Been planning on going to Europe for a couple years now and we decided somewhat last minute we'll be heading there next month. Here's the trip I've come up with:

9/14 - Arrive in Paris
- Spend 3 days in Paris (9/14 - 9/17)
9/17 - Take a morning train to somewhere near the Alps
- Spend night wherever we decide to go to
9/18 - Take morning train to Venice
- Spend 3 days in Venice (9/18-9/22)
9/22 - Fly from Venice to Frankfurt
- Spend day/night in Frankfurt
9/23 - Fly back to DFW

Will that be too much to cram into that many days? Any input on where to stay near the Alps? We're just looking for somewhere with some nice scenic views. I was thinking of somewhere at Lake Laguno but open to suggestions.

Hello,
your trip is possible, but you probably need some holidays afterwards ;-). You are spending some time just traveling (around 5 half days, if everything works fine).
I'm not sure what I should suggest for staying, since one of consideration should be that you can reach it from Paris by TGV, and you can reach Venice afterwards by highspeedrail (Cisalpino, Eurostar, TGV), without spending to much time waiting for connections. Maybe a good idea to start, would be to look up the french tgv-network and the Italian Highspeedrail network.
cheers
757DUD

I probably agree with 757dud.

First question that comes to mind is how old you are? If you are 19 and backpacking (which I doubt if you are a MM) and just want to see a bunch places and sleep when you get home, then sure, why not.

But it's a pretty grueling schedule.

One of the biggest problems you'll notice is that High Speed rail doesn't mix with Alps which makes for some long travel days. And I'm pretty sure that Venice is not served either, but you'll have to check - or I'm sure someone else will chime in.

If I was really set on seeing all these places, I'd look at overnight trains, some of which can really be charming. That way at least you don't waste your days traveling.

In France, look for Lunea trains. Not sure what they're called in Italy, but I know that there is one that does Paris - Rome overnight that's been on my to do list for a while...

Good luck

Thanks for the input. We're 28 so we're up to it...plus I have a knack for cramming a lot of stuff into a short amount of time when traveling. We usually do need a vacation from the vacation but we get to experience a lot too.

What I probably need to do is research train times. I was thinking a 5-6 hour train ride to the Alps and a 5-6 hour train ride from there to Venice. So I figured 2 long train rides + 1 short flight wouldn't be bad. However, maybe we'd be better off leaving Paris at night and doing the overnight train since it sounds like that will be a long ride...or possibly fly if we can't do overnight as I'd hate to waste 4-5 days of time just traveling.

What is this with this wimpy attitude?

This isn't a gruelling schedule at all! The OP has planned two x 3 night stays in two of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Perfectly do-able.

Go for it. It is important that your frame of mind treats the rail journey as part of the holiday, and not just a way of getting from A to B.

I would consider stopping off in Munich between Paris and Venice.

Paris to Munich is just over 6 hours on one of the newest and fastest high-speed rail lines in Europe.

From Munich to Venice, you travel through Austria and the Brenner pass: not the "chocolate-box"-y prettiness of Switzerland, but all the more naturally spectacular for that. There is a very convenient train that leaves Munich at 11:30 and arrives at Venice at 18:10.