To book lodging or not; 2 weeks in Bavaria in August

while this reply might seem a bit direct, ( and others have differing opinions on this topic) we prefer to book accommodation before we go, well in advance. mostly because, generally its available with free cancellation ( up to a certain date) and you can do all your investigation at home at your own leisure, rather than wasting time when you are there. you can spend more time looking around and arrive later to your accommodation, in the knowledge that is already booked.
also piece of mind knowing you have found the 'best' accommodation. sometimes finding accommodation for 3 can be more difficult also generally the third bed is often a sofa bed. booking a longer time in advance allows you to investigate these things and ask people here about options.
hope this helps

I would not want to arrive in a city or town and start looking for a room, especially a room for three. Like you, I place a high value on flexibility, but I don't like the feeling of not knowing where I'm going to sleep the next night. I commonly book all except my first hotel and last hotel after arriving in Europe, but usually 24 to 48 hours in advance. Occasionally I reserve farther ahead because of concern about availability or cost at a particular destination.

These days, with almost every traveler carrying a smartphone or a tablet computer and Wi-Fi so widely available, most folks do make lodging arrangements before reaching each destination. If you do not do that, you are likely not to have a lot of options when you arrive.

If you want flexibility, book ahead in specific, well-located towns well in advance. No one wants last-minute leftovers in a part of the country where both Germans and international tourists are vacationing... Well-located means places where you can BASE yourselves for day trips to places that interest you. You don't have to decide now which towns you will visit, only which towns you will stay in. Then you have a lot of flexibility down the road.

• You are already on the right track...NUREMBERG would be a near-perfect base town for a longer stay. Catch a direct train to COBURG (1.5 hrs.) to see one of Germany's most impressive castles. BAMBERG (50 minutes, direct train from Nuremberg) is a wonderful medieval town. IPHOFEN (45 minutes away, direct train) is an old walled wine village. Touristy ROTHENBURG (Romantic Road town) is 1.6 hours from N'berg (2 changes of train.) BAD WINDSHEIM (50 minutes away, 1 change of train) has a fabulous open-air museum. WUERZBURG (Romantic Road town, 70 minutes by direct train) has all sorts of great sights. Obviously a week wouldn't be too long for this area.

Day passes for anywhere in Bavaria are cheap get you by train to all these destinations and back and also include any inner-city transport (trams, subways) you might need. Of course you can drive to all these places from Nuremberg or from some nearby base town as well.

• For the Rhine, St. Goar or Boppard would be good, central base towns for day trips on the Rhine and on the Mosel as well. 3-4 nights would be good here. Many castles and villages to visit from 5 minutes to 1.5 hours away. Use similar day passes for this area as well.

• In the Black Forest, Gengenbach is a great base town. 3-4 nights here as well. Day trips by train are FREE in this area. DETAILS.

• Between Munich and Salzburg, I'd suggest PRIEN, home of Herrenchiemsee Palace. Easy day trip access to both larger cities, to lots of great places. The Bavaria day passes work here too.

All you need to do for now is pick which bases you want and book there. Decide later esactly where you want to go.

I would urge you to make your plan now and make most, or all, of your reservations before you leave. I have used the "wing" it approach with success but both trips were in late September/October when it is the shoulder season. August is the month that all of France is on vacation, as well as many people from other countries, so hotel demand is high. One recent trip to Germany in September I was unable to pre-book a hotel room in Fussen for the dates that I wanted. I was able to find a hotel in Pinswang which is near by but was not my first choice. If you are going to wing it in the part of the trip when you have the rented car you may be able to find a convenient location at the last minute but I would not risk it if you are traveling by train.

Let us know if you are interested in our opinions of the places that are on your travel short list.

So often people claim they don't want reservations in advance for "flexibility". Well, I think the time to exercise your flexibility is month earlier, in the planning phase, when you can compare various options on the Internet at your leisure, find the best venues to go to, and make reservations for the best places at those venues. If you wait until the last minute to decide where to go and try to make reservations, you will be limited to whatever those people who planned ahead didn't want. That's not flexibility.