I’d look at a 5 day German/Austria pass and point to point tickets everywhere else.  Try putting your itinerary in at www.railsaver.com  Follow the “I have a good idea of my itinerary” route and click “I prefer purchasing railpasses (to point to point tickets) ‘only when it saves money.’”

I’d also seriously look at reordering your trip (Italy last) and for cheap flights for the long trips like Vienna/Rome, to/from Croatia and Budapest/Krakow.

I was hoping that maybe RailSaver was wrong…that there was somehow just ONE pass out there that could get me around my destinations…well..I guess that was just a fantasy. I’m going to need multiple passes to get me around, no matter what order those destinations are. I wonder if this trip might be easier without a pass…just using point to point tickets. Hmmm???? Any thoughts? 

There are two reasons to buy a railpass — It may be more convenient than buying tickets and it may save money.  Personally, I think the convenience factor is over rated but there are people who will pay almost any amount to avoid actually dealing the the people and institutions of the countries they visit.  Whether or not a pass saves money and which pass or combination saves the most money depends on your specific itinerary.

I think you’ll find a combination of some sort of pass for the expensive countries (Benelux, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, etc.) and point to point tickets for shorter trips and the countries where train tickets are cheaper is the best deal financially.

Good call. I was just thinking the same thing. I’ll get one pass which will cover about half (the middle) of my trip. The rest I will take care of when I get there. As soon as I arrive at any train station, I go to the counter to make a reservation for my departure immediately anyways, it’s no big deal…I should be fine to buy point to point tickets 3 days ahead of time.
Thanks for your help! Frick…6 months feels like sooooo far away!!!