My husband and I (I'm 26, he's 27) are having a hard time deciding between vacation in Germany or Italy - Sept 19 - Sept 26th. We will be in Amsterdam on a business trip and would like to spend 1-2 days exploring Amsterdam. Afterwards we have exactly a week to do whatever...

One of the choices is to rent a car and drive through Germany making stops along the way, while making our way to Prague. Second choice is to fly to Italy and make our way around there.

We haven't been to Germany or Italy. Based on what I've read about the two countries on this site, both seem very interesting. We love to explore, drive and walk around towns, create our own adventures and basically just get lost. Neither of us is too interested in spending a lot of time in museums. Our biggest concern about Italy is that it isn't enough time (only one week) and since September is one of the prime months for tourist - everything will be too expensive, especially hotels (if we can find any that are still not booked)

Any advice would be highly appreciated~

Are either of you connected by blood to either country?

I'd say Italy -- better food, wine, less German spoken. Germans vacation in Italy or France, Italians vacation in Italy. Italy will be not-too-hot at that time too.

Italy is too far. Get a car and drive the Romantic Road and the Rhine.

Italy, hands down. You can get a quick flight from Amsterdam to Venice and also visit either Rome or Florence, depending on your interests. In late September, you will find Italy at its loveliest.

Just made reservations for Italy. Thank you everyone very much for the suggestions and replies. Any good links for hotel reservations? Or can anyone recommend a good hotel in Venice - however, we're on a budget