Help me choose a Central/Eastern Europe Itinerary
 

Planning a trip for next summer that I will need to book flights for in the next 2-3 weeks. 10 days total. 2 caveats: 1) We need to depart from either Vienna or Venice on the final day and 2) Not interested in Vienna as we were just there. We are a 35yo couple who like beautiful cities, culture, great food, an option to swim somewhere is always nice and we don't like running around trying to see EVERYTHING. Here are the options I came up with:

1) 5 days in Venice+5 day road trip by own car through Slovenia, return to Venice
2) 3 days Budapest, 3 days Ljubljana/Bled, 3 days Venice + 1 day optional. Private transfers bet cities.
3) Road Trip by own car: 1 day Bratislava/Vienna, 3 days Budapest, 4 days Slovenia, 2 days Vienna/Graz.
4) 2 days Warsaw, 3 days Krakow, 3 days Prague, 1 day Bratislava/Vienna+1 day optional. Trains/Priv transfers
5) 4 days Krakow, 4 days Prague, 1 day Bratislava/Vienna+1 day optional. By trains/Priv transfers

Please help us choose! Go!

SS

The first one is hard to beat.

I got to say that Venice is brilliant. None of this City is compared to my opinion, however you will see just venice than. Slovenia is a very clean and nice place to see mountains and Mediteranian see, however nothing exepctional. Krakow, Prague, Vienna are more or less similar style. So it depends if you wanna see typical still great European Architecture in different cities or Special climate of Venice that is nowehere else.

1 or 2

Poland is too far and just not in the same league.

I think I have narrowed it down to #2 as well. 3 1/2 days in Budapest, 3 days Slovenia roadtrip (Piran/Lake Bled), 3 1/2 days in Venice.

Anything with Venice in the summer I would rule out for heat, crowds, and lagoon aroma. But that is just my feeling. For culinary experiences, Slovenia doesn't exactly "wow" us, except for the seafood.

Itinerary 3 is fine; you could opt for resorts with pools along the way easily. In Graz you would appreciate the culinary offerings of both traditional Austrian and Styrian cuisine (the Saturday farmer's market is pleasant), as well as international fare, with neither a Schnitzel nor Sacher Torte ever touching your plate.

Having been to all of your destinations, I would take Itinerary 5. Krakow and Prague are each beautiful in their own way. Prague offers more culinary diversity (though, begin Polish, I am a huge fan of the food in Krakow, too); we've enjoyed modern and traditional Czech, as well as exceptional French food over our visits. If you plan your time in Bratislava well, the day could be far more enjoyable than just wandering the Stare Mesto.

I hope this is helpful.