Europe in June

This is the standard answer to a standard question. Read, read, read, view, view, view until you develop some ideas about what is important FOR YOU. Read the guidebooks, view DVDs, travelogues on TV, etc., This site works best when you can ask specific questions that experienced travelers can respond to directly. Just is not enough room to write tour books for you. Most recommend that going slow is superior to going fast BUT most of us will have had one fast trip that convinced us that slow is better. Same for packing in one carry on bag. Even with four weeks you have chosen a wide swath of geography to cover. And if it is this June, you need to move quickly.

Since you are going to be traveling by rail I would suggest you buy a copy of "Rail Map Europe" by Thomas Cook. Get the latest edition, our's is the 18 but there must me a newer one. I would also suggest buying the latest copies of the Rough Guide and Lonely Planet guides to the countries and areas you want to visit. All these are available on Amazon. The Lonely Planet seem more geared towards hostels and that style of traveling, however the Rough Guides are good too. You can get an approximation of rail routes from the Rail Map and that will help you find where you want to spend a night or several days. Then go to your guides to get detailed information. Once you find places you want to visit you can use your computer to do research like: Tourism, Rhine River or Heidelburg, hotels. We make what reservations we need online directly with the hotels. Usually we get off the train or bus and find the local Tourist Information office and persons there will find us a hotel. This isn't difficult if you are willing to put some time into it. We have traveled this way a lot except using hotels and if we can do it so can you.

Hi Rhonda, If you have not already made your flight reservations, I would highly suggest flying into one airport say Frankfort and out from another. You will make much better use of your time if you don't have to backtrack to the same airport to leave. Have a wonderful time. My wife and I will be in England and France at the same time.
Use the "multi city" option on the search engines to get some options.

A great hostel overlooking the Rhine is Berg Stahleck. It's one of the best run hostels I've stayed in. It's always packed though, mostly with Germans, so you need to book ahead to stay there. If you can't get in there, St. Goar also has a hostel. It's not bad, but nothing special. Bathrooms are coed - which may put off some people - but toilets and showers, off of the main sink area, are private. Institute San Sebastian, in Salzburg, is another favorite of mine. It's a college dorm, similar to a hostel. Breakfast isn't much but the place is cheap, quiet, clean, well run and very conveniently located. Another great budget lodging choice are Pensions. They aren't exactly B&B's - more like staying in a guest bedroom at a relative's home (some are larger like guest houses). I've stayed at many. The standard for cleanliness and comfort is very high through the entire area. The only name I can remember is Pension Poeschel in Rothenburg odt. In Amsterdam, we stayed at Vondelpark Hostel. It's certainly decent enough to recommend, well located and clean enough. The downside has more to do with the crowd that flocks to A-dam. There is an older building that's more likely to be quiet. Lodging in Amsterdam generally falls into two categories - expensive or disappointing (sometimes both).

Rhonda, one suggestion: Since you say Austria inspired you to go to Europe, I'd recommend going there at the beginning, or at least early, in your trip. That way, if there are surprises that delay you or change your plans, you've gotten Austria in.

From personal experience, hostels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland were immaculate.

"ideas for making this trip amazing". Well that is a matter of opinion. For us, staying in small B &B's out of the main tourist areas, or in small villages, is the way we find our experiences amazing. Talking with locals, meeting other europeans at your B &B and having dinner together. We have been successful staying in places that Americans don't frequent, so that gives us another opportunity to talk to European travelers. We walk the little villages, have dinner at small restaurants, etc. that is our favorite way to travel and our amazing experiences have been by attending a village celebrations, etc. we also love the big sites/cities, but meeting the people is just as important to us.