This is superb info, thanks one and all. It will just be my wife and I, and we haven't made a final decision on car v. train. I really enjoy the beer and wine in Germany, so i'd like to be able to tour around without driving in the evening. To do that, we'd have to move around every two days or so, driving to a new town in the morning, then park the car and see the town or use the train or boat for short excursions. With the car we'd have the best mobility, but I know that we could also combine the Laender Tickets with a few longer inter-city trips and get around pretty well.

MkvK: By the way, I had been to your Baurenhof website before, via a link here, and maybe also a hit on an internet search, and found it very interesting.

I just re-read my post and need to correct. The hotel and restaurant in Colmburg just east of R'burg are very nice. I mistyped and said that they were not lovely.

I enjoyed many meals there