On the subject of rail passes...

I fly into Frankfurt on Tueesday morning and will be heading off to Salzburg with a German rail pass. You can get over to Salzburg via Munich with the railpass, even though it is in Austria it's allowed.

The base price for a 4 day second class pass, good within a 30 day period, is $US174. Each additional day, up to 10 days total, is $22. I've been very happy ordering mine from Rick Steves web site, as he tosses in books and videos at no extra charge. Shipping is $8. (see: http://www.ricksteves.com )

I can't speak highly enough about the ICE trains. If you have a chance to take one it's very different than train travel in the U.S., and very fast. I've never made reservations for train travel, just tending to show up(except once when I wanted a sleeper going to Dresden), though once in a while you do end up standing. I'd take my chances versus paying extra to book a sinngle ticket in the U.S.