My 16 year old son and I are planning a trip to Germany this summer. We were there once for a few days but just stayed around Munich. Normally we take escorted tours but this year I am planning on my own to give us more flexibility. This is what I have so far:

Day 1 - arrive in Frankfurt in AM
Museum of Modern Art in PM
Day 2 - Round Trip train to Heidelberg
Heidelberg Palace and take in the city
Day 3 - Insider Tour - Frankfurt on Foot
Train from Frankfurt to Rothenburg
Nightwatchman Tour
Day 4 - Sightsee Rothenburg (sites to be determined)
Day 5 - Train to Munich in AM
BMW Museum in PM (son loves BMW and Audi)
Day 6 - Round trip train to Ingolstadt early AM
Audi Production tour
Ingolstadt sightseeing/shopping
Day 7 - Dachau Concentration Camp
Deutsches Museum
Day 8 - Train to Nuremburg in AM
Nuremburg sightseeing (sites to be determined)
Day 9 - Train to Dresden in AM
Dresden sightseeing (sites to be determined)
Day 10 - Train to Berlin in AM
Berlin sightseeing (sites to be determined)
Day 11 - Round trip train to Potsdam
Potsdam sightseeing (sites to be determined)
Day 12 - Berlin Insider's "The Cold War" tour
Berlin Famous Insider Tour
Day 13 - Berlin sightseeing (sites to be determined)
Day 14 - Fly home

We are looking at buying a twin German Rail Pass. I have been to the bahn.de site and was a little confused. If I buy a pass, how do I buy a seat reservation only? I could not find that link. Also, are all of my train trips available through bahn.de or are some of the trips serviced by other train systems which I have to pay for? As you can see, I am still working on our itinerary. Any ideas/suggestions on the "sites to be determined" days? Keep in mind that I am not much of an outdoors person (i.e. no bike rides or extended hikes up mountains). Any suggestions for nice hotels in Frankfurt, Rothenburg, Nuremburg, and Dresden?

I know there is so much to see and do but unfortunately we can't see it all. Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

A brief response before I go to bed, so not much in detail (it's late over here in Germany ;-) ).

I wouldn't buy a seat reservation at all. You'll always find a seat (from my experiences). If you have that Rail Pass you don't need to worry about any of those trips and tickets - just hop on the train and off you go.

As for hotels - please let us know the price range you're looking for or the type of accommodation that you prefer (charming smaller hotels, B&Bs, large international chains etc.).

At first sight it seems to me that you're doing some backtracking (like day trip to Ingolstadt, back to Munich, then to Nürnberg via Ingolstadt e.g.). I don't have the time right now to comment in detail but maybe this needs some consideration.

More later,

Ingo

What are your dates in the summer and what is your budget? I can suggest some hotels then.

Ingo and Mainhattengirl, thanks for the quick responses. I will have to look at the routing. I am doing a day trip to Ingolstadt because the Audi production tour in Ingolstadt only occurs Monday through Friday and changing it would have put me in Ingolstadt on Saturday. I will still look at the routing and see if I can change a couple things.

I am not sure of the budget at this time. I am looking at a nice smaller family owned hotel or B&B. I will be traveling the second and third weeks of August.

Thanks.

Since you have been in Munich before, I would either skip it completely or shorten your stay. I know, I know, that's where BMW is. But, how about just Audi in Ingolstadt? That's a day trip from Nuernberg, using the Bayernkarte train ticket, EUR28 for the 2 of you R/T. The time freed that way I would spend in Dresden and/or Berlin.

Take a look at these as they are smaller, and more personal type places.

http://www.hotel-am-berg-ffm.de/

http://www.hotel-goelz.de/

http://www.bedandbreakfast.de/inn.ph...lang=en&rid=17

http://www.bandb-ring.de/zv/frankfurt/r15638e.htm

Rothenburg is a bit difficult to get into and out of, and it's a tour bus hell in the summer. Consider other interesting towns with wonderful Altstadts but better rail connections, like Bamberg (just north of Nuernberg). http://www.bamberg.info/en/