My wife and I have motored over most of Germany and found acomodations with ease by going to the Tourist Bureaus which are usaully well marked and often very near the train stations. Even in what East Germany English is usually spoken and and we were usually sent to B&B s or small hotels where English was spoken. That is handy even if you do speak German as my wife does. There are some simple things ones Milwaukee upbringing does not prepare you for such as how to ask to have the tank filled (full machen). There are excellent maps available of many small towns as well as the large and topographic maps with a scale of about 1 km/imch are also available at a very reasonabble price. (even available on CD if you have a laptop). e-mail info@lgn.h.uunet.de (Lower Saxony) or shop@lverma.dvs-nrw.dbp.de (Nordrhein-Westfaledn) shop etc carries all Lander as well as topos. The various road atlases available are of varying quality. Try for Michelin since they seem to do a very good job along those lines. For Michelin Info go to ViaMichelin.com The better the atlas the better the gazzeteer. You might wish to obtain a Michelin green guide for Germany (in English) or Baedeker's Red travel guide (in English) Each has its strengths. The Michelin Red Guide Deutschland is very useful and is issued annually with places of lodging and eating; not just the pricey places. No foreign language required for use of the red guide. It show wherer all of the tourist bureaus are located on small maps. May is surely preferable to April (whoever wrote "April in Paris" had never been there then) and having my druthers I would opt for June. Amsterdam airport is easy to use and find when returning a rental car. Border formalities were non-existent in the 90's and one changed countries flawlessly . I only noticed I had left Holland by the color of the street signs :-) ... Things do not have to be pricey and buying bottled water, bread and sandwich makings allows one to have an impromptu picnic. The alcohol laws regarding driving are highly restrictive and one would be limited to less than 12 ounces of beer. In Berlin it was close to 6 ounces. Envious in Nova Scotia, Dave