Any suggestions (good or bad) regarding Venice, Italy, Innsbruck, Austria, or Bavaria, Germany? What do I need to know, I'm a first time traveler <BR>Thanks,

Carol, Always establish the trip parameters first. They are:<BR>WHEN--HOW LONG--HOW MUCH--TRANSPORT MODE<BR>Those will determine your trip for you.<BR>That is a great area to visit. Start and end in Munich, and include salzburg.

Funny you should ask. Not too long ago my wife and I did the following:<BR>Fly to Munich, stay over Saturday. On Sunday take the train over the Alps to Venice.<BR>See Venice (4 - 7 days) and and take the train over the Alps to Vienna.<BR>From Vienna, we went to Prague and then back to the US, or you could return to Munich.

yes, be a litle more specific.<BR>Do you love to hike?<BR>Are museums your thing?<BR>Do you favor large cities or small villages?<BR>We love Bavaria. It is breathtaking, the food is exquisite, the people are soooooo nice and the villages are so much fun. We love to hike though.<BR>Innsbruck is lovely. It is quite large, but does offer a lot of rich history.<BR>When is this trip?<BR>More details.........then we can hepl<BR><BR>

I agree that you need to give a little more info so we can help. Certainly at the top level, the two cities and the one region you named are wonderful places to visit. But when I'm in Austria, I go for the smaller towns and villages. They just seem to exude more of the true character of the country, especially if they haven't been recommended in every travel guide. How do you find them? I like to read all I can, and I like to travel by car and just stop when a place looks interesting or inviting. The most memorable places I've visited in Italy, Austria, or Germany have frequently been the ones I never heard of.

One thing you need to know, Carol, is that Venice and Innsbruck are cities and that Bavaria is an area.

Venice is great. A must see.<BR><BR>Bavaria is great: Gotta see the towns of Garmisch, Oberammergau, Berchtesgaden and in Austria, Salzburg.<BR><BR>I would skip Innsbruck on a first trip and do Salzburg instead. Salzburg is more scenic than Innsbruck.