Three weeks in Germany

I'll just comment on a couple of things. I'd consider cutting half a day off of Koln and adding it to your time on the Rhine. I thought a day in Koln was plenty, but with what you want to do on the Rhine and Mosel, you might want an extra afternoon. As far as farmhouses go, there's a couple of websites you can check to find some. Check the details, some rent Zimmer, others only apartments, where you might run into extra fees, like cleaning. http://english.bauernhof-urlaub.com/ http://www.bauernhofurlaub.de/Bauernhofurlaub.7.0.html The second is in German only, but it covers all of Germany, as the first is just for Bavaria. You can also check the websites for the towns you'll be visiting.

What sort of "farm" did you have in mind? At least in the area of Germany where I live, they don't really have self-contained farms like in the US. More typical is that the farmers live in a town or village and the barn is an annex to their house. The pastures and fields usually lie outside of town, and they drive back and forth in their tractors throughout the day. In some cases, there will be a self-contained farm with livestock (most often with cows and pigs), but in other cases (particularly with sheep and horses), the livestock live in the barn and get regularly taken out to the pastures. One of the things I like about living here, though, is that all this land is open to the public right-of-way. Walking and biking trails criss-cross through the fields, so if you ever wonder, for example, how asparagus is grown and harvested, you can just walk right over to observe (it's much more labour-intensive than I would have ever imagined, BTW).

"21st Afternoon train to Black forest (Freiburg?). 22nd and 23rd Rent a car to explore the Black Forest.
24th Afternoon train to Garmisch Partenkirchen area. Visit the castles, hike, bike." Freiburg isn't really in the BF. But if you want to stay thereabouts for some reason and spend a couple of days exploring, perhaps with the intention of seeing Freiburg as well, you could save some substantial money by staying in nearby Kirchzarten, a small place a several miles to the east on the Hell's valley railway that ascends into the BF. Kirchzarten, along with 129 other small BF villages, participate in the Konus program, which provides visitors with free train and bus transportation all around the BF throughout your stay (Freiburg does not participate.) You would not need the two days of car or railpass. There is little need for a car as the BF is criss-crossed with rail lines that take you to dozens of interesting towns. http://www.blackforest-tourism.com/konus You should find lodging less expensive in Kirchzarten as well. You seem to have FIVE major legs to cover by railpass, not four: Ams - Cologne - BF - Garmisch - Berlin - Ams (maybe you're thinking BF-Garmisch via "Happy weekend Ticket", which is a possibility; check schedules for feasibility.) If in Garmisch "the castles" mean the ones near Füssen, you should plan on a 2-hr train/bus trip each way just to get to Füssen + connections to the castles. This would be the place to have a car for a day or two.

No comment on the itinerary but you may find opportunities to rent a bike or maybe even borrow one, especially if you do farm stays. Bikes are often offered as part of the amenities. However, most of these may require more than an overnight stay. But it wouldn't hurt to ask, especially in pensions or small guest houses. One more useful website: http://www.hotel.de/. Too bad you're missing Dresden and Meissen (Porzellan Museum)....

Dan, you can visit the BMW Factory and Museum in Munich, which is what I did (and as a car nut, LOVED it). You can just show up at the museum and buy a ticket, but for the factory tour, you CAN'T just show up; you MUST reserve your space a head of time. Go on BMW's website, and you'll find the info. They limit the # of people on the tour. The museum and factory are on the site of the BMW headquarters in Munich. From the city center, you take the S Bahn (I forget the exact one) out of the city a little and you get off at the same stop as you would to see the '74 Olympics stadium (which is directly across from the BMW HQ). Tour is great; you are given white coats and hard-hats and you are taken on a tour threw several rooms where they build the 3 series (other models are built elsewhere in Germany). Day I was there, tour consisted of several tourists like me and several folks who had purchased their BMWs through a Euro Delivery Program, so were actually there to pick their cars up. You are also shown a film covering BMW's history. And when done, you can go into the museum. For me, was one of my Munich highlights!