Cowboy1968 made my point better than I did. ANY two cities are doable. Don't pick two simply because they are easy by train -- UNLESS those two cities call to you. If you have always dreamed of visiting two cities that are farther apart - the same length of travel would be involved . . . close/close-ish = train, farther away = fly.

The rail system and budget European airline make just about any two cities a reasonable itinerary. Don't tie yourself to trains . . . UNLESS two cities you'd love to visit are convenient by train.

I don't think there is the magic combination of two cities.
IF someone has a strong priority for ease of travel, I agree that choosing two cities close to each other and connected by rail is a good choice.

Yes we agree and also agree yes they can fly between any two cities at not that much more time but much more hassle - getting out to airport and all but yes not that much more but if a Paris and Amsterdam or Venice and Rome, etc then taking train once on your trip could be fun - seeing more than airport and tarmacs. But yes all of Europe is at your disposal as long as your destination city has an airport - many do not.

>>I don't think there is the magic combination of two cities<<

People certainly can have two dream city destinations -- and please don't derail yet another thread.

I don't think there is the magic combination of two cities.
IF someone has a strong priority for ease of travel, I agree that choosing two cities close to each other and connected by rail is a good choice.>

Not my quote but Cowboy's who said it all for you. So you are disagreeing with cowboy not me. My fault was in neglecting to put in quote marks as I usually do. I agree with cowboy and you now do not where before you said you did!

Cowboy meant there was no magic in choosing two cities simply BECAUSE they are near each other and easy by train. He said >>But IF someone wanted to see very different cities on his/her first time visit, I think he/she should "sacrifice" a few of those precious hours to get what they want.<<

So no, I was not disagreeing w/ cowboy, but agreeing with him . .

Thanks for all the information! I am still overwhelmed but I feel like I can at least narrow things down a bit