Oh -- we definitely plan on Italy but my DH really wants to go to Switzerland and since our first int'l trip (this June) was my choice, Ireland, I definitely want to get to Switzerland. I can't quite figure out how to structure Italy/Switz. We've never been to Italy so it seems like we have to do a few days in Rome, but I think it would be easier to do N. Italy + Switz (not that we couldn't fly to Zurich).
So was thinking Germany/Switzerland this go 'round then 2 weeks in Italy next.
We're also trying to really hone in on how we want to travel in Europe. Both transportation wise (planes, trains, automobiles) as well as experience. We are experienced in the American West and enjoy hiking and being outdoors. We LOVED our trip to Ireland where we avoided big cities (literally were only in Dublin to land and get our rental car, we flew out of SNN on the way home). We did some hiking, enjoyed small towns and pubs, loved being outdoors, did a boat/bike trip in Killarney and took a ferry to Inishbofin where we rented bikes (and as luck would have it, were there during the most sunny month on record.)
But boy that direct to FRA is sooooo tempting. So currently we're thinking a loop from Frankfurt down into Switzerland to the jungfrau region then perhaps back to Frankfurt via Salzburg and Munich. OR we'd just fly home from Zurich. Admittedly I hadn't thought of the RDU-FRA flight as the positioning one, lol!