I have found places for 150 Euros/nt and less, but can't find a reasonable regional directory
--I search Dinkelsbuhl and get something suitable but it's in Nurnberg or Lake Constanz
I've found that to be the problem with booking websites - if they don't have what you want, they try to sell you what they have - regardless of how appropriate it is. Go directly to the horses mouth, so to speak. Get out Google Maps and look for small towns around where you want to stay. Then try to find the website for the town, usually it's www. town_name .de, such as www.noerdlingen.de for Nördlingen. The website shows a number of Ferienwohnungen (vacation apartments). €150 would be a high price. Most FeWo will have a bedroom for two and a living room with a sleep coach, but if you look enough, you can probably find one for 6 people with two bedrooms.
Or look closely at the town map. Google Maps shows overnight accommodations (bed symbol) in towns, and clicking on them takes you to their website.
You might also find that a double and a single room in a hotel or Gasthaus would work, the advantage that most will include breakfast so you don't have to stock an apartment with breakfast fix'ns that you can't take with you.
In 2007, I stayed in Nördlingen at Uli Wenger's previous establishment just outside a city gate and liked it. Now he has a place, Wengers Bretl, inside the city wall. You could get a single and a double room, with breakfast, for less than €130.
Nördlingen is on the Romantic Road, possible a little to far south and east for a base. Last year we stayed in a little town call Lohr on the Main river about a half hour west of Würzburg. It's a small town with nothing really going on, but maybe handy for you as a base. Click on Planen und Buchen, then Ferienwohnungen. There are over a dozen apartments in town, most under €50. The one we stayed in now rents for €40 and had a separate bedroom for 2 and a living room with a sleeper coach.
