Regional Rail Pass Or Flexipass

Passes are good for the areas they cover - nothing more and nothing less. If they are regional passes, they will cover just a part of Germany, usually a Land - sort of the equivalent of a state in the US. For instance, Bavaria (with Munich and Ludwig's castles) and Hesse (with Frankfurt) are Lands. If you get a national pass for Germany, it will cover the whole country, and no others. EXCEPTION: some border cities in neighboring countries are covered by German passes. The one I know about is Salzburg, which is in Austria but is covered on German and Bavarian passes. If you go any further than Salzburg in Austria, you'd need to pay extra or have a different pass. A 3 country pass covers the three countries you specify when you buy it; they have to be contiguous countries. Some multiple countries count as one country for pass purposes: Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg are "Benelux" and are one "country" for a pass. The more countries you buy, the higher the price. continued..

continued.. A "flexipass" does not refer to the area covered, but to the days. With a flexipass, instead of continuous days, you get to choose a certain number of days in a longer period. For example, a 15 day pass gives you 15 continuous days of travel; a 5 day flexipass may give 5 days within a 15 day period, and so will be cheaper. If you're not traveling every day, it's a much better deal. It's also common for a flexipass to offer discounts (but not free travel) on days you haven't activated it. Passes often are good for discounts on boats, and in Germany, they are good on the S-bahn within cities on activated days (but not the U-bahn). I've never bought a pass, so I defer to others to help you with which one(s) you want to look at. These days, rail passes are often not a good deal, but your situation is different, since you'll be in Germany for much longer than other visitors, and since teenagers may be eligible for cheaper passes than adults. Also, for you out-of-Germany trips, you may want to fly, depending on your exact origin and destination. Frankfurt to Paris on the train is only 4 hours with no changes; I'd definitely take the train rather than fly. Berlin to Rome is 18 to 22 hours and requires changes and an overnight train (based on a cursory look at http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, your best source for train schedules); you couldn't pay me to take these trains.

Brenda, If you were to go Berlin-Rome, you could take the train with only one change, including rest time in between. That's what I would do. Take the Berlin-Munich departure that's direct on ICE, day. Then take the Munich-Rome departure at 1857, CNL night train direct. You arrive at 0908. Your question on the Regional Pass: If most of your traveling is going to be in Germany and France, I would get the France-Germany Pass, 2nd class. No need for a Pass that covers all the countries you plan to travel in. How many long rides will you be doing?