Thanks useful information: 
sounds like an awesome trip. we went to Italy in Feb/Mar this year. I'd highly recommend this http://www.rhb.ch/index.php?id=33?&L=4 it's called The Bernina Express and goes across the Alps from Tirano in Northern Italy to St Moritz in Switzerland. We stayed here http://www.bellagiolakecomo.com/ as our base and explored the area around the lake. our travel blog is here http://bellagio.shanefergusson.com/?page_id=6 if you're interested.
some other tips
i bought a slim line ASUS laptop with 500gb hdd, it was light weight and easy to cart around in my back pack. i also got a pocket wifi thingy in Italy on their local network, not sure how you'd do this given all the countries you're visiting but look into it. mine cost 90 euro which got me the gadget to keep plus 10gb over 3 months access, and super fast. makes our NBN look slow!
enjoy!!
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