Eurail pass or individual sector tickets

Sorry, please read this as visiting with "family".

Please explain how you are using the term "sector." Exactly where will you be traveling in Poland and Germany? If you book in advance (up to 92 days allowed) on the German Rail site, you can get cheap discount fares. What are the ages of your children? They may be able to ride free.

Tim - I will be traveling between Berlin and Krakow (in Poland). My daughters are aged 16 and 10 years. A sector really pertains to a journey like the one I have mentioned above. Apart from this we would also be traveling between Munich and Berlin, as well as between Frankfurt and Baden Baden.

In Germany, you don't need reservations on any trains except for the ICE SPRINTER from Berlin to Frankfurt (other ICE trains that aren't sprinters also do that route, though, so it's easily avoidable) However since you'll probably all want to sit together, reservations are advised for a family of 4 in my opinion. They are a few euro in second class, a few more in first class. Poland does require reservations for their high speed trains, but the fees are also cheap. The big question is how important is flexibility and savings to you? You could probably save more by buying point-to-point tickets up to 90 days in advance over a Railpass, but you are generally going to have to commit to a specific train to get a discount. If you have a Germany/Poland Eurail pass, you can just get seat reservations a day or two online (no need to print anything out, easy to use) or even wait to get them til you get to the train station, it's not a problem on most lines (although I'd get reservations on highly trafficed lines between major cities in advance just in case).

If you book well in advance (up to 92 days allowed) on the German Rail site, you can get a Europa-Spezial Polen fare of €87.00 for all four of you on a direct IC train from Berlin to Krakow. Your 16-year-old travels as an adult and your 10-year-old rides free. A family seat reservation costs €8.00 for all four of you. Doing the same, you can get a Sparpreis fare as low as €159.00 for all four of you between Munich and Berlin. Your 10-year-old rides free. A family seat reservation costs €8.00 for all four of you. Doing the same, you can get a Sparpreis fare as low as €69.00 for all four of you between Frankfurt and Baden-Baden. Your 10-year-old rides free. A family seat reservation costs €8.00 for all four of you.

The shortest Eurail pass you can get is also 5 days, so if you're only taking those 3 trips you will pay a lot more. The cheapest Germany-Poland pass for your family will be $1125. You're way better off doing point-to-point tickets instead.

Tim / Sarah - Thanks again for your valuable tips.