Need help coming up with a Germany itinerary

The best thing about Rothenburg is the Night Watchman's tour, which would require you to spend the night there.

Congratulations you are going to Germany! If your mom has mobility issues then 3 stops/hotel stays is a good plan. However, all these day trips you have planned may be problematic for her too. You will not be able to see and do everything on this trip. You will have to go back. I would eliminate the Mosel portion of the trip as geographically it's in the opposite direction from Frankfort to Munich. You should also keep in mind that each change in hotel and destination pretty much kills most of the day. For instance, if you stay in a hotel for 2 nights you really only have one full day of sightseeing, the other two days are moving about. Here's what I suggest, simplify and reduce stops for your mother's sake and your sanity. Try something like this:

• Head straight to Rothenburg ob der Tauber from Frankfurt (you may pass through Nuremberg on the way depending on which train you take). Stay 3 nights for two full days of sightseeing. If you take the trail down from behind the castle garden it passes through a vineyard not really a tour but still grapes. As already noted the nightwatchman tour is great.
• Head to Nuremberg stay 4 nights for 3 full days of sightseeing. I love Nuremberg, visit the castle, museums, and just walk around and get some nuremburgers.
• Head to Munich and stay the remaining 4 nights. Plenty to do inMunich. My teenage daughters loved it when they went with us in 2019. Hit the Hofbräuhaus for the oompah band.

I know you want to see everything but you only have 12 days. Slow down a bit. Take time for a stroll with ice cream (it cures teenage angst). You guys will love Germany. Good luck planning!

Thanks for the advice. If it's too much, I really rather cut out Rothenburg ob der Tauber and keep the Mosel (we just have to put up with a couple of extra hours on a train). I've been looking at maps, hotels, and the train system and Koblenz might be a good base for that area. Koblenz itself doesn't seem all that interesting, but it's big enough to have ICE trains and easy access to river cruises and vineyards.

Although another option instead of Mosel might be Würzburg for a "wine town" option and it's only 55 minutes by train from Nuremberg. It looks like we can take a river cruise from there too and see castles from the river (one thing my mom wants to do). Those were the things we wanted to do in Mosel (wineries and a pretty river cruise).

Weird, I tried to edit my reply (I am terrible with typos and I keep finding things to correct). Maybe I edited too many times or something. Anyway, here is what I tried to write:

Talked to my daughter and my mom. My daughter is okay with Würzburg instead of Mosel for wine country (she just wants to tour vineyards and sample wine, she doesn't care where). Mom said she's okay passing on the river cruise too as long as we see castles someplace else, so that helps. I can now take Oreon's advice and slow down the travel without upsetting anyone. So here is the revised itinerary. Free days maybe we can just do something more spontaneous.

Day 1: Take train from Frankfort to Nuremberg and just recover from jet lag
Day 2: Nuremberg (maybe see the castle)
Day 3: Day trip to Regansburg
Day 4: Free day

Day 5: Day trip to Weihenstephan Abbey
Day 6: Day trip to Würzburg and the vineyards
Day 7: Free day
Day 8: Train to Munich and check in to hotel there and do shopping
Day 9: Visit Dachau
Day 10: Zugpitze
Day 11: Not sure maybe Neuschwanstein (mom wants to see castles and they have an elevator for those in wheel chairs)
Day 12: Fly home

Neuschwanstein is a long day for a 30-minute castle tour, which isn't that well done. The area is very hilly and involves standing in a lot of lines- and if it's hot, the discomfort is compounded. There's a line for the bus up the hill, then a ten minute walk to the castle, the tour, line for the bus back down, then back to the parking lot, or city bus stop. This Forum includes extended discussion here regarding if it's worth the effort. As a day trip, it would be overwhelmingly exhausting [2hr each way from Munich]. I think I also read that St. Mary's Bridge, from which many of the great photos are taken, will be closed for repairs for several months.

There has also been a lot of discussion on where to stay in the Rhine River Valley, with Boppard, St. Goar, and Bacharach discussed. I myself pondered the input and decided on Boppard, because of the town's charm, and availability of train routes for day trips. perhaps you'll revisit this?

I am also staying in Rothenburg, for my third visit. The town is so peaceful in the mornings and evenings, and I just love being there. And- the NightWatchman's tour is great fun.

Good luck and safe travels on a lovely multi-generation trip. You'll have wonderful memories!

Thanks for the tip Pat. I will look into it, but I will also keep looking for castles for mom.

Berg Elz is a favorite RS castle, especially since the same family has been living in it throughout. It's on the Mosel/Rhine area. There are also other great castles in the Middle Rhine area, including Marksburg, - I'm still trying to get you to reconsider. :)

I don't think Neuschwanstein Castle has ever been lived in, and it was built late, construction begun in 1869, and was never completely finished.

You're a great mother/daughter as you attempt to meet everyone's needs. Continued good luck!

After a trans-Atlantic flight, you may not want to travel very far that first night after landing in Frankfurt. Perhaps stay here overnight to get a good night's rest, then head to the Rhein the next day.
My favorite town on the Rhein is Eltville. Nestled in the Rheingau, you have wonderful wines here and a pretty, scenic view. You can take the train for 10-15 min. to Rüdesheim and ride a ship here up to St. Goar, visit Burg Rheinfels, and train back. This lets you see dozens of castles in only 2 hours. Visit Eberbach Monastery by bus from Eltville, or visit Mainz by train. Wine tasting in Rüdesheim is easy at RheinWeinWelt. 10€ gets you 10 samples to try.

You can drink wine and beer legally in Germany at age 16, so your daughter does not have to wait.

Weird, this is the second time a reply of mine vanished. Anyway, thanks again!

I looked into a lot of suggestions here and started looking at hotels and rates. I was shocked that a lot of hotels that meet the criteria I need are already sold out in some cases. We need a place with a room that sleeps three and has an elevator for the wheel chair. Ideally this would all be close to the train station since this is our main method of transportation.

But I did find two hotels that meet all this: One in Nuremberg and the other in Munich. So I booked their refundable fairs. I decided to just skip the Rhine and Mosel due to all the checking in and checkout out eating up half a day. If we really want to go and change our minds, it's a three hour train trip there. Not ideal, but doable. It would just be a long day. But it sounds like no one is heartbroken about possibly not doing a river cruise.

I am still trying to iron out the itinerary and now I've added Bamberg to the mix now that I've done more reading (so now I am looking at Bamberg, Regansberg, and Rothenburg ob der Tauber). For me personally, the least on that list is Rothenburg since I really dislike overcrowded touristy spots, but mom and my daughter might like it and it is different in that it's a small village and not a city, so I will consider it. We can't stay there, but there are very late trains that leave after the night tour (if that's really the best thing about the place).

Würzburg is a must for my daughter as is shopping in Munich. Castles are a must for my mom (there is one in Nuremberg, maybe I can find another in one of those places listed above). Mom has her heart set on Zugpitze too and I am trying to figure out where we can hear an omm pah pah music outside of Oktoberfest. I just like history and it seems like I can find that in most places. I just want the other two to be happy because I know I will enjoy anything as long as they are enjoying the trip.

On the staying in Frankfurt idea, it's a good one, but we are landing late morning, close to noon. So we will have a few hours before we can check in anywhere. I figure we might as well sit on a train, grab a nap, and we should be in Nuremberg in time to check in. It will save us a day of checking out and checking in again.

Had a quick look at your older posts, which went into greater detail about your mom's mobility issues. Unless her condition has improved over the last two years, your task looks formidable. Much of the good advice you've received here doesn't take her situation into account. Nuremberg is a great base town, generally speaking, but it's hard to visualize a successful visit to the old town area and the castle there. It might be the wrong travel base. Bamberg sounds problematic to me as well. Before finalizing your plans, I would encourage you to research accessibility in all these towns and in all the tourist venues (museums, castles, whatever) and along the routes you plan to negotiate on foot and by wheelchair. Same for railway stations, platforms within the stations, etc.

As Pat points out, even with the elevator, an N'stein daytrip can be a huge hassle for folks in good physical shape, especially in summer and with summer crowds. It's actually 5 hours round trip for Munich > Neuschwanstein Castle stop, with 1-2 changes each way. (And, as Pat points out, N'stein is not a genuine castle anyway, but a palace with a faux castle exterior.)

• I would instead suggest a visit to Nymphenburg Palace, where Bavarian King Ludwig II was born.

https://schloss-nymphenburg.de/englisch/palace/index.htm

It's far more interesting IMHO - you will want a couple of hours there, I think - and disabled access is excellent. See the BLUE AND GREEN ROUTES on the map below for the easy/moderate routes:

https://schloss-nymphenburg.de/deutsch/tourist/Plan_Wegekategorien_Schlosspark-Nymphenburg.pdf

AND... Nymphenburg is right in MUNICH.

• Another day trip option from Munich which might be preferrable to N'stein for several reasons is Ludwig II's "Herrenchiemsee" island palace, on Lake Chiemsee.

https://www.herrenchiemsee.de/englisch/n_palace/index.htm

Accessibility: https://www.herrenchiemsee.de/englisch/tourist/mobility.htm

Direct train (1 hr,) from Munich > Prien + shuttle-train to dock area + ferry ride across Lake Chiemsee to the island.

Accessibility map:
https://www.herrenchiemsee.de/deutsch/tourist/Datenblatt%20und%20Wegekategorien%20Insel%20Herrenchiemsee.pdf

• Rothenburg accessibility page:
  https://www.rothenburg-tourismus.de/en/service/accessibility/

• Rail stations in many towns can be problematic for the disabled. Access to station entrances and to platforms varies. Check before you go. DB Rail station search page with accessibility information:

https://www.bahnhof.de/bahnhof-en

RHINE/MOSEL REGION: AFAIK BOPPARD (Rhein) STATION is not fully accessible

COCHEM station has elevators for all platforms and would likely be your best bet for an area base town (45 min. to Trier or Koblenz) as long as you stay near the river where streets are flat. Trier and Koblenz also have step-free platform access.

On the Rhine, Ruedesheim's platforms are accessible - and it would be a good base town too,

The area's castles will generally be difficult to access and navigate for those with mobility issues. Mom's best option is probably to enjoy them from a seat on a cruise boat. I would not normally advise round-trip cruising, but that might be the way to go if rail access seems too demanding. Cruise suggestions:

Cochem > Beilstein round trip (Kolb)

Ruedesheim > Bacharach or St. Goar round trip (K-D), depending on the time you have:

https://www.k-d.com/fileadmin/schiffstouren/KD_Fahrplan_intern_2019_web.pdf

Short castle cruise "Burgenfahrt" from Ruedesheim (Bingen-Ruedesheimer.) You may want to get off in Assmannshausen or Bingen for a stroll, Bingen has an attractive, developed waterfront promenade for easy walks: https://www.bingen-ruedesheimer.de/cms-data/gallery/blog/cms-linienfahrten/burgenfahrt/burgenfahrt_zugeschnitten-th.jpg

Thanks Russ! I remember you from a few years ago.

Mom's mobility issues haven't changed much (luckily that also means they haven't gotten much worse). She can walk and does walk. She can take stairs. She is just very slow and gets tired easily. The wheelchair is for pushing her longer distances. For example, I might push her though old town in Nuremberg, but once we get to a place to tour, say the castle. We would park the wheelchair at a bike rack and tour the building on foot. We would just be slow at it (which is fine with me, more time to soak things in).

The chair she has is one I got her just for this trip. It's actually an "off road" wheelchair. It basically has mountain bike tires on it and very wide (like soda cans) rubber caster wheels. It is built to handle uneven pavement, tree roots, go over grates and not get stuck, dirt and not sink, etc. So it can handle uneven streets, cobble stone, etc. It is also designed to handle stairs and there are videos of people navigating up and down stairs with it, but I think we are going to skip that in favor of safety (that said, mom can't handle flights and flights of stairs, hence the need for an elevator for a hotel). If it's just one flight of stairs to a platform she can handle that slowly. We just need to make sure we set aside the time. I would push the empty chair up and down the stairs while my daughter would give her grandmother her arm for balance.

Looking at pictures of the Nuremberg station and the old town streets, it should be navigable, but I will get a workout on some of those inclines. I've been walking up and down the steepest inclines where I live while walking the dog, just to get used to it, but I will also be pushing a chair.

I guess what I am saying is that there are mobility issues, but she's not wheelchair bound and we have a pretty good chair for her so we can deal with some of the issues. But the idea is to make this as easy on mom as possible so if there are stops that have a lot of just too many challenges (looks like N'stein is out) than that's good to know. Thanks for the tip on Nymphenburg Palace. Mom keeps saying "castles" but years ago I took her to Versailles on another mom, daughter, granddaughter tip (to her that was a castle).

Hello. I will be traveling to Germany with my mom who is in her 70s
and walks with a cane. She can't walk very far without a lot of pain.
On top of that, she also takes medication that slows her heart. So she
can't walk fast. I want to avoid places where we'd be rushed (like
timed tours) or where there is a lot of walking. She also sometimes
has bad days where she's very sick. So I have to account for that (so
I am leaving as flexible schedule as I can). This trip is mainly about
her (it was a dream of hers to see Germany) so I am trying to cater to
her. We are traveling in a busy month, July.

This was the passage that concerned me.

It's great to have the type of wheelchair you mention. Bringing it on the train will require certain measures that you should look into. And the inclines here or there for your wheelchair "pusher" could be a drag too if severe.

mom can't handle flights and flights of stairs, hence the need for an
elevator for a hotel). If it's just one flight of stairs to a platform
she can handle that slowly.

Rhine towns:
You should avoid Boppard except by boat. There are something like 26 steps up to one or more of the rail platforms. In St. Goar I don't think I could push a wheelchair on the uphill slope from the boat dock to the station.

Russ makes some good points about mobility issues, and about your intended castle/palace visits. We've visited Neuschwanstein a couple of times, based in Fussen. I don't think it is worth the effort from Munich. Nymphenburg and Herrenchiemsee are much better visits. The former has large, flat grounds, a botanical garden and a decent cafe close behind the main entrance – we once spent the best part of the day there, on a Sunday during Oktoberfest, and it was not overly crowded. The latter involves a combination of train, bus and a short ferry ride, but it's worth it, and can be combined with a visit to Frauenworth Abbey.

I like the idea of fewer bases, it's the way I travel. No matter where you stay you may run in to a minor problem with a wheelchair. Nuremberg and Munich are fairly close. For variety, I'd split my time between a place on the Mosel or the Rhine, and Munich. I prefer the Mosel but I think the Rhine is more practical in terms of public transport. IAs day trips I liked Bacharach and Eltsville, which Jo mentioned, stayed in neither, but Boppard is often trumpeted here as the most practical place to stay – you can reach all the other places from here by ferry or train. You can also reach Cochem in just over an hour, take a cruise from there to Zell if you want; return again another day to spend time between Cochem and Beilstein – it's easy to eat up your time. In terms of castle visits, I don't know if your mother can handle stairs or slopes for any given time. Eltz, Marksburg, Reichsburg all have stairs and/or slopy paths. I know there is a bus from Cochem centre to Reichsburg, I reached the other two by car.

Munich has flat walking for the most part. In and from Munich, a number of museums, Dachau, the aforementioned palaces, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Kufstein. The small, attractive towns of Bad Tolz and Murnau. Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Mittenwald for a bit of alpine scenery. Consider Bad Wiessee, a lovely spot which has a long lakeside path (expensive to stay here, mind).

Weihenstephan Abbey is strictly a brewery nowadays. Do you mean Weltenburg Abbey, which can be reached by ferry? It is still running as a monastery, and also has a brewery and tavern. If so, it is a very good visit in a scenic spot. I believe there was a bad flood there a number of years after we visited.

Best to you. Your trip will be a success. If your mom wants to see castles, you can do that most places.

My preference would be two bases of operation. Rhein/Mosel region and then Bavaria. Sounds like you've already excluded Trier, but you will experience wine and castles in the river valleys of the Palatinate. If you change your mind and go, research Idar-Oberstein as a place to visit.

Munich? Its been a few years, but I wonder if your daughter won't get the same shopping experience in Regensburg or Nuremberg without the congestion of a major city.

I don't see you mentioned the time of year. But for the wine experience, perhaps look for areas that are having festivals that coincide with your calendar. With some fortuitous timing your visit will give you the wine, "mom-pah", and regional culture all in one place.

Perhaps someone with more knowledge of the German wine business can comment. In my visits to the Rhine/Mosel area, I dont recall seeing wineries offering tours or tasting rooms, such as we see in California and the rest of the US. My understanding was that most wine is processed via co-op facilities, and tastings were done in local restaurants, not onsite. So perhaps a bit deeper research is needed?

Thanks again. Russ, I completely forgot about her getting randomly sick. That doesn't happen any more. It turned out to be a medication she was taking. She actually took it for years before it started making her nauseated, etc. It took about a year for the doctor to figure that out.

She still has the same walking issues. I would say she can walk about .25 of a mile on a flat surface before she needs to sit down and rest. I know this from going to the beach with her and walking on the boardwalk. So it's an issue doing things like walking around a town, walking to and from the train station, etc. But not leisurely walking though a building or a small street. Steps on the other hand are a bit more of a problem. A staircase here or there is okay (she goes up and down the stairs at my house for example). But she needs to take them slow and really can't go more than a normal flight. 26 steps is a lot for her and a no go. Thanks for the tip.

I've scratched Neuschwanstein off the list. Not only because of what was said here, but I found out the elevator that mom could have used is shut down due to Covid. I will look for other castles (and I like that palace mentioned... I am looking into that).

GoWest, yeah, I am bummed about missing out on Trier, but I can always go back, so no worries there. I figure I am going to have to to see everything I want to see. It's just not practical to see it all on this trip.

I found this wine tour and tasting in Würzburg (I didn't look for Mosel area yet for something similar). https://www.juliusspital-weingut.de/en/visit/guided/index.html. Right now they are only offering tours in German. But I understand a little German and maybe they will have English tours by summer. I will keep looking.

I would say she can walk about .25 of a mile on a flat surface before
she needs to sit down and rest.

That's just 3 blocks. I assume that's where the wheelchair kicks in.

I recall an ancient Rick-video where he booked with a winemaker on the Mosel River. This is a popular 2-birds-1-stone method of getting in some winetasting. A forum acquaintance of mine has booked 3 nights at the Weingut Rademacher in Cochem, which is in close proximity to the rail station. Other Cochem wineries do the same. I guess I'm thinking what a good fit Cochem might be for you on several grounds which have already been discussed. With a multi-day stay, you could catch a train to Traben-Trarbach and do a cruise from there to Bernkastel. The day trip to Trier is easy by train. And there is a shuttle from Cochem up to Reichsburg Castle, which she might be unable to tour, but which also offers a nice covered terrace and refreshments as well as an outstanding view of the town and river valley. You can probably make out the terrace in this photo, just behind the flags the massive tower, just and just to the right of the the 2 rows of windows.

https://media.tourispo.com/images/ecu/entity/e_sight/ausflugsziel_burg-cochem_n72331-143138-1_l.jpg

I doubt that this fits your needs, but there's also the Planwagenfahrt option. The Cochem Tourist Office can set up this cruise boat + vineyard cruise by tractor/covered wagon + lunch and winetasting tour.

https://www.ferienland-cochem.de/nextshopcms/cmspdf.asp?id=983

Best wishes for this trip with mom and daughter.

On your next(!) trip to Germany (or beyond) with mom, you might consider a river cruise. Two sets of friends took river cruises (different trips), roughly from Vienna/Budapest to central Germany. One set of friends was traveling with 3 generations, and the older couple had differing mobility abilities (she could walk for hours, he is just a bit more mobile than your mother, from your description).

Everyone loved the cruise. They had one "hotel" room for the entire trip, and they could be as active as they chose during each city they stopped in (or decide to "sit one out" and stay on the boat for the day). I think they had several stops (including Wurzburg) with vineyard tours/tasting options. Plus they had wine tastings/lectures on the boat in the evening. Big city and small city stops. Both groups stopped in and loved both Regensburg and Nuremburg, by the way.

The multi-generational family really wanted to see Munich too, so they flew in there and stayed 3 nights at the beginning of their trip. I thought this was a good idea for a "must-see" site that wasn't on a river itinerary.

And now that RS has gotten aboard, so to speak, the cruise ship vacation, I'm wondering if river cruises might be his next extension of his shows/guidebooks.

As far as your current itinerary, Rothenburg or Nuremburg would be great bases for that part of your journey. If you don't see both, but the other on the top of your list of German cities to see next time. Of the two, I would say Nuremburg has a bit more to do/see in the city itself, if you're staying for more than 2 nights.

I would agree with the others that Fussen/Neuschwanstein might not be the best option (as you seem to be leaning), especially if you as going to see the Alps from the Zugspitze. Dachau is an important side trip--went there in 1986 on a HS trip, and I can still picture it in my mind. Very do-able side trip, and one that will still give you time back in Munich for move activities later that day/evening. The Hofbrauhaus will be full of activity no matter what month you go.

You could spend 3-4 days just in Munich, without any side trips, but if you do want to get out one more time, I found that Saltzburg made a surprisingly easy day trip by train (did this on two different trips to Bavaria). We caught an early train from Munich, arriving fairly centrally in Salzburg before 10am, had lunch and a full afternoon in Saltzburg (great fortress, for mom), and then an early-ish dinner. Headed back in the early evening for the (just under) 2-hr ride back to Munich. We were staying close to the Munich train station, which helped a lot. But this might have to wait for your next trip as well.

I saw Regensburg mentioned - one of my favourite towns.

But I will say there are plenty of cobblestones there and the hills can be quite steep. It is good that the wheelchair pushers are strong...

and just thought - with your Mom's slowness on stairs and limited to one flight I worry about fire risk. In the case of a fire the elevators won't be working and it will be the stairs. I'd try for a room no more than one flight up...

Thanks for all the tips and advice. Taking into consideration the advice here, talking to mom and my daughter, and what things are big musts on our list, here's what I think the final itinerary will be (note, I realized I somehow miscounted days before. Each of these days corresponds with a date on my personal calendar):

Day 1: Take train to Nuremberg and check in to hotel #1 and just recover from jet lag
Day 2: Nuremberg
Day 3: Day trip to Regansburg (one hour by train)
Day 4: Nuremberg
Day 5: Day trip to Weltenburg Abby and evening in Nuremberg (one hour by train)
Day 6: Day trip to Wurtzburg and see the vineyards/wine tasting for my daughter's birthday then late afternoon and evening in Rothenburg OB der Tauber (makes a big triangle with each stop just one hour by train)
Day 7: Dachau and back to Nuremberg for the evening (one hour by train)
Day 8: Train to Munich and check in to hotel #2 (check in is a 8 am, so we will have the whole day in Munich)
Day 9: Visit to Zugpitze from Munich (all day guided tour)
Day 10: Munich
Day 11: Fly home

I decided on one guided tour since we all want to see Zugpitze and the guided tour also comes with a scenic drive in the Alps, going to the top of Zugpitze, Partnachklamm, Eibsee, Schloss Linderhof, Oberammergau, and a bunch of other stops. Sounds nice.

What do you think of other guided tours? I was thinking of signing up for roughly 2 hour tours that cover the highlights for the first day in Nuremberg, Regansburg, and Munich as well. I am debating between pricey private tours (where we could modify things for mom) or cheaper, public tours. It would be a nice way to hit the highlights and we could have the rest of the day to go back to things (or my daughter can take off and go shopping and sit in cafes like she wants to do).

I am also looking into that Bayern ticket as well with all the train rides.

Tell us the names of the tour companies and we can let you know if they are good ones or worth the money.

one guided tour since we all want to see Zugpitze and the guided tour also comes with a scenic drive in the Alps, going to the top of Zugpitze, Partnachklamm, Eibsee, Schloss Linderhof, Oberammergau, and a bunch of other stops.

Are you sure that they are all actual visits and stops? Sounds very compressed to me. Weasel words to watch for - drive past, "see", "view of". These all mean the bus doesn't actually stop, or maybe only long enough to pile off, take a pic, pile on and go.

Whose tour is that?

The tour operator is "Sightseeing Bavaria Exclusive" and it's a private tour, not a bus tour (so it will be just the three of us and the tour guide). I found them on Viator and then later found their website. I found a couple of these when I went to England and France five years ago and these "tours by local" were great. Expensive, but well worth the money. The other ones I am thinking of are from companies called:

InMunich tours (for the Munich walking tour)
BlackBuck Travels (for Regensburg walking tour) There seems to be a lack of Regensburg tours for some reason
Nuremberg City of Empires Tours (for Nuremberg walking tour)

Here is the breakdown of the day trip itinerary for Zugspitze:

Zugspitze Stop: 4 hours
Eibsee Stop: 40 minutes
Skistadion - Garmisch-Partenkirchen Stop: 25 minutes
Partnachklamm Stop: 75 minutes
Ludwigstraße Stop: 20 minutes
Schloss Linderhof Stop: 90 minutes
Oberammergau Stop: 45 minutes
Ettal Abbey Stop: 25 minutes
Starnberger See Stop: 20 minutes

You can choose from a 9 or 10.5 hour tour. I am thinking 10.5 hours since it's only 10% more cost-wise and that gives us a little extra time if mom needs bathroom breaks and such.

Please do not use Black Buck. This is a company in India that charges way more for the tours than they should, as they are hiring local guides, overcharging you and the guide gets a fraction. Viator does this too, as does Tours by Locals and Trip advisor, but Black Buck is the worst one of all. They know nothing about the tours that they are selling, but promise all kinds of things. I laugh every time I have read their tour offerings for Frankfurt.
Edit: I just rechecked their tours for Frankfurt and found this gem - Visit the Frankfurt Cemetery which is the largest cemetery in Frankfurt, opened in 1828. It is the main cemetery of the city since the 16th century.

Thanks for the tip on BlackBuck Ms. Jo. Regensberg has been the hardest one to find a tour for. There is this little train that goes around town too, we might try that.

Somewhere along the line you will have to make a leap of faith on the tour guides. I know nothing about "Black Buck". But a "bad" experience in Frankfurt does not have to translate to a "bad" tour guide in Regensburg.

Here's a thought. Try some of the Vacation Rental sites in Regensburg. Look at the 5 star reviews. You might find mention of House Owners who provided their guests some good tips. You might be able to track someone down from there.

Good Luck.

GoWest, my comments about Blackbuck have nothing to do with a bad experience in Frankfurt. It has to do with researching the hows and whys of a firm in India offering tours all over the world about cities they know nothing about, and how they do it, then talking to guides who have been scammed by their poor practices and feeling doubly sorry for the customers who are paying twice as much for a tour as they should. If these are ok practices for you, then go ahead and use them.

CAE, have you tried the Tourist Info? I see that they have some audio guides to use too.

Okay.

I am a little confused about Weihenstephan abbey. There is no abbey at Weihenstephan which is a district in Freising with a well known brewery and university. So, based on your plan, I believe you mean Weltenburg abbey at the river danube not far away of Regensburg, And, there is a wonderful boat trip from Regensburg (or Kehlheim) to Weltenburg through the Danube gap.
Wish you have a lot of fun in Bavaria.