srfix

Husband and I are traveling to Germany and Northern Italy in April 2014. Would like to splint the time of 12 nights between the 2 countries. Don't really want to go any further than Heidelburg. We will be traveling by train. Want to get opinions on our itinerary. Milan 2 nights, Bern 2 nights, Heidelberg 2 nights, Salzburg 2 nights, Venice 1 nights, Florence 2 nights, Parma 1 night, Milan to fly out. This seems like a lot of traveling by train. Need help from the experts! Thanks

bilboburgler

Milan 2 nights, drop it to 0
Bern 2 nights, drop to 0
Add somewhere logical on the way to Heidelberg for one night
Heidelberg 2 nights,
Salzburg 2 nights,
Venice 1 nights, add 2 here
Florence 2 nights, add 2 here
Parma 1 night, drop it to 0
Milan

jamikins

Agree to drop Milan - was just there and your other locations deserve more time than spending it in Milan!

Dukey1

I suppose it's a bit late but why not fly into Germany if you are that anxious to see Heidelberg and then fly out of Milan?

srfix

Thanks everyone! will take all into consideration. Orginally, our plans were to just stay in Northern Italy. booked our mileage tickets. Decided to take a trip to Germany after the fact. So, will do what we can with what we have. Can anyone suggest which place to stay between Milan and Heidelburg? Just 1 night.
Thanks, Bilboburgler! I have now changed my intinary to your suggestion!

Pegontheroad

I agree to drop Milan, Berne, and Parma. The other locations are all wonderful destinations, and it would be a shame to skimp on time in these cities.

It's important to remember that you lose half a day to a full day checking out of your hotel, traveling between each city, and checking into the new hotel.

srfix

Thanks Pegontheroad!
Can anyone suggest a Town to stay 1 night between Milan and Heidelburg?

neckervd

Parma is a nice and interesting town. But you don't need more than 1 day for a decent visit.
Must you really fly back from Milan? It would be more logic to fly back from Pisa or Florence.
There are direct flights from Stuttgart to Venice.
If you want to cross the Alps by train, you can visit either Salzburg or Berne, but not both.

bilboburgler

Freiberg is nice

srfix

Thanks again Bilboburgler! I have put it all together and using your advice. Let you know how it goes.

PalenQ

Would like to splint the time of 12 nights between the 2 countries. Don't really want to go any further than Heidelburg. We will be traveling by train. Want to get opinions on our itinerary. Milan 2 nights, Bern 2 nights, Heidelberg 2 nights, Salzburg 2 nights, Venice 1 nights, Florence 2 nights, Parma 1 night, Milan to fly out.

Yeh really consider narrowing the scope of your trip in just 12 days too much time on the train and not enough time in cities like Venice - 1 night in Venice if traveling by trian to get there means really a night - put at least a full day and another night there IMO.

I would forget about Germany this time and concentrate on Italy and Switzerland - Milan - Florence - Venice - Switzerland - the absolute highlight to me and many others is the fabulous Jungfrau Region around Interlaken - ensonce yourself there for 3-4 days and hike or take thrilling aerial cable ways or mountain trains to the glacier-bound Alps.

If you really want to see Salzburg or bits of Germany then try to do an open-jaw ticket - fly into Milan or Rome or Venice and fly out of Munich or Frankfurt (not far from Heidelberg).

For lots on European trains I always spotlight these IMO fantastic sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com (be sure to download their free online European Planning & Rail Guide for loads of suggested rail itineraries in each country; www.sewat61.com and www.rickstves.com. You may want to look into various railpasses like the Eurail Select Saverpass valid in any three countries (or 4 or 5) of your choice or for Switzerland only the Swiss Pass.

SandraHe

You are taking quite a lot of locations at the time and it leaves less time to explore them, maybe choosing 2 locations can give you more than just running all those places through but you can also decide at sight I guess. I just had similar trip and after being in two many location I was disoriented and very tired, wasn't pleasant believe me.

PalenQ

ttt

srfix

When traveling through Switzerland to Germany, does one need to buy a ticket through Switzerland if I have a eurrail pass? for 3 countries?

Michael

Presumably Switzerland is not one of the three countries. My experience with a 3 country pass is that I could not transit through a fourth without paying extra.

PalenQ

When traveling through Switzerland to Germany, does one need to buy a ticket through Switzerland if I have a eurrail pass? for 3 countries?>

Yup and you cannot have any countries on the same Select pass that do not touch each other - meaning the one has to touch the next and then that one has to touch another - thus Germany and Italy cannot be on a Select Pass unless Austria or Switzerland is also on it - well that's my understanding - look at the web sites I listed above to confirm that.

srfix

So my understanding, I buy a 3 country pass, buy single ticket to travel through switzerland without stopping or change trains, use my pass for Germany Italy and Austria?

neckervd

Why should you buy a ticket for Switzerland if you can easily travel from Italy to Germany through Austria with your Eurailpass?

neckervd

I suppose you know that you can perfectly travel from Salzburg to Italy through Germany and Switzerland, without any railpass for Austria:
Salzburg - Munich - St. Margrethen - Chur - Milano

srfix

I am Flying in and out of Milan. No chance of changing it, airline miles. We would like to travel to Germany, Austria and back down to Italy. so, just trying to do the math on the passes. I was under the impression I couldn't travel through Switzerland on a 3 country pass without buying a separate ticket. If this is the case then a global pass would be cheaper?