My 17 year old daughter and I will be finishing up a 2 week musical performing tour in Rothenburg ob der Tauber Germany with 5 days to spare before flying out of either Munich, Zurich or Milan. This will be in July and we are looking to stop in a smaller town or beach town but don't know how much time is sufficient as we are traveling by train (unless someone has a better suggestion).

We've thought of Colmar France but seems a bit far. Hallstatt Austria also looks appealing but don't know if we'd get board after two days and looks like it will take about 7 hours in trains to get there. We were also thinking of Dinant Belgium but that seemed like 2 days of travel to get there and back to Munich airport. Is it worth it? Then I was reading about how wonderful Salzburg is. Hmmmm! Do we need to experience Munich? If we spend 2 of the 5 days traveling don't know if that leaves time for much else. Open to suggestions. Thanks in advance!

Dinant is a nice small town where you can easily spend 2-3 hours.

Munich is lovely and need at least 2 days. From ther daytrips to...

Milano is imho less interesting but La Scala might be appealing to you. From there Venice or Torino ?

Zurich is not my fav.

Salzburg is indeed beautiful and close to the moutains.

I agree that Munich and Salzburg are very nice. In Switzerland, Basel is very near Zurich, and is a pleasant small city on the Rhine. We wouldn't mind going back there. You can get to many other places in Switzerland very easily.

Some people don't care for Milan, but I am not one of them. It's a big city, not a quaint town, but it's an energetic city, with a vibrant culture. It reminds me a bit of northern European cities, but maybe it's partly because all of the trams, but also the Duomo, which is not Italian style at all. There's really a lot to do in Milan, apart from La Scala. The Duomo is beautiful, and it's roof terraces are surreal. There are several very old churches, such as Sant'Ambrogio. Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper is worth seeing, if you can manage to get tickets. The Brera Gallery is a stellar art museum. The Sforzesca Castle is immense, and has a number of museums and special exhibits inside. The Naviglio Grande is one of the few remaining canals, lined with restaurants and bars, very lively at night. In the summer, they organize combined canal boat/bike riding tours to the countryside.

You might enjoy Lake Como or Lake Garda. I myself don't care much for Lake Como, which is an English-speaking tourist shopping Mecca, and I haven't been to Lake Garda. In Bellagio, a waitress actually asked us if we could speak English.

Torino is also a very nice city, more relaxed than Milan.

Staying within Germany, the Mosel valley, beginning at Trier, is beautiful.

There are very easy Lufthansa flights between Genoa airport (Italian Riviera) and Munich, and very easy train connections between the Italian Riviera and Milan.

Santa Margherita Ligure might be a nice spot for you. The neighboring town of Rapallo is lots of fun, and often a bit cheaper.

As you're going to be in Germany and can fly home from Munich, why not go further south to the german alps, have a look at Garmisch, then head back to Munich for the last 2-3 days?

and as you say, Salzburg is not that far away.

or as you're musicians, go and have a look at Bayreuth, then head for Munich via Nuremberg and Augsburg.


with only 5 days, IMO it makes sense to use the opportunity explore the area you're in [which hardly lacks for things to do and see] rather than spend time and money going somewhere else.