found three nights in smaller locations and four in spectacular areas such as Wengen/Lauterbrunnen or large cities to be a minimum to feel like we saw them.

If you're from the USA, this feels like comparing an itinerary of trying to see every state in four weeks. It's a recipe for exhaustion & grumpy people.

Look at your total list of 8 countries, and pick three. Since you've already planned Italy, select ones nearby, such as Germany, Switzerland, Italy. The Travel Forum participants could give you a wonderful itinerary of those that would make for a lovely trip.