This might be what you had in mind, but just stop in Pisa for a few hours on the way to Vernazza from Rome. Stow your bag at the train station, go see the sights, get on your next train.

I like Venice at least as well as Florence, but I’d probably spend 2 nights in Florence and 1 in Venice. You can arrive in Venice at mid-day, spend that night and the next full day there, then take the overnight train from Venice to Innsbruk at 22:51.

What about going over the hill from Innsbruck to Munich a great train ride along cliffs and canyons and stay in Munich. Side trip to Salzburg and take train from Munich to Interlaken. Go Munich to Zurich to Lucerne. Take the scenic train from Lucerne to interlaken Ost. If weather is good you can go up to the Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald. AWESOME.
Than continue on to Paris.

I think you have a good basic trip planned that will give you a good taste of Europe. I might cut paris down by a day and do a side trip to the Palace of Versaille.

I actually got a flight starting in paris and ending in rome now….so kind of had to flip it. I got the open jaw ticket from minneapolis for 601 dollars. I thought that was a pretty good deal. Anyways, here is my close to final itinerary:

Paris- 3 days
Interlaken(1night) ->From Interlaken to Gimmelwald (2 nights)
Munich- 3 days(3 nights)
Salzburg – 2 days(2 nights)
Venice- 3 days(3 nights)
Florence-3 days(3 nights)
Cirque Terre-3 days
Rome (3 days)

Take into account that the day count has travel included….so my 2 days in Salzburg do not include the 2 hour travel time from munich (so they wouldnt be “full” days”

I would really like to follow this route as best I can because there are routes I’d like to see in each place (any suggestions for special sites in each area would be great too!) As well as any re-allocation of days in each city…or pretty much any advice at all!

Thanks!

What are you going to do in Venice for 3 nights?
I stop in for the day and thats enough for me unless you want to visit the other islands.
Watch out for the glass making toursit traps.

Yeah, drop some time in Venice and add more to Paris. You’ve only got three days in Paris and that first one will not be too productive.

Looks like a great itinerary. On one of the three days that you would spend in Münich, you could make a day trip to either Nürnberg or Füssen. Both are great places. The former is great if you want to experience typical Bavarian architecture and culture. The latter is famous for the castles.

Yeah, thats the part I was wondering about. Everyone has told me that Venice is the one that shouldn’t be as long. But It is an 8 hour train right from Salzburg to Venice so If I left Salzburg in the morning…that’d put me into Venice late afternoon, then have 2 whole days after that. But Im starting to consider cutting one of those days still and just doing the half day and then one full day, or 2 nights total.

Here is my calendar right now if anyone would be kind enough to look at it (it includes travel estimates and other things.

http://studentweb.st…

Thank you!

Your trip gets better each time you make changes. I tell everyone to make a calendar like you did on your link. Great job. Just a few notes. Munich to Salzburg, you can catch a faster train that only takes 90 minutes, less stops. 10 minutes before arrival in Salzburg, get a seat on right side of train facing forward and as you cross the river, look up for an impressive first view of Salzburg up river to the fortress. When at YOHO Hostel, don’t get trapped partying at the hostel. Ask around and get a group of people from all over the world to explore Old Town (Rick Steve’s walking tour and hit the beer gardens). This will be better memories than just hanging out at the hostel. Time is short, get out and enjoy it. We hit festivals and met a bunch of people in the beer gardens.

When you arrive in Interlaken, check out the weather forecast for your hike before buying tickets. The train stations have free maps on hiking and the area. If weather is good look at the schedules and book your train tickets while at the station (to save time) and be sure TO SHOW RAILPASS FOR DISCOUNT before ordering. Ask for the train schedule from Interlaken OST (East) to Munich via Luzern as well. They will give you a free printout.
Definately take the earliest train up to Grindelwald to avoid the crowds. You get a free bus pass at the hostel and write in your own dates of stay. You may want to check out the bus and train schedules at the station, I would, with bus pass in hand, will catch the local bus by Balmer’s and take it to Wilderswill to board the train up to the mountain. Cheaper train ticket and Wilderswill is one stop from Interlaken Ost on the way up the hill.
How long of a hike is it from Kleine Scheidegg to Lauterbrunnen?
If not to long, you may want to take the Ariel tram from Lauterbrunnen up to Grutschalp, than board a 2-car train along the slopes to Murren. Get a seat on left side facing forward, with a working window and camera in hand. Exit train station in Murren and turn left and walk 15 mins. to the cable car station in Murren. Based on your time and the opening hours of the hostel, you may want to grab a meal with the Billion Dollar Views or snacks at the market. You can either walk down the road to Gimmelwald or take the tram. When you depart Gimmelwald, you will take the tram 50 yards from the hostel to Stechelberg and catch the postal bus back to Lauterbrunen. This way you will get a senic roundtrip route with no backtracking. Go to tram at Gimmelwald and watch how it is boarded. When you depart, you want to be the first in line and get a spot at the front rail facing downhill with camera in hand. When you go past the first tower, the world drops out below you and a waterfall is on your left. You usually have a few minutes to go out and take a photo of the waterfall before the postal bus shows up.
When you get your train schedule to Munich, ask for a printed route from Interlaken Ost via Brienz, Meiringen and on to Lucerne. (2 hour trip, same as going through Bern). Once the train starts to climb up the hill, sit on the right side, camera in hand with a working window and within the first 10 minutes of the ride, you will quickly pass a canyon with waterfalls. As you reach near the top of the hill, you will see an inviting swimming pool and the neighbor has a small railroad set built in his yard. At the top of the hill, switch to the other side of the car, left side, facing forward going downhill. Great Kodak Moments on the way down. Watch hanging out the windows, there are close rock walls and narrow tunnels. You will arrive in Lucerne and transfer to Zurich and on to Munich. If train is busy and people complain about the window being open, I walk down and stand for the entire ride in the baggage/bike car. You will enjoy this train ride.

Don’t waste your time taking a train trip that long during the day. There are overnight trains from Salzburg to Venice.

Thanks so much for both of your help.

What I changed was I took a day out of venice (now there is 2 full days), and added the overnight train from Salzburg. So I added one more day to Paris (the place I am flying into) that will be a total of 4 days in Paris.

But, my flight arrives 8:45 that first morning so I figured a lot of time would be wasted getting situated and trying to catch up from my 12 hour flight …..so that would give me some play time in there to do what I want, then 3 full days for all the big stuff in Paris.