OK I am so confused on the rail passes. we have decided to base ourselves in munich and go to different cities from there for day trips. so the rail pass says that you buy a pass and then have to make reservations in advance. But if you buy a pass daily the reservation is included. Is this true? Or am I not understanding it right . does anyone have any suggestions for us. We don't really want to plan every day out, we kind of like to see where the day takes us. Any suggestions would be so welcome!! Thanks!!

Seat reservations are optional on nearly all trains in Germany. If you have a rail pass, you can travel on trains without having to reserve a seat, though at busy times you may have to stand.
If you buy a normal point-to-point train ticket, you may be able to reserve a seat when you buy the ticket.
For Bavaria, the Bayern-Ticket is a daily pass valid only on local trains which do not have seat reservations.

Geoff has it right. I will just emphasize his Bayern Ticket daypass suggestion. If you're planning trips to other cities in Bavaria - a huge area - the BT might be a better option than paying for rail days on a German railpass. The link below shows you the area covered by the BT (which allows 2-5 people to use regional trains, not the ultra high-speed equipment, and costs only 28 Euros/day.) You'll see that it gets you to Salzburg in the southeast, and almost to Frankfurt in the northwest (Kahl is just to the east of Frankfurt.)

http://www.bayern-takt.de/media/PDF-...Gesamt0608.pdf

If you are taking short day trips out of Munich, you can't beat the price of the Bayern ticket. Here's more info on the ticket itself (Russ's link shows the map it covers)
http://www.bayern-takt.de/public_mai...ocument_id=334

Thanks so much, the links helped me out. The only thing i can't seem to figure out is how long it takes to go between cities. Examples are Munich to Rothenburg, Munich to nuremburg. I tried the sites and cannot seem to find out. Any ideas? Thanks!!

www.bahn.de will give you schedules and duration. Remember, you can only take regional trains using the Bayern Ticket.

Ok so if we want a pass that gets us to&from munich airport and in the cities, plus get us to the different cities, we need 2 different passes or is there one that covers all?

No, there is no single pass that covers all transportation. In most cases just buying tickets as you go (or day tickets like Bavaria Ticket) will come cheaper than trying to get some kind of a pass.

You can buy point to point tickets from the kiosks at the station or at a ticket window. I find it helpful to print out the schedules of the trains I plan to use and take it with me for general reference.

Remember that the regional trains are slower than the ICE and other fast trains, if that matters to you. We prefer to use the faster trains to maximize our time but everyone has different needs.

We use a Germany Select Pass as we generally have several long segments plus day trips from our base locations. We like the convenience but it is not the cheapest option in most cases.

I really want to thank you for your helpful answers. I have a better grip on the rail system now, thanks to all of you!!