Skip an Overnight in the Rhine?

Do not overlook the picturesque villages on the rhine. Perhaps u could take a ride down the rhine and stay at least overnite in bacharach. Most of the villages are cobbled. smaller hotels , b and b s have lotsa stairs. I would not miss the boat ride and visit if inwere u. It is beautiful peaceful with lovely views. Wurzburg is quite large and does involve lotsa walking, we spent 2 nights there which but 1 sightseeing day and it was just right.

I've come south out of Amsterdam a couple of times, stopping at Cologne to see the Duomo on the way to Bacharach for the night. I've also hit the Konesbacher Brewery just south of Koblenz to spend the afternoon in their little beer garden overlooking the Rhine--watching river boats go by.

But give me Bavaria and Western Tirol (Austria) for some of the most breathtaking scenery in the world. It looks pretty much like Switzerland, but is easier to travel through and cheaper.

Lived in W'burg and four or five nights is too much if you are just planning to stay in the city. Having said that, however, it is a good city by itself for a couple of days and makes a great base from which to do day trips to Rothenburg, Heidelburg, and Miltenburg which are all worth a visit. Most of the towns that have castles (even those on the Rhine) have transportation up to the castle so it is usually not necessary to actually hike to them.

Walking, itself is no problem. Stairs (especially with no railing or a railing only on the right side) are a completely different story.

I was thinking Wurzburg with a few daytrips might be nice. Miltenberg and Iphofen look wonderful; however, I'm not sure if we want to pick-up and move each night.

Getting to the castles is no problem. .Most are not handicapped-friendly. For many that claim they are, they neglect to mention that you can use certain additions they have added if you are in a wheelchair...if you are disabled, but can walk, you are out of luck. Add that to them never being a "must see" in my eyes... they aren't worth visiting.

That was why I was thinking Maybe 4 nights in Stuttgart (daytrip for a cruise on the Rhine), 4 in Bavaria, and three nights in Dusseldorf.

Choosing a town other than Wurzburg is always an option - we loved Munich, Rothenberg, and Nuremburg.

"Our original plan was to spend four or five nights in Stuttgart, (with a daytrip to Triberg and Gengenbach),"

"Would it make more sense to make Stuttgart and Bavaria our main focus - maybe do a daytrip over to the Rhine, or possibly spend four nights in both and three in a place like Dusseldorf?"

Stuttgart as a base: I think you'll find an outing to the Middle Rhine Valley (the Rhine everyone wants to see) a very impractical day trip from D'dorf, Stuttgart or "Bavaria." Practical day trips from Stuttgart might include Ludwigsburg, Tübingen, Esslingen, Bad Wimpfen on the Neckar River or maybe Calw (less than 1 hour from Stuttgart) in the northern Black Forest. These are all really nice places. Gengenbach is very nice - but that will involve 5 hours of driving round trip from Stuttgart (assuming you're driving.) Triberg is less impressive and just as far.

If you go to Stuttgart, be sure you have specific sightseeing goals in mind and figure out how to get there. It's not high on my list of places to just hang out but it does have some worthwhile sights. If you're doing multiple day trips, I would actually prefer to stay in a place like Tübingen and day trip into Stuttgart (probably by train) rather than have to drive out of and back into Stuttgart all the time.

The Rhine: If your disability involves walking, there is parking at both Marksburg and Rheinfels castles. It's a 5-minute walk to Marksburg from the lot. There are shuttles up to these castles from town but not in the fall. The castles themselves involve some up and down, however. I would suggest a visit to the Mosel River town of Cochem and the castle there. A shuttle bus runs to the castle from town in the fall as well, and once you're up there, you don't have to tour the castle (which also involves steps) but you could easily enough take in the excellent outdoor falconry show and enjoy some refreshements from a seat on the terrace that overlooks the town and river valley:

View from the Burgschänke at Reichsburg
Falconry show photos (shows at 11, 1:00, 2:30, 4:00 daily except Mon.

There's also a chairlift ride in Cochem that's easy to reach on foot but takes you high above town for a view.

I would not skip the Rhine towns. Boppard (also has a chairlift,) Oberwesel and Bacharach are all south of Koblenz and small, relatively flat (for easy walking,) special towns you probably want to see. Linz am Rhein, north of Koblenz, is too. Bingen (best place to start a river cruise to St. Goar) has a nice flat river promenade where the boats pull up with a lovely view of the river and cafes along the way:
PHOTO

I forgot to mention that Boppard also has a nice river promenade as well as a nifty terrace restaurant called Gedeonseck, a short, easy walk from the top of the chairlift, which overlooks the town and river.

Last fall we scheduled a few days on the Rhine specifically to see a Rhine in Flames fireworks display, and it was a highlight of our trip.

For fall of 2015, you could see one on September 12 (Oberwesel) or September 19 (St. Goar-St. Goarshausen). You can watch them from the riverbanks, along with hundreds (thousands?) of other people, which is what we did. It would be fun to book a hotel or B&B along the river and watch from your own balcony, but hotels may already all be booked by now. Or you can book a river boat, and sail down the Rhine right in the midst of the display, which sounds amazing. The hotel or riverboat option would be especially good if it rains that evening (which it did for us in St. Goar). But I have to admit, it really added to whole experience to be amongst the crowds.

The fireworks lasted more than an hour. There were four separate displays, starting with Rheinfels Castle "catching fire" ... then fireworks from behind the castle, then from a barge in the river right in front of us, then from somewhere to our left, and then again from the river. The most spectacular fireworks we have ever had the privilege to see!

Here's a website with info on the 2015 Rhine in Flames displays and river boats.

EDIT: We found out about Rhine in Flames too late to book a room in St. Goar, so we stayed in Boppard and took a train to/from St. Goar that evening. We enjoyed Boppard but if you can, it may be easier to stay right in the town where the display is held.