Short trips over the border

My family is coming this summer and want to do an overngiht trip in some country bording Germany (not Austria, or CZ)...preferably Switzerland or France (or even Italy, even though it doesn't border)...any suggestions on a nice town maybe with some nice scenery?

I've heard Strasbourg is supposed to be really nice, on the French-German border.

O yea, it is reallynice...they've already beent here though so I think they wanna go someplace new! Thanks though! Any other suggestions?

Are you going by car or by train?

They'd be going by train

Florence is only about 6 to 7 hours by train, and is gorgeous. Venice also, Verona is even closer.

If they head to Switzerland then Luzern is a possibility, or have they been there already?

@Carm...yea they'd love to go to Venice, but they only have time for a 1 night stay and they wouldn't be able to rEALLY enjoy it I think if they had to rush around.

@Kay...I was thinking Lucern too, but its pretty far... deifnitely too far for a 1 night stay.

take the night train down, spend one night there, and take the night train back the next day, so you got 2 full days there.
Or, take the night train there, spend the day and take the night train back same day. You get a full day, and they can see the high lights and still have a chance to enjoy a good meal.

That means Italy is out as well... let's think.

Edit: If they like quaint places, picture-postcard scenery and so on, they could go to Appenzell. St. Gallen is a 3-hour ride from Munich, and Appenzell is not very far from there. You can check train links and timetables on www.sbb.ch (I just looked it up, it takes 46 or 48 minutes, depending on the train).

Merano, Süd Tirol.
http://www.bavaria.it/en/information/arrival.asp

Ok I just talked to my mom and got some more info abotu what they want... they want to go to a cute town with lots to see by walking around and lots of nice little shops (preferable antique shops and fleemarket type crap)...

@Carm...I ran that by my mom and she said it sounds like fine so we might actually consider that...
@Kay... I just looked up that Appenzell place...looks beautiful! What is St. Gallen like? is it a cute old city or more modern?
@eurovol... I was thnking Süd Tirol, but I think thats best if you wanna hike and stuff, which they can't really do...

Good suggestions so far though! Keep em coming!

O yea...I should add that they are broke so would need really cheap accommodation... they'd settle for a hostel

Yes, Appenzell is very pretty, lots of little souvenir shops and the like - they have gorgeous lace and embroidery, for example (as does St. Gallen, btw). In St. Gallen the old town is very nice and well preserved but the city itself is now quite big.

Merano is a bath city. They could spa it out while looking at the mountains around them and then there is the wine. Oh some mighty fine wine. I think Jeremiah the Bull Frog lives there now.

Cute little towns are a dime a dozen just over the border in Switzerland and that corner of Austria. They might like to go to Chur or Davos. Zurich and Basel are also cool.

Salzburg? VERY close, easy to go for a night...loads to see, lovely old town (if a little overrun by tourists) and a flourishing antique store scene... If that's a possibility, I can post more detailed info