Itinerary for Venice, Lake Como, Salzburg, Munich/Bavaria

The number of days in each destination is a function of the total days for the entire trip, I start with total days and then allocate the total days to each destination.

Car vs train: Have you driven in Europe before? Many would say driving in Germany and Austria is significantly easier (less scary) than driving in Italy. A car complicates Venice and Lake Como, you can get to those destinations by train. But you might want to drive in Germany and Austria.

Must sees with a 15 year old will depend on what his interests would be, probably difficult for anyone who doesn't know him to generalize.

Hello Nancy----this sounds like a great trip. I suggest you book your flight "open jaw"---fly into Venice and out of Munich. Our rule is a minimum of three nights in each place, but each place you suggest is worthy of more. If you can take 3 weeks for this trip that would be great. You can easily do the whole trip by train. Venice to Como is 3.5 to 4 hours by train. From there to Luzern (a good landing place in Switzerland) is 3 to 3.5 hours. Luzern to Gimmelwald is another 3 hours 20 minutes, with the last part of the journey by cablecar. (With a family, you might also consider staying in Mürren, where there are more options; in Gimmelwald you are pretty much limited to Esther's and Hotel Mittaghorn unless you want to hostel or Schlaf im Stroh). Kids love Switzerland (we just returned from there with our teen) and your son will travel free on the trains, boats, and cablecar up to Gimmelwald or Mürren if you get a Family Card).

Thanks for the replys. My husband and I have driven in Germany and totally agree that it was no problem. We were also in Gimmmelwald last year (stayed at Esther's)and enjoyed it so much we want to go back and do some more hiking. Three weeks is a little longer than I had planned. I was thinking about 16 days, so I may have to sacrifice part of the trip. How would you tie together the Lake Como to Salzburg portion? I have heard that the Bernina Express is great, but that obviously doesn't get me to Salzburg.

Nancy

(ran out of room). From Gimmelwald to Salzburg is a long day (more than 9 hours), so you might want to break it up with a stop along the way. You can view the train routes and schedules at www.rail.ch (the Swiss rail site in English) or www.bahn.de. From Salzburg to Munich is again a short hop. You might want to rent a car when you get to Munich to tour Bavaria for a few days, then return it and spend you last few nights in Munich. I can highly recommend Hotel Uhland there.

Must-sees with a teenager? Ours love everything about Switzerland---hiking with cows, the lovely villages, and the amazing transport system (trains, funiculars, cablecars, lake boats, etc.) Elsewhere in Europe, castles top the list.

Sixteen days would be manageable too; you can still meet the "three-day" rule, but you will have that one long day getting to Salzburg if you want to include Gimmelwald (well worth it in my opinion). Otherwise, you could head back east from Como to the main north-south TRAIN line at Verona or Bolzano, which goes directly up to Innsbruck. Maybe include a day or two in the Dolomites?