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Itinerary in Italy, Austria, and Germany

Posted by (Minneapolis, MN) on

Hello!

My husband and I are headed to western Europe for the first time - his first time out of the country! I'm hoping to get your thoughts and suggestions on our itinerary. We know we can't see everything and we're trying to go with Rick Steve's suggestions to, "assume we'll be back" but that's so hard to do! Additionally, if after you have make itinerary suggestions, should we get a 3-Country Euro-rail pass or go with one way tickets. Lastly, any thoughts on places to stay on the lower budget range would be great! We are using Rick's Italy 2017 book for hotel stays in Italy, but don't have the Germany/Austria book yet.

Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive in Nice at 11am (was planning to visit family but now he won't be there! Still have his place to stay)
Day 2: Nice
Day 3: Travel to Rome in the morning (plan to fly)
Day 4: Rome
Day 5: Rome
Day 6: Rome
Day 7: Travel to Florence in the morning (train)
Day 8: Florence
Day 9: Travel to Venice in the morning (train)
Day 10: Venice
Day 11: Travel to Bolzano/Dolomites in the morning (train)
Day 12: Bolzano
Day 13: Bolzano to Salzburg (train)
Day 14: Salzburg to Munich to Fussen (trains and bus to Fussen) - we know this will be a travel day, but we're ok with that
Day 15: Fussen
Day 16: Fussen
Day 17: Fussen to Munich (bus)
Day 18: Munich
Day 19: Munich
Day 20: Travel home

How does that sound? Packing in too much? Do you think this is do-able? We're having some trouble in norther Italy, western Austria, and southern Germany. Ideally we'd like to spend time in Innsbruck and Hallstatt Austria but we don't think we have time. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Thank you!

Posted by
7811 posts

It is a whirlwind but doable. To some its better more relaxed to use a city as base to do day trips instead of packing and unpacking checking in and out of hotels every two day. For example maybe use Venice or Florence as a base for 4 nights.

Posted by
1166 posts

And post this in the travel forum for Italy or Germany for better results. This section is Trip Reports - where you report on a trip you have already taken.

Posted by
11613 posts

To second previous advice, post in the country forum(s), which seem to get more readership than Trip Reports does.

Posted by
9 posts

Thank you to everyone's comments and suggestions! It was all very helpful!

We had decided to drop Salzburg and added 1 day to our trip. We'll be spending 1 additional day in Venice and Munich.

Thanks again!

Posted by
171 posts

In Fussen I would take the bus to Marienbrucke for the view of Neuschwanstein. It's the best view of the palace/castle that you can get - short of a helicopter. Then walk down the trail to Neuschwanstein if you plan to tour the inside or take the bus back to Fussen if you are not going to see the interior.

Posted by
10204 posts

It seems like a lot of time in Fussen. I would take a night from there and add it to Florence or Venice.

Edit - I just saw that you are dropping Salzburg (1 night?) and adding it to Venice and Munich. I'm not sure how that works. I like to plan by how many nights I will stay at each location to determine how many full days I have. Two nights = one day, three nights = two days, etc.

Posted by
9 posts

Thanks for all the great comments, everyone! Out itinerary is set and we're ready to head off in only a little over 1 month! We are skipping Salzburg and added a day to Florence, a day to Munich and took a day from Fussen.

Thank you, all!

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