hello there i am planning a trip with my wife to europe in October 2018. we are young couple and like to view the natural beauty, mountains and lakes. Our main focus will be in Switzerland where we want to spend most of our time. My rough itinerary is below

arriving in zurich and 6-7 nights in Switzerland
then 2 nights in Munich to visit Neuschwanstein castle
2 nights in Amsterdam,
2 nights in paris and fly back to new zealand from paris
i like to transfer countries by train for senic beauty
can you please help me to make my itinerary best as possible. can you arrange the counries and transportation between them as i have to land in Switzerland first and them can return back from any country
Thanks in advance.
bubby

Just a very quick comment -- 2 nights in Paris/Amsterdam/Munich will give you one day in each. That is almost 'Why bother' territory. And in Munich you are spending that entire day out of town. I would drop 1 city and add those two nights to the other two. OR - since you fly in to Zurich and home from Paris -- just do Switzerland and Paris.

Trains are great in those countries - especially Switzerland - a Swiss Travel Pass could be great deal if traveling around to more than one area - covers trains, lake boats, city transports and gives 50% discounts off most gondolas and trains to mountain tops. www.sbb.ch for info - other sources good info train travel: BETS-European Rail Experts and www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com.

Yes I would skip either Amsterdam or Paris and spend 3-4 days in one - as janis says otherwise you will be in those places about a day.

Thanks for your reply.
As i must want to visit those 4 countries, i will stay 1 extra night on those cities as you mentioned.
Now can you please arrange the cities one by one where should i move after each other, to get transportation easily.
i must land in zurich and then can fly back from any city. My destinations below
Interlaken Area, Switzerland, paris, amsterdam and munich
Thanks
bubby

Even with another day in each of those cities, I personally would find this trip unpleasant -- too much time in transportation relative to the time to actually see any of these wonderful places. But that's just me, and maybe you'll experience it differently.

Unfortunately, none of us can tell you what will work best for you! Get some good guidebooks (or spend some time with a few in your local library), identify the things you most want to see in each location, check their opening/closing times on the internet, and mark them on a calendar. Then pencil in your transportation (you can get an idea of your options on rome2rio.com), add some time on either side (for getting to/from your lodging, checking in/out, packing/unpacking, getting lost/oriented, etc.). See how things fit together. Then you will be able to plan your trip.

Good luck!

Zurich
Fussen (not Munich)
Interlaken
Switzerland
Paris
Amsterdam

Munich is an outlier drop it and add more to other places? If just to see Neuschwanstein Castle you need not go to Munich but from Zurich take trains to Fussen (well before Munich)- stay 2 nights and train back to Switzerland. but a major major detour off otherwise nice loop.

Thanks for your reply. it sounds good as i will stay at Fussen, no need to go to Munich, now i have a question can i get train or flight to Paris or Amsterdam from Fussen or i have to come back to zurich to get train to paris.
as i want to stay in switzerland first then fussen and after that either paris or Amsterdam.
just guide me the easy way to travel if the journey is longer between fussen and Amsterdam or paris by train, then is it good to go in flight to save time
Thanks

flights will save time as it is an all-day train trip from Fussen to Paris or Amsterdam. Check train schedules at www.bahn.de/en.

check rome2rio.com for your transportation options.

" i like to transfer countries by train for senic beauty... i want to stay in switzerland first then fussen and after that either paris or Amsterdam... just guide me the easy way to travel if the journey is longer between fussen and Amsterdam or paris by train"

You can check the travel routes and times yourself, you know. Just do like everyone else here does and go to the DB itinerary search page.

https://reiseauskunft.bahn.de//bin/query.exe/en

It's a HUGE detour for you to travel to Füssen/Munich and then to Amsterdam and Paris. Exactly how long and how many changes of train will depend on which Swiss city you start from. But even from Zurich, you'll spend 5 hours getting to Füssen, and then you are still 7-8 hours from Paris, or 10 hours from Amsterdam. And why go to the German Alps? You've already seen the more impressive Swiss Alps? I suggest you see some DIFFERENT scenery instead. From either Zurich or Basel, you can catch a train north to the city of MAINZ, which is right on the route to Amsterdam and just south of the scenic Middle Rhine Valley (castles, old-world wine towns) in 4 hours:

https://www.weinhaus-weiler.de/wp-co..._2434_1920.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...arach_BW_9.JPG
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ngen_Rhein.jpg
http://ext.pimg.tw/samlucky5711/1379...g?v=1379089585
https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Middle_Rhine_Valley

If you prefer smaller, more scenic towns to Mainz, then stay in one of those instead. Some hotels are in castles.

From Mainz, Paris and Amsterdam are 5 hours or less by train..






you have with traveling to Füssen

Best to fly Munich to Amsterdam as they have only 2 nights there as of now. Fussen and castle yes a major detour.

Train Zurich airport - Interlaken: every 30 min, 2 1/2 hrs journey
Train Interlaken dp 16.30 - Paris ar 21.37
Train Paris - Amsterdam: every hr, 3 1/2 hrs journey
Overnight train Amsterdam dp 16.32 - Dusseldorf ar 18.46, change to the sleeping cars, dp 20.54 - Augsburg ar 6.26, change to local train dp 7.03 - Fuessen ar 8.55
Train Fuessen - Munich airport: every hr, 3 hrs journey

Night train Amsterdam-Fussen or Munich could be a good option but too bad it does not go direct and have to wait 4 hours inDusseldorf.

DitchFussen and use neckervd's schedules trains to Paris 5 hours - then Amsterdam 3 hrs.

Wait 4 hours in Düsseldorf? I understood you catch the ÖBB Night Jet to Munich from there. It's not a proper "night train from Amsterdam to Munich". I see schedules where you leave from Amsterdam around 6.30PM and connect to the Night Jet at Düsseldorf at 20:54. That doesn't seem like a 4 hour wait.

Looking at the schedule: 8 minutes to change trains. They're on the opposite platform.

" Night train Amsterdam-Fussen or Munich could be a good option but too bad it does not go direct and have to wait 4 hours inDusseldorf"
There IS a faster connection:
Amsterdam dp 18.40 - Cologne track 6 ar 21.12, track 7 dp 21.21.
I just found this solution a bit too risky.
As an alternative you can remain in the first train up to Frankfurt airport ar 22.16, wait there during 1 1/2 hrs in the darkness of the night and change then to the Nightjet dp 23.53.
For all these reasons I preferred to suggest a 2 hrs break at Duesseldorf, just enough time for dinner.

Still 8 minutes and connecting train late you're stuck in the airport?

Track 6 and 7 are on opposite sides of the platform. Not risky at all. Amsterdam - Ddorf is ICE, so will run on time, Night Jet will wait (within reason) if it should run late. Should you run late in Dusseldorf, it's always possible to continue to Frankfurt and wait for Night Jet there.

"As i must want to visit those 4 countries..."

It sounds like you'll do whatever you like regardless of the advice. That's OK, it's your trip. But I think you need to evaluate all the travel times and recognize the difference between a train holiday and a sightseeing holiday. A couple of your transfers by train are nearly full day journeys.

Also, depending on how late in October you're traveling, some of your time in the mountains of Switzerland could be impacted by poor weather. We've been there in mid- to late-October and had snow flurries.

I've been in Jungfrau Region in mid-September when there was ice on sidewalks in Murren and road passes were blocked at high altitudes - rain can set in anytime of summer or fall - keep schedule flexible if weather reports are poor and wet weather can set in for days at times.

I may suggest cutting few days off Switzerland and putting them elsewhere.

Thanks everyone. much appreciated