Some suggestions and help - please?
 

Here is what I have lined up for my 3 week vacation...any comments or suggestions?<BR><BR>4-26 to 5-2 Rome including some day trips <BR>5-2 to 5-4 Sorrento<BR>5-4 to 5-7 Venice or Milan (I've seen <BR> Florence)<BR>5-8 to 5-10 Bern, Switzerland<BR>5-11 to 5-12 Basel, Switzerland<BR>5-13 to 5-15...working my way back to Belgium<BR> to catch flight back home.<BR><BR>Also, with regards to museums in Rome, adviseable to get tickets now? Reservations now? What is a must and what is a "nice"?<BR><BR>Last, based on the above, would you recommend some sort of train pass?<BR><BR>Thank you for your assitance/help.

Tah's along way and yes I'd go by train.<BR><BR>However, I'd skip Basel,not much there and head over into Germany and stay in Freiburg or Strasburg, France. <BR><BR>From there you can go through Alsasce and perhaps catch Trier, then along the Mosel River to Koblenz and then the KD boat to Cologne and from there to Brussels. <BR><BR>Just a thought

ttt = to the top<BR>

why so long in Bern? I saw what I wanted to see in about 4 hours.<BR>You are going to Switzerland and do not plan on seeing the mountains?<BR>

We were in Rome last May and did not have to make reservations far in advance for the museums.<BR>The Vatican Museums are a must. They are so large, however, that we went on a guided walk with "Walks of Rome" Our guide was an Art Historian who was able to explain alot of backround and hit the highlights in 1 day.<BR>I would also highly recommend the Borghese Museum. We were able to get reservations 2 days in advance.<BR>Very smart to spend a good amount of time in Rome. We had 5 days and felt it was barely enough.

Definitely Venice over Milan.<BR><BR>I happen to like Bern. Also, Bern is a great jump off for Friburg (20 minutes), Thun (15 minutes), Interlaken (1 hour) and Lucerne (a little over an hour).<BR><BR>Lucerne should be seen and Interlaken takes you into the mountains. Do that either with a stayover or on a day trip from Bern.<BR>