funnybug123

Our family of three is planning a trip to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for two weeks (and possibly Prague?) and I'm having trouble creating the itinerary. I know that we will be flying into Berlin, but where we're flying out is still open (thinking maybe Zurich). We're open to either car or train but specifically, we would like to take the train out of Berlin.
We are definitely going to Nuremberg, would like to stick to southern Germany and we prefer the small towns over the larger cities. If it's possible, we would also like to make a short trip out to Prague after Berlin?
In austria, we're interested in visiting Vienna and towns like Salzburg and Hallstatt.
In Switzerland, we would definitely like to see the alps but we're open to suggestion.

Any suggestions on whether to drive or take the train, the order in which we visit the countries, the possibility of visitng prague, or just anything on the itinerary in general would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Ingo

You're trying to see and do *way* too much in only 2 weeks. If Berlin and Nürnberg are both a *must*, then these take up a full week alone. Go to southern Bavaria afterward (especially for the smaller towns and mountains) and that's it, fly out of Munich.

funnybug123

I don't plan on staying long in Berlin (only flying in there) and we're hoping to just make a stop at Nuremberg while looking at a few towns on the romantic road.
If you could suggest one place to visit in Switzerland next to the German/Austrian border, what would it be?
Thanks for your reply.

Ingo

Ok, so that means you'll just stay for a night in Berlin, then head to Nürnberg, stay another night and then on to southern Bavaria? How you could fit in towns along the Romantic Road I don't know, though. To experience the charm of the towns there you need to stay overnight in at least one of them, the road itself is as much romantic as a highway.

To see the most spectacular parts of the Swiss Alps you must go quite far into the country (Bernese Oberland, Valais or Engadine valley) which is pretty far from the German border. Since you also want to see Salzburg, Hallstatt and Vienna this is a logistic problem - too much backtracking. My suggestion is to skip Switzerland on this trip and focus on the Bavarian Alps (Garmisch, Mittenwald), then head to Salzburg with a side trip to Berchtesgaden, continue to Hallstatt and finally Vienna - which you should fly out of.

Visiting Switzerland, too, would add at least three nights to your itinerary. Or you skip Vienna, which is in the opposite direction.