Planning a 15 night trip in September (driving across Europe)

Instead of Bologna, how about one of the lovely Italian lakes? That way you won't have to drive so far south. I've heard wonderful things about Lake Como and Lake Garda, and have been to Lake Maggiore which I found to be absolutely beautiful. Milan is also a good choice.

I haven't driven in many of the places you've listed, but in France most road signs point to to a nearby town, rather than a specific road number. Signs along the Autoroute (superhighway) will likely give you the Autoroute number and a major city (such as Paris), but if you drive secondary roads you may need to navigate by what towns are in your direction of travel, rather than trying to stay on the N345 until you reach the N214 and turning right. Also, expect tailgaters on those secondary roads, even if you're doing the speed limit or faster!

You'll encounter roundabouts. If you're not sure which exit to take in a roundabout, stay in it and drive around again until you reach the exit you want.

For Italy, at least, you'll want an International Driver's Permit (available at your AAA). You'll only need it if a cop wants to see it, but it would be good to have if the occasion came up.

If you encounter stairs or an escalator in your travels, there may also be an elevator but you might have to look a bit or ask (ascensor in French, Fahrstuhl "far-schtool" in German, ascensore in Italian). Hopefully you won't run into too many wheelchair obstacles.

I love to drive and have driven all over Europe but this is a lot of time in the car... especially with 4 people and one in a wheelchair. I assume every stop will take a lot longer than average and possibly stopping more often with this many in one car. It really does not give you a lot of time to see much of anything with the 1 night stays. I would try to change that. Also, I assume you will be getting rid of the car for the Paris stay. You will not need it and it will just be a burden in the city. Comparing the drive on the West Coast to Europe is like apples to oranges. There are so many more places you will want to stop and see on your road trip in Europe. Also, with 4 people you might not get started as early in the morning. .Everything will take longer than you think.
I am sure other will jump in with more advice.

A few thoughts:
When you start pricing car rental, you are going to find that renting in one country and dropping in another is going to come with a very high drop fee. In order to avoid this, you would need to drop your car before leaving Germany, cross into France and re-rent. An International Drivers Permit is not only a "good idea" in Italy, it is the law. You can obtain one at a AAA office for about $20.

I would substitute Salzburg for Innsbruck. There is much more to see in Salzburg.

Since you have never been to Europe before, keep in mind that you will be spending a lot of time getting from place to place, getting resettled, finding somewhere to eat, etc. Everyday tasks are just that bit more complex when you don't speak the language, or are unfamiliar with how the shower or the washing machine work. You will find that it takes a lot more energy and time to get things done. You will have a better time if you limit your inter-city travel and visit fewer places, as hard as it is to narrow your list down. Remember, two nights in a city means only one full day there.

How do you define "quaint"? Europe isn't Disney World. The cities you list do have old town areas, but they also have modern, new sections. Smaller towns are less likely to have English speakers.

It's hard for me to comment too much as it's not the type of travel I've done in Europe. But it will be pretty scenery most of the time. You'll just spend a lot of time in the car. As long as you're ok with that, then your itinerary isn't too far off. A few comments:

An IDP isn't a "good idea" as a previous poster noted, it is REQUIRED to drive in Italy. It is always a VERY GOOD idea anytime you drive in a foreign country, even if not required.

I assume you know the cost to drop off the rental vehicle in another country will be extremely high. Especially a van.

I too might heed the suggestion and stay in northern Italy. The Lake Como region might be a good bet and in the direction you need to be going next.

Dijon, or a smaller town in the Burgundy region of France is a natural halfway point and very good food and wine country in France.

Honestly, everything looks great until I get to the part about driving from Lucerne to Paris. Although France is beautiful, the drive from Switzerland to Paris is extremely long even with the planned overnight stop part of the way there. You won't see much from the motorway and if you take secondary roads it will take you FOREVER to get there. "E" and "A" roads are the major highways and all the rest are quite small and indirect. If you look closely at a map going from Lucerne to Paris you will see that there is not straight shot to get there on major highways, especially as you are working your way out of Switzerland and into France. If you had a week or more I would say go for it. Because you don't, I would recommend reconsidering this drive. Have you considered flying? I know that defeats the purpose of the drive through France but I really think you don't realize how long this drive really is. Then you have to get rid of your rental van somewhere outside of Paris and somehow get into central Paris - don't even think about taking the van into Paris. I drive frequently in Paris and still find it extremely challenging. With a van, having never been there before, it will be extremely difficult and daunting. Remember that driving in some parts of Europe is not always as straight forward as you may be used to in the U.S. It is going to take longer than you think and you should expect to spend time trying to figure out laws, parking rules, toll roads, and general road etiquette for each country you plan to visit.
If it were me, I would leave out the Paris part of the trip for now and add other things in Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland. Fly home from Zurich - that would make your trip a nice loop from Munich around to Zurich. From Innsbruck (which I think is worth visiting BTW) I would go directly south through the Dolomites to Verona, spending a night or two in that region. In the Dolomites there are some fantastic gondolas and views that are wheelchair accessible and the mountains are beyond spectacular - it's on your way so you might as well take some time to see this area.
I would add an extra night to Lucerne so you have time to not only see the town but also take a boat around the beautiful lake.

I think too ambitious and no time to visit places even with no traffic jams and never getting lost.

Consider flying into Geneva and get your van on the french-side to avoid drop off fees.

Consider adding a week or cutting back to fewer locations.

Good luck!

I'm concerned about the one night and 2 night stays. One night means you are only seeing places in passing, especially if you have anything like a wheelchair to maneuver. A 2 night stay means only one day in a place.

Is the wheelchair self propelled or does it need pushing? Is the van a modified one or a normal one? Have you realized that in the absence of a European blue card for disabled parking you won't be able to take advantage of handicap spaces, and that both disabled and especially normal spaces in most European towns and cities are MUCH smaller than US ones?

Swiss trains, including those in the mountains, and most cable cars, certainly all in the Berner Oberland, are equipped for and expect disabled passengers. You can, if you have enough time, get to the summits of Jungfraujoch, Schilthorn, Titlis, and Rigi. If you had enough time a ride on wheelchair accessible steamship on Lake Lucerne (Vierwaldstaettersee) would be seriously beautiful and many villages might be described as quaint. But they do take some time.

Perhaps consider going to fewer places?

General rule for the Alps- stay a minimum of two full days (three nights) at any one location. You maximize your chances of good weather that way. The enjoyment of few other destinations in Europe are so weather dependent. There's nothing more depressing than being stuck in a hotel room on the one day you budgeted and NOT seeing that great scenery you traveled so far to behold because the mountains are whited out.

I've only visited Grindelwald and Wengen when they were covered in snow, so it's kind of hard to say which would be more wheelchair friendly. If your goal is to ascend the Jungfraubahn, to reach the cogwheel station in Grindelwald (as opposed to to the main rail station, which serves the town from Interlaken), you have to take a bus to the bottom of a hill, then the station is about 200 m further away. I'm trying to visualize the setup without snow, and I don't think it would prove particularly convenient for someone in a wheelchair. I didn't notice the location of the train station in Wengen. The main drag of Grindelwald is certainly manageable via wheelchair, but I'm guessing the disabled member of your party wants to see more than just restaurants, hotels, sports shops and bling-boutiques. Once again, I can't say how feasible it would be to get around Wengen on a wheelchair... snow on the ground, and I was only skiing through on my way down from Kleine Scheidegg.

Neuschwanstein is completely wheelchair-inaccessible.

Check out some web sites or forums on European travel for persons with disabilities. Some places are less accessible than you might think. However, if you just want views of, say, Neuschwanstein, go for it.

See http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/travelers-with-disabilities for some general tips and links for wheelchair travelers. I traveled in Bologna last fall with my parents, and always had to look/ask for elevators since my dad had trouble with stairs, and staff were happy to help. The older university museums in that city are wheelchair accessible, but elevators are often a distance from the main entrances. When booking hotels, be sure to confirm how many stairs may apply before you reach the elevator; a half-flight can be common before the slightly elevated "ground" floor, particularly in older buildings in Italy. You'll also have to be careful about driving into historic town centers in Italy, where there is usually a ZTL (limited traffic zone). Sometimes, your hotel can give you the necessary permission to drive to their location. If you end up with a time for another stop in France, consider Beaune in Burgundy. Visits inside Neuschwanstein Castle are by guided tour only and usually include a lot of stairs, but you can book ahead for an accessible tour.

Thank you all for the suggestions, you've been a huge help. Below is my updated itenerary:

-We've added 2 nights so we have a total of 17 nights (instead of 15).
-I've taken the Bologna/Emilia Romagna area off the itinerary as I feel that's too far south and we'd be too rushed.
-Still trying to decide if we should do 3 nights in Grindelwald, 1 night in Lucerne OR 2 nights in each. Not sure if there are enough wheelchair accessible opportunities in Grindelwald to justify 3 nights. Thoughts?
-Thinking about skipping Neuschwanstein castle as I've now heard from several people how inaccessible it is. Is it getting into the castle itself that is inaccessible? How about the famous outside views on the bridge...is that accessible? If we do skip the castle, I'm thinking maybe we won't need to stay in Innsbruck, but maybe somewhere in the Dolomites (any specific areas you'd suggest?) instead? Are there any accessible trails or cable car rides in the Dolomites that you know of? Will we regret skipping Innsbruck? Are there any other areas of interest between Munich and Verona?

-Fly into Munich, get there early morning (3 nights)
-Drive to Neuschwanstein castle, stay in Innsbruck (1 night) ***MAY eliminate this, and spend a night in the Dolomites instead
-Drive through Dolomites on way to Verona
-Verona (3 nights)
-Lake Como (1 night)
-Grindelwald (2 nights)
-Lucerne (2 nights)
-Drive through French countryside/vineyards on way to Paris, stay in Beaune (1 night)
-Paris (4 nights)

Thoughts? I understand it's still a fast-paced schedule. But does it look more doable now? And if you could give me some advice for the above questions, I'd really appreciate it.

For what it's worth, now that a new month has started, Rick's Website is now displaying new Travel News articles, including "Renting a Car for Your European Trip," and he mentions never bothering with an IDP himself. I'm not advocating breaking the law in any way, but if you're not speeding , running lights, or getting into accidents, you'll never have the opportunity to show your IDP to anyone who cares. . . it's like "you're not guilty unless you get caught." :-)

As for Innsbruck and Lucerne, it's been almost 40 years since I've been to either, but both were enjoyable back then, and 2 nights is always better than 1 night, unless the extra night is keeping you away from some other place you want/need to be.

Austria's another country where it would be good to have an IDP if involved with the police, and bad if you don't have one. Have a great trip, and hope you're all able to move around without problems!