Preface - Have been to Europe twice (last time in 2012), we are big RS fans, and have been to such RS favs as: Rome, Cinque Terre, Paris, Gimmelwald, Fussen. We travel light with one bag each, and use a rail pass of some sort. My family is starting to plan for our trip to Europe next year. We are traveling with a couple other families. The adults are all around 50 and the kids are all high school / college age. We will also be traveling in mid July because of schedules we must work around.
Our two week itinerary starts in Rome (3-4 days), Venice (2 days), Salzburg (2-3 days). Looking for advice for the last half of the trip; should we head towards Munich and Germany with the intent of flying home out of Frankfurt, or travel to Prauge and fly home from there? Home is near the DFW airport. Most have been to Munich ( and loved it), but none have been to Prague. Also considering a day trip to Hallstatt from Salzburg, and / or add a day in Venice to day trip to Slovenia (realistic?) If we ended in Germany, would like to try Rothenburg, but the DB Bahn site indicates it is a long train trip to get from there to Frankfurt to fly out.
We are also open to doing trip in reverse and therefore ending in Rome if there is any kind of travel or cost benefit to be gained. Thanks in advance for any advice.