Amsterdam Berlin Prague

I think your pace is good (4-5 nights) in each city with day trips. All three have plenty to keep you occupied for 4 days. I agree to fly into Amsterdam and home from Berlin, that would most likely have the best flights. Fly from Amsterdam to Prague on Easyjet non-stop, faster and cheaper than train if purchased well ahead of time, if talking about this May - get crakin'. Train from Prague to Berlin (<5 hrs). Fly home from Berlin. NO rail pass needed. Do daytrips by local trains or buses, very inexpensive.

Those are 3 nice cities to visit (I haven't made it to Berlin yet, but really want to). While I think you certainly COULD put those 3 locations on a 2 week trip, I just wanted to point a couple of things out. Your outlier city is Amsterdam, I think. Berlin and Prague are well-connected with 4.5 hour nonstop trains that run often, so they pair well together. Getting from Amsterdam to either of those cities is an all-day affair if you're set on doing trains. They're better connected by flights, as long as you don't mind a mid-trip flight...a few carriers fly that route - looks like about $100 per ticket right now...it will vary based on what day you fly and when you buy the ticket. You can see many of these flight options on a website called SkyScanner.

One thing you could change, if you weren't tied to your cities is you could substitute Vienna for Amsterdam and then all three of your cities are well connected by train to each other. If your heart is set on Amsterdam Berlin and Prague, though, and you're okay with one mid-trip flight then I think your plan is fine. You've given yourself a nice long time in each city.

No Eurail pass. As mentioned, if you want to end in Berlin, fly Easy Jet from AMS to Prague. Easy, inexpensive single train ride from Prague to Berlin.

Of these three cities, I could spend longer in Berlin than you have allowed and slightly less time in Amsterdam. Berlin could more than fill a week without any side trips.

Unfortunately, the 3 country Select Eurail Pass does not exist anymore. For a two week vacation with this present itinerary you don't nees a Pass. If it were a few weeks longer, I would use the German Pass. That suffices.

Why don't you include a short stop in Dresden as well?

A 1hr 30min flight from Amsterdam to Berlin actually becomes about 4hr 30min in total travel time when you add in transit to/from the airport plus checkin & security times. Compare this with the train time of 6hr 20min from city centre to city centre.
http://www.seat61.com/amsterdam-to-berlin-by-train.htm#.VuJIPH35js0
German Rail (DB) to book all trains ... http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/index.shtml

Fly in to Amsterdam (4 nights)
Train (6hr 21min) to Berlin (5 nights)
Train (1hr 56min) to Dresden (2 nights)
Train (2hr 20min) to Prague (3 nights)
Fly home from Prague

Interesting idea on Dresden djp...is it definitely worth 2 nights there iyo?

I assume I could reverse the order (just to depart from Berlin) and go from AMS to Prague without issue?

Fred, you said the 3 country Eurail is not an option - is this not it?:

http://www.eurail.com/eurail-passes/select-pass/three-country/benelux-czech-republic-germany

Dresden is museum-heavy. See: http://www.skd.museum/en/homepage/index.html

If you have any interest in beautiful objects, absolutely do not miss the Historical Green Vault. It (I believe unlike all the other museums in that complex) requires a timed ticket. I was able to grab the last one for the next entry time when I visited on a Friday in early August, but I'd suggest trying to arrive by mid-morning to allow some options. It was crowded enough on a Friday; I assume weekends would be worse.

There's a good city walking tour, too. I spent 4 nights days in Dresden, with one day devoted to a day-trip to the architecturally rich and highly recommended Gorlitz. Dresden itself was destroyed during World War II. The core has been well restored, but the rest of the city is quiet modern.

You've only identified three destination in three weeks, so I would think you would want to work your way across Germany from Amsterdam to Prague with stops in Germany, then go from Prague to Berlin, maybe stopping in Dresden.

From the German Rail website you can purchase a Savings Fare ticket in advance from Amsterdam to Koeln or to somewhere on the Rhein via Koeln for as little as 29€/P.

From there you can work your way across Germany using Savings Fare ticket (if you use an ICE/IC/EC) or regional passes (for regional trains only) to Nürnberg.

From Nürnberg you can go to Prague on a Bahn Intercity bus for as little as 14€/P with an advance purchase ticket.

From Prague to Berlin, there is a direct EC train that stops in Dresden. You can advance book Prague to Berlin for as low as 29€/P. You can even build in a overnight stopover in Dresden for the same price. Or you can advance purchase separate tickets with a longer stopover from Prague to Dresden and Dresden to Berlin for 19/P for each leg.

@ Yanksteve....If you choose Benelux plus the other two, yes, you could say a 3 country Pass is possible. I meant a 3 country Select Pass , say with France , Germany, Austria, which I used to use but no longer exists. Assuming your travel plans stay the same as listed above, I would not suggest adding Benelux, not worth it, mainly because trip duration is too short and you're only going to a few cities. Unless you want absolute flexibility get a three country Pass. I would use a combination of the advance discount ticket, if you can still get it. Amsterdam to Duisburg can be as low as 29 Euro but you're locked in to time of departure and a specific date. For the savings you've sacrificed any flexibility. Then use the German Pass for Duisburg to Berlin, or which ever route you choose, ie, tailor your own route, since Duisburg Hbf is a main junction point for ICE trains.

Berlin to Prague ca 4+ hrs can be done using the German Pass. Check if going from Berlin whether Prague as the destination is covered as it is when coming from Nürnberg or Munich. You may have to get a ticket covering the Czech portion of the ride if you want to do this the quickest and most direct way. There is also the slower way w/o paying extra for an additional ticket

So I finalized my trip - ended up doing 18 nights in the later part of May and going AMS - Prague - Dresden (thanks for suggestion djp) - Berlin.

Which advanced purchases for events/attractions do I need to get now?

I just got the Anne Frank House ticket for AMS. I think I'm going to get the Green Vault ticket in advance for Dresden.

What else do I need to get now?

I'm taking a train from Prague-Dresden-Berlin - do I need that ticket well in advance, or can I just get it a couple days in advance?

TIA

Don't know about additional advance-purchase options, but since you're including Dresden:

I believe Dresden was the city where using the (good) museum audio tours required holding the telephone-style device up to my ear, because there was no earpiece and my phone earpiece didn't fit the connector. It was quite tiring for large museums, so I'd try not to do multiple museums back-to-back. You will probably want those audio guides, because I don't think there's a lot of English-language information posted.

I don't commonly get audio guides here in the US, so I was a bit flummoxed when asked (very reasonably) to leave ID as a sort of deposit. I wasn't carrying my passport or a driver's license, but they accepted a photocopy of the first page of the passport. That's not something I'd want to count on, though.

The regular (as opposed to Historical) Green Vault is only a bit less spectacular than the HGV and is very much worth a visit if you haven't already OD'd on incredible objects. It doesn't require a timed ticket, or at least it didn't last summer.

I believe I mentioned the walking tour booked through the T.O. in my original post. It's reasonably priced, not too long and worthwhile.

For the time you're using the audio guide, they wanted something to serve as collateral. I liken it to something held as hostage. The same happens when staying at a hostel. They give you the card key for un/locking your room and locker, you give in exchange your Dr.License.