<p>I don’t remember where Rick Steve was in Germany but he had a tall glass of beer in one hand and another big pretzel in another and I think a large plate of sausage. That’s definitely the place I want to go. 
</p>
<p>Munich is fun. Great city center! The Deutches Museum is one of my favorites.</p>
<p>Suggestions for day trips:
- Dachau concentration camp
- Romance road to visit all the scenic little villages, palaces, including Neuschwanstein Castle, of course.</p>
<p>If you have enough time, consider flying open-jaw: arrive in Munich then depart out of Berlin. Berlin is also fun, edgy, & historic. Definitely see the Pergamon Museum-- seriously wow!!! I could go on and on about Berlin. For a day trip, you can see San Souci in Potsdam.</p>
<p>Bottom line is Germany is great value for money. </p>
<p>I second these ideas. If you do not mind driving:
Frankfurt–>Nuremberg–>Prague–>Dresden–>Berlin or
Frankfurt–>Nuremberg–>Prague–>Bratislava–>Vienna–>Salzburg–>Munich or
Frankfurt–>Heidelberg–>Bern–>Zurich–>Vaduz–>Munich
or if you like to stay in place:
Fly to Nice via Frankfurt (if you can buy tickets to Frankfurt you can also book to Nice as Lufthansa has many flights)
Stay near the cost and do day trips in all directions:
Nice, Antibes, Cannes, St.Tropez, Mougins, Grasse, Gorges du Verdon, Monaco, San Remo, Avignon</p>
<p>“I don’t remember where Rick Steve was in Germany but he had a tall glass of beer in one hand and another big pretzel in another and I think a large plate of sausage. That’s definitely the place I want to go. ”</p>
<p>From what I hear about Rick, he’d rather have a joint in that hand, than the tall glass of beer…</p>
<p>DD liked the idea of Rome. But DH and I have already been there (we’d go again) and DS mentioned it is not high on his list (he’s heard touristy… true but still interesting). He liked the idea of Germany, at least as a starting point. I will look into FF Save flights again this week. </p>
We are getting in gear again for this trip planning. So far it seems we can all make the late May timeframe work.
Tomorrow we will call United and feel them out for open jaw (probably into Munich, out of Italy) possibilities with our frequent flier saver points. Having just watched a Rick Steves program on Bavaria, I’m thinking we could fill our time there too.
Keep the suggestions coming 
Looking at the website, I think we could get Saver rate going BOS–>ROME (depart Tues night 5/19) with return from Munich (depart Sat 5/30).
If we did that, we’d do train between Rome and Munich, with a stop in Venice. In Germany possibly we’d rent a car for a side trip, but our hope is to do mostly train transportation… especially in Italy.
Any tips on train travel Italy/Germany? I’m trying to use google to figure out potential costs, but not sure if there is a better centralized site to use.
Go directly to the website of the national train services. They should offer an English version for booking. You’ll need to create an account with each train service. I’ve used both websites to book train travel.
For Germany, go to the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB): http://www.bahn.de/p_en/view/index.shtml
For Italy, go to Trenitailia: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4ddd1a035296f310VgnVCM1000005817f90aRCRD
If you fly into Rome Fiumicino (FCO), you can take the Leonardo Express shuttle (14 Euros/person) directly from the airport to the city center Termini train station, where you can transfer to the fast train (Frecciargento - 3hrs, 19 mins) from Rome to Venice. We did this in April (although we went to Bologna, not Venice, on the Frecciargento).
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g187791-c144716/Rome:Italy:To.And.From.Fiumicino.Airport.Fco.html
With 4 people, you might also consider taking a taxi from FCO to Termini train station since there is a fixed rate of 48 euros/ taxi with up to 4 people. It might be faster & less expensive than the Leonardo Express.
To connect from Venice to Munich, check Trenitalia’s international connection: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4863bd6bc1abf310VgnVCM1000008916f90aRCRD
Also check to see if Trenitalia will offer you a group rate for 4 adults.
Fantastic hints, 12rhmh18. Thanks so much!
DH is also suggesting a stop in Florence. We were there 2 years ago, but the kids have not. At this point I just need to prove to myself that the combo trip of Italy/Germany makes sense.
That’s a lot of territory for ten days.
I agree. Still thinking over whether too much territory, even with the open jaw (into Rome, out of Munich). No tickets booked yet.
DH and I had a sampler trip (Med cruise) we loved a few years ago. I thinking this time since doing hotels it would be nice to not move too much. But my kids like to see a lot, and one of them has not been to Europe and may not get a chance to return. So still debating.
Just my .02 (I’ve lived in Italy) but you and your kids deserve to see more than the inside of a train station or a train…
You could spend 10 days and just scratch the surface in and around Rome. Why not get an apartment in Rome for 5 days and Florence for four days and (if you feel the urge)make day trips to places like Tivoli, Pisa, Assisi, Arezzo, Lucca, Fiesole,or Siena etc etc etc etc?
Thanks. Keep the input coming. I appreciate it!
I have a lead on an apartment in Rome. Also a lead on a rural village option (near Near Pisa, Lucca and Florence ). But… DH and I have had a taste of Italy from the 2012 cruise (Pompei/Sorrento & Rome & Florence)… so I’d want to see new areas too. DS favors Germany. But interestingly he wants to go back to Venice which he saw on a school trip … yet he thinks Rome might be too “touristy”… I think he’d like Rome.
A down side for Italy-only is the ugly logistics both ways for Frankfurt layover. But saving grace there is passes (alas, only two) for United lounge.
Rome, “touristy”? Um…hardly. Unlike Venice or Florence,Rome is enormous enough to absorb infinite amounts of tourists. But then again…what does he mean by “touristy”?
If you go for a rural village sort of option, be sure and have a car handy.
Based on our visit to Rome, I agree with you music. I think DS is basing his opinion from friends that visited and spent a long time in lines etc. I considered Florence more touristy (but still lovely) since so small / historic.
Yes, car would be need for village options in Italy (and maybe Germany too). DH has agreed that would be ok, if we didn’t have the car in the cities. (Amen to that … we don’t even like US city traffic).
Any feedback about rental cars? I’ve heard they are teeny. We’d have 4 people and probably 3 small bags/packs and one larger one.
I am planning a ten day trip to East Germany in April.(D and her fiance are professional musicians there) We usually travel to Europe every year to visit friends and have fun. But the last two years our busy schedules have prohibited this. So I understand your desire to pack a lot in to those days. We arrive and depart from Prague and will probably not travel any further west than Munich. Really, it’s only eight days if you consider the first and last days are travel days only.
A cruise is different experience since the mechanics of travel are taken care of for you. (wake up one days it’s Istanbul and wake up the next it’s Venice) But when you are responsible for all of those transfers, train trips, car rentals, hotel check ins, taxi rides bus trips et al------it can wreak havoc on the experience for the short time that you are there.
You can check out the size of rental models available online. Most of them are manual transmission, so if you are not used to a stick, be sure make a request for an automatic.
BTW—In Rome, after a half dozen visits, the only line I have ever stood in was for the Vatican museums. If you don’t want to stand in line you can get there at 7 AM or for a hefty price there are private night time visits for small groups of ten at a time. Last time I checked around $200 pp.
Oh - Good reminder about standard transmission. That’s fine for DH, but if he’ll want backup driver we need automatic.
We did like the easier mechanics of the cruise. We had 7 nights in one “hotel” room - loved that. We had one night in Barcelona before and another night afterward (same hotel). Then we took high speed train to Madrid for 2 nights. It was great… no regrets at all. That will be a piece of cake compared to the next trip.
But this time we are being more flexible to the wishes of the grown kids. This is our first trip to Europe with them and probably last trip as a family foursome. Based on their experience from a Taiwan/Singapore trip together (after DS’s semester in Singapore) and DS’s tour of Vietnam … they like moving around more. And I’m as young as I will ever be Sorry to meander - thinking out loud here.
Thanks for all the help. We booked our FF miles… into Rome, out of Munich. Yes, I know it will be very busy. DH and I hope to return for a more leisurely Europe trip someday after retirement, For now we are excited about our last hurrah family trip - kids are 23 and 26. We’ve been to Ireland together, but never mainland Europe.
This week I am researching accommodations - Rome (4 nights, probably VRBO), Venice (1 night - splurging to stay in Venice itself), night train, Munich (4 nights).