Hello. My wife and I are planning a 12 day trip to Germany and Italy. Obviously we'll only be able to hit the high points. Couple of questions:

--Looking for some ideas for an itinerary. Obviously, Rome is a must in Italy. Not sure if we can do Florence and Venice. In Germany, would like to do Munich and Berlin, and possibly Nuremburg if there is enough time.

--Travel. My plan is to fly into Rome, and fly out of Europe through Frankfurt (if we finish in Berlin, we can take a flight from Berlin to Frankfurt). What's the best way to get from, say, Venice to Munich? The train looks like it will be a long trip (7 hours or so) and I can't find a decent plane ticket price.

--Any ideas/comments/help is appreciated. I have been to England & Ireland before, this will be my first time to the continent. My wife has not been overseas before.

Thanks!

I think there should be quite a lot of cheap flights if you book long enough in advance.

As for itinerary: Rome and Florence in Italy can easily be combined with train travel between them. The same applies for Munich, Nuremberg and Frankfurt, all within a reasonable distance from each other. For planning the train trips, best go to www.bahn.de the website of the German railway.

Berlin on the other hand is rather far away and difficult to include if you don't fly. I think with 12 days, it might be an idea to leave it out of your itinerary.

Well you can also take an overnight train between Italy and Germany or vice versa - if you do not want to see the Alps in between that is.

Munich to Rome overnight train for example or Munich to Venice

On another thread i posted about my overnight train trip.. Frankfurt to Venice.
I was no problem at all.

I meant "it" was no problem,
although I wasnt a problem either

The cat wouldnt let me type...

In only 12 days pick 4 locations max and make them in the same country. You are describing 2 trips here.
I did not see Rome until my 8th trip to Italy--think geographically.

I agree with Bob. Though I love both Italy (19 trips) and Germany (5 trips and another planned for late this year) it makes no sense to combine them for such a short trip.

I would still plan to fly open jaw, but within the same country.

Hitting the "high" points will leave little if any time to even take a deep breath - suggest you stop and smell the roses instead of blowing right by them.

You can take an overnight train from Venice to Munich.

If you plan on covering 6 cities in 12 days that total 23 hours of driving time along your proposed route, you will need to seriously consider using train time judiciously.

'That is an average of almost 4 hours of attraction/cafe/beerhall sucking time between each destination and you are on the move every second day.

Your "Obviously, Rome is a must in Italy" jumped out at me, too. I have been 3 times and I have yet to hit Rome or Florence. Of course, it is easier if you know you are going back.

I don't think you need to limit it to one country, but your geographic "stretch" is really really big for just 12 days.

try looking at http://www.skyscanner.net/ for good airfares between various cities. We have found it a great website for travel within Europe.