Well since you are traveling so extensively and on many days I would look at a 21-consecutive-day Global Eurailpass which would neatly fit your itinerary - you could buy a regular ticket the first day to go the short distance to Mainz directly from the airport.

Otherwise all your trains you can just hop on any old train anytime - full flexibility in all those countries - and the pass comes in first class if over 25 and for a family there are immense benefits IME to that over 2nd class - lots more empty seats for just hopping on trains - in decades of rail travel I rarely have not seen empty seats in first class on trains -

the only train that will not be covered is the train to Zermatt from Visp and back - not part of the Eurail scheme.

Kids that age get 50% off any railpass you buy - a couple should buy a Saverpass - two or more names on one pass for folks always traveling together as I assume you will be - cheaper than individual passes.

For loads of great info on European trains and passes I always spotlight these IMO fantastic sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.seat61.com.

And yes you can easily get from Fussen to Freiburg by train though you will have to change trains a few times - never a problem in Germany as there are so so many trains - for schedules for all your trains I highly recommend the Wunderbar German Railways web site English schedule page - www.bahn.de/en - it has schedules for all European trains - just put in Fussen in the From box and Freiburg/Bresau (?) several Freiburgs in Germany) in the To box and you will get all the trains for that date you put in - if the month you are going to travel in not yet on the schedules then just put in a dummy date that is as schedules rarely change significantly.

should we do Romantic Rd is it interesting for a boy? We like beer too.>

to me the Romantic Road is one of the most over-hyped things in Europe - the name was conjured up by the German Tourist Board in postwar years to spur tourism - I have traveled along the Romantic Road several times and there is nothing romantic to me about this two-lane traffic-plagued highway.

Now the cities along the Romantic Road like Rothenburg or Dinkelsbuhl or Nordlignen are cute but nothing to excite a 6-yr old kid.

Thank you PalenQ. I appreciate and value the feedback especially on the Romantic Rd. Anything you would change on the itinerary?

"We are traveling strictly by rail, buses. Fly in on June 30th AM Frankfurt, Train to Mainz. Day 1Take the cruise from Mainz to Koblenz (can you take luggage aboard?) and then the train from Koblenz to Amsterdam Day 2 Amsterdam Day 3 Train from Amsterdam to Berlin Day 4,5,6 Berlin..."

This is EXTREMELY rushed. At the same time, you are wasting Day 1 (This means July 1, right?) with a cruise that usurps 5.5 hours of your day; the most scenic part between Bingen and St. Goar requires only 1.5 hours. A Mainz start means a long early-morning trek to the docks in most cases and a boring boat ride for the first 1.5 hours (quite dull scenery.)

I would suggest instead that for your first night you take the train from FRA to one of the smaller towns near the beginning of the scenic section of the Rhine. The most strategic option is St. Goar. From FRA, the trip will take 1.5 hours or so. St. Goar is very scenic and easy to explore on foot with a child if you have the energy after your flight. Rheinfels Castle (in town) can be toured without a guide and is great for kids.

http://www.st-goar.de/17-1-rheinfels-castle.html

The next morning, leave bags at hotel desk. Catch a southbound train at 8:20 or 9:20) to Bingen(Rhein)Stadt station to begin your cruise. Catch a northbound boat (9:30 or 10:30 from Bingen) to see the best part of the Rhine and get off in St. Goar (10:55 or 11:55.) Fetch bags and maybe a quick bite to eat, and head off to A'dam on the 11:33 or 12:39 train out of St. Goar.

If you have another hour or two to visit the Rhine area, I would suggest this alternative: Take the 8:20 train to Bingen, catch the 9:30 boat out of Bingen, and get off at 10:15 in VERY attractive Bacharach for an hour's stroll. Re-board the cruise at 11:15 and continue to St. Goar (11:55.)

I think your time in A'dam is way too short to justify the trip. I would instead suggest adding a night to Berlin and a night to the Rhine; a train daytrip up the pretty Mosel River to Cochem would be great - the free-flight falconry show there (4 shows daily except Mon.) is awesome for kids and adults...

http://www.falknerei-reichsburg-cochem.de/fotobuch.htm
http://www.cochemer-sesselbahn.de/en/index.htm

Russ, extremely appreciative of this suggestion. So I can take the rail from Frankfurt to St. Goar? Will definitely follow your suggestion. This may sound silly and I know there is controversy about it, but The Diary of Anne Frank was my fav all time book as a kid and had a huge influence on me as far as compassion for all people go. That is really the reason for the quick trip into Amsterdam and it may not make too much sense but is important to me. We are going to skip the Black Forest and spend five days in Bavaria at the end to make more quality time in places. We may do the same with Vienna and Salzburg too.

"Russ, extremely appreciative of this suggestion. So I can take the rail from Frankfurt to St. Goar?"

Sure. But it sounds like you need some reassuring.

Use the German Railways (DB) page to find schedules, and use the station names as they are written (copy and paste?) below the following link:

DB itinerary page: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

Start: Frankfurt(M)Flughafen (this is the airport station)
Destination: St Goar

Enter your travel dates and departure time too, and hit "Search"

Itineraries that appear might leave from either the Regionalbahnhof station (for regional and local trains) at FRA or the Fernbahnhof station (for long distance trains) at FRA. Which station you use is indicated when the itinerary comes up. Both stations are easy to reach from the terminal.

Most itineraries to St. Goar will include a change of train in Mainz or Oberwesel. (At the left of each itinerary is a white-on-red arrow. Click on the arrow to see where you change, at what time, and which platforms are involved.) Oberwesel is a tiny station - easy to find platforms. Mainz is a large station and a little more complicated, but not much.

I used the DB page to produce this example of what your trip might be like from FRA:

The 9:24 train from FRA leaves from the Regionalbahnhof, Platform 2, and travels via Mainz and other stops directly to Oberwesel. At 10:23, you get off (platform 2.) At 10:32, the train to St. Goar arrives at the same platform 2 and leaves Oberwesel at 10:33. 5 minutes later, you get off in St. Goar. Pretty simple.

"This may sound silly and I know there is controversy about it, but The Diary of Anne Frank was my fav all time book as a kid and had a huge influence on me as far as compassion for all people go. That is really the reason for the quick trip into Amsterdam and it may not make too much sense but is important to me."

I think you should do what is important to you. That makes sense to me.

But I notice that the rest of your itinerary is similarly rushed. Vienna is huge, but you are unlikely to get there from Prague before mid-afternoon, so you have only an evening and one full day there. Zermatt to Munich takes 8-9 hours, so really, you have just the 18th there.

Also - why not do Munich & Füssen right after Salzburg, then move on to Switzerland to avoid backtracking? Munich is only 1.5 hours from Salzburg.

I just think it would be smart to streamline your route and to ensure that you have 2 full days - not just 2 nights - for most of your destinations, at least the major ones. Reduce the number of hotel changes if possible. Leave something out somewhere if you need to so that your vacation is less like work.

Once you've got a more efficient plan, THEN you can shop around for tickets or railpasses. The 21-day global Eurailpasses suggested by PalenQ MIGHT be the right choice, but on the surface, they sound like some seriously overpriced overkill. Delay that decision until you're sure about the itinerary. Passes don't sell out in advance, and you have plenty of time.

I think most folks find it easier to respond to itinerary questions when they are itemized by route and nights. Taking into account your change to St. Goar from Koblenz, and presuming you also depart from FRA, I translate yours into this;

June 30 Arrive FRA
St. Goar 1 (1:30 hours from FRA)
Amsterdam 1 (5-6 hours from St. Goar)
Berlin 4 (6:20 from Amsterdam)
Prague 3 (4:40 from Berlin)
Vienna 2 (4:45 from Prague)
Salzburg 2 (2:30 from Vienna)
Lake Lucerne 2 (8:50 from Salzburg)
Zermatt 2 (3:15 from Lucerne)
Munich 2 (6-7 hours from Zermatt, at least 2 changes)
Fussen 1 (2:00 hours from Munich)
Freiburg 1 (5-6 hours from Fussen)
Fly home from FRA (2:10 from Fussen)

That totals approximately 48 hours of travel time on trains.

The itinerary is very aggressive, and some of that is because it involves backtracking some very large distances. Here is what a driving version looks like in Google Maps, showing a comparable 44 hours total time;

http://goo.gl/maps/4tpPd

Placing Munich and Fussen after Salzburg, as Russ suggests (and I concur), reduces the total time to about 38 hours, so translate that into about a similar 6 hour train time saving ( I didn't want to plug in the routes again).
You are only down to 42 hours though.

The dip into Switzerland is very time consuming. It costs you almost 7 hours in total time just to include Zermatt instead of traveling directly to Freiburg to Lucerne (that is calculated on the new route suggested with repositioning of the Munich Fussen portion we suggested).

If you left out Switzerland entirely, the driving time drops to about 30 hours total, maybe a little more by train. If you just drop Zermatt, then about 32 hours.

These are tremendous distances you propose to cover - 4,000 kms originally, 3,500 reordered, and 3,200 if dropping Zermatt. That is not a bad thing, but you are also proposing to cover it with many of the longest trips done on either side of stops of only 1 or 2 nights.

Be certain that you are aware of the logistics and are okay with them.

If you are open to some possible alternatives, you could add the 4 drops gained by dropping Switzerland to the Salzburg, Munich, and/or Bavarian Alps stops to get in your mountain time and reduce the travel burden considerably. If you did that I would also suggest dropping Freiburg and either adding that time saving to to another one of your other stops. You could train from Munich to FRA in the afternoon (3:30 hours) before before you flight departs and spend the evening in Frankfurt, for example.

I was thinking of combining Salzburg and Vienna for four nights in Salzburg, one accommodation versus two and we could do a day trip to Vienna or Innsbruck, I know a day in either isn't much but I think we would enjoy Salzburg most. I was also thinking of taking the night train from Amsterdam to Berlin to save on the day travel. I am also dropping out Freiburg and going to find a central location in Bavaria for Munich, Fussen and spend five days in that region. The time travels helped me tremendously and I see the advantage of Bavaria after Salzburg, totally makes sense. The Matterhorn and a Scenic rail ride in Switzerland have me hooked. I think I will make a few more adjustments after I sit down with the information from here. Thanks for the train info out of Frankfurt too. I am comfortable with that leg now.

Russ, my husband would like to know if you can help us plan the rest of the journey!

"I was thinking of combining Salzburg and Vienna for four nights in Salzburg, one accommodation versus two and we could do a day trip to Vienna or Innsbruck, I know a day in either isn't much but I think we would enjoy Salzburg most."

Using Salzburg (or thereabouts) for a base for 4 days or longer is a sound idea - take easy daytrips to nearby Berchtesgaden, Königssee Lake and Jennerbahn cable car (great alpine scenery) to Hallstatt, to Hohenwerfen Castle (falconry show there too,) or to Herrenchiemsee (Ludwig's palace in Prien, on an island in Chiemsee Lake half way between Salzburg and Munich.) Berchtesgaden has a summertime bob-ride course as well.

http://home.arcor.de/oberpfalz-nord/luftbilder-s/chiemsee.jpg
http://www.salzburg-burgen.at/en/
http://www.deutsche-alpenstrasse.de/medien/deutsche-alpenstrasse-blick-vom-jenner-zum-koenigssee-mit-jennerbahn.jpg

A daytrip from Salzburg to Vienna is 5+ hours round trip, which pushes the envelope. With A'dam, Berlin, Prague and Munich, you probably have enough major cities already. Maybe give Vienna a miss?

When I said "thereabouts", I was thinking of Freilassing, Germany, just across the border from Salzburg. It's an area train hub that puts you 10 min. from Salzburg and about 40 min. by direct train from Berchtesgaden and Prien (Herrenchiemsee.) The reasonably-priced and well-reviewed Hotel Krone there would put you within easy walking distance of the station.

"I was also thinking of taking the night train from Amsterdam to Berlin to save on the day travel."

Probably not a great idea. The direct City night line drops you at 4:30 am in Berlin. Other trains involve layovers in the wee hours. Sleep matters.

Like Aramis, I think leaving Switzerland for another trip (perhaps in combo with Italy) is worth considering. You'll be back. Enjoy the German alps this time and give the Rhine area and Amsterdam a bit more time - they're worth it.

I'd also suggest flying home out of Zürich (if you do Switzerland) or out of Munich (if you don't.)

There is of course much more to see and do in Bavaria than we've talked about. You could easily spend 2-4 more days there. Maybe a daytrip from Munich to Günzburg and Legoland if your son is a "builder?" And there's more to A'dam than Anne Frank. And nearby Zaanse Schans village makes an easy and delightful daytrip for families.

http://www.zaanseschans-museum.nl/eng/home.php

I would look at the following itin. with the # of nights given as a trip "core" from which to make upward adjustments.

Rhine (2)
A'dam (3)
Berlin (4)
Prague (3)
Munich/Füssen (3-4)
Salzburg area (3-4)
Night near airport (1)

Just as an FYI, if you are a big fan of Anne Franks diary, you might also want to stop in Frankfurt, since this is where she was born. There are 2 different houses here where she and her family lived, but you can only see them from the outside.

There is also an Anne Frank sort of museum, where educators work with school groups about tolerance and bigotry. You can check their website to see if it is open when you will be here.

http://www.jbs-anne-frank.de/ausstellungen/ein-maedchen-aus-deutschland/

Her name is also on the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Wall in Frankfurt, as well as her sister Margot and their Mother, Edith.

The Jewish Museum in Frankfurt has just recently received many of the Frank family possessions, like furniture, letters and documents, donated by her cousin Buddy. He runs the Anne Frank Foundation and wanted Frankfurt to have them, since the Frank family had lived here for centuries. These aren't on display yet, as the museum needs to build a space for them, but hopefully soon.

The finest day trip from Salzburg for me was to go to the Sound of Music Country in the Lake District - take a postal bus from Salzburg and in an hour or so you are in this wonderful countryside as seen in the famous musical film - St Wolfgang is a good place to poke around, set on placid St Wolfgang - take boats on the lake for a nice float or hop the steam train up to the top of the mountain backdropping St Wolfgang.

hallstatt IMO a a long long day trip from Salzburg - better to go there and stay the night IMO - you could go thru the Lake Distirct by bus to Bad Ischl and catch trains to Hallstatt - well could be a day trip if you are OK with several hours of travel to and fro.

Make sure you buy your tickets for Anne Frankhuis online to save you wasting precious time in the massive queue.

Well funny thing happened.... I had used frequent flyer miles in booking the travel and somehow my husband was not booked. I swear not on purpose... So I ended up having to jockey the dates a bit so now we are flying into Amsterdam and out of Frankfurt. So our schedule now looks like this...
Day1 and 2- fly in to Amsterdam and stay two nights
Days 3,4,5 Berlin
Days 7,8,9 Prague
Days 10,11,12,13 Salzburg
Days 14,15 maybe 16 Munich
Day 16, 17 Fussen
Day 18,19,20 Lake Lucern and maybe a night in Zermatt or Lake Geneva
Day 21 and 22 Frankfurt
Russ, going to try and do the small cruise on the Rhine at the end out of Frankfurt. I know things are still a little jammed and I understand your reasoning with Switzerland. On a personal note, I had a very serious medical condition that I was diagnosed with four yrs ago and have had some reoccurence scares which tends to make me overplan a bit. One of my dreams has always been Switzerland and riding a train there with my son. At the same time I try to my best to make memories as well. I agree on the Berlin night train a six yr old on six hrs of sleep makes for an unpleasant day. Our goals are more to see and not necessarily do museums etc but we plan on booking a tour in each major city to get a good overview. Thank you Mainhatten girl for the Anne Frank info and I will have to keep up on that. Great info and yes will get advance tickets. PalenQ you have me intrigued with St Wolfgang a paddle boat on a lake is always enjoyable. We have a Legoland here but would be interesting to see the differences. Such great ideas for Salzburg!!! Any thoughts since I am so insistent on Switzerland... Lake lucerne or Geneva?

Day 6 go "POOF"?

I presume it is supposed to be with either Berlin or Prague - Berlin probably deserves it more. You are no doubt aware that Prague and Berlin have much more to see than Salzburg proper, but if you want to explore the Salzkammergut and Berchtesgaden area then 4 days in Salzburg, seeing as you will probably arrive late from Prague makes sense.

Between Lucerne and Geneva, I would take Lucerne. I like it better, they are about the same distance to Zermatt, and Lucerne is much closer to Fussen and Frankfurt from whence you come and go after visiting the area.

Russ, going to try and do the small cruise on the Rhine at the end out of Frankfurt.>

Easily done - take a train to Rudesheim - not far from Frankfurt and hop on the hourly or so K-d boats or competitors and float down to Koblenz, returning by train from there after exploring that interesting city at the confluence of the Mosel and Rhine rivers. www.k-d.com for boat schedules - just show up.

IME it is better to float downstream at a faster pace than upstream thru the fabled Rhine Gorge - most boats I've been on and I've been on zillions of times many folks even get bored after an hour or so - why beats me but they do.

You can easily get off at Boppard and walk a few minutes to the train station to get back quickly to Frankfurt (train links on western side of Rhine are more a mainline and thus faster with perhaps direct trains to Frankurt much quicker than the eastern side sideline where you may have to change at Mainz.

You could also stay overnight in one of the cute Rhine-side towns and be just about as close to Frankfurt Airport by train as in parts of Frankfurt and probably get something a lot more cozy for half the price.

palenQ, any suggestions for cute little towns on the Rhine as you suggested to stay overnight and convenient to boat?

Also, what would you pick three nights in munich or four nights in Berlin?