Open to suggestions&#59; Germany, April 5-16th, 2012

It's a good time to do so - weather will be decent (hopefully not too rainy). You can buy a railpass at any major train station indeed. Look for "DB Kunden-Zentrum" - "DeutscheBahn Customer Center" and that's where you get it. As to what to do, your options are limitless. Are you into art? History? Castles? Wine? A lot of us here on the helpline live within a few hours of Frankfurt and we're all pretty good at giving advice within our region. Since you're going to Berlin on the 11th I'd consider staying up around the Rhine/Frankfurt/Mosel area and not dipping far south into Bavaria just to minimize transit time. I'm not an expert as I haven't been up there yet but there's a ton to do. Heidelberg and the Neckar River Valley is also lovely and full of castles and isn't too far from Frankfurt. But if you decide to dip south a little bit and are into cars, Stuttgart has the Mercedes-Benz and Porsche museum right here and is the major city closest to touring the Black Forest. Also there are bases here so assuming you have an ID card that works on the bases here and you wanted to rent a car you could get cheap gas on base. But it's hard to give really general advice! Feel free to PM me if you're interested in the Stuttgart/Baden-Wurttemberg area though.

Due to a major trade fair and the Luminale which will be happening in Frankfurt from 15-20 April, you will need to find a place near-by for lodging on your last night before your flight. Hotels will be really expensive and scarce in Frankfurt. You might want to check out the base hotel in Wiesbaden. You also have the Easter holiday to contend with too, and all the kids in Germany are on spring break. Good Friday, Easter and Easter Monday are all official holidays, with stores closed and some museums, especially on Good Friday. I think I would head for Berlin, where you will find more things open over the holiday, lots of stuff to see and do. It is an easy city to spend a week in and never run out of attractions. Visit near-by Potsdam while you are there. Then perhaps Hamburg for a couple of days or then make your way back down to see the Rhine area. Enjoy your trip!

I guess my first reply dropped out. Thank you for the suggestions and help so far. I am very interested in history, a bit in art, and a lot in vehicles and motorcycles. I intend to spend a couple of nights in Frankfurt to start, then take the train to Berlin or Munich to find my way to Berlin by the 11th. I was thinking of stopping through Salzburg and the highest point in Germany if I took a train down south. I intend to stay in hostels, mostly the ones suggested in Rick's guide, but am willing to splurge a bit on a hotel after my living arrangement the last few months.

According to the Eurail website, some Eurail passes are available for sale in Europe. Germany is only included in Global and Select passes sold over there. According to this German Rail webpage, German Rail passes (just for Germany) are only available outside Germany. However, you are often better off using purchase ahead Savings Fare tickets for longer trips and regional (Länder) passes for short trips, rather than using a railpass.

Because of where I am located and the amount of time I have left, I cannot buy a railpass and have it shipped in advance. Sarah said I can buy one at the station, so I will attempt that. I am town between doing a "whirlwind tour" and seeing Berlin, Munich, Salzburg, and the like or staying north, spending a week in Berlin and then backtracking to spend some time on the Rhine.