Accessible Europe: 2007
Foot-loose and fancy-free is not so easy if you have a disability. Which countries take better care of travelers with physical limits, and how? Any practical tips for those dreaming of travel but concerned about mobility?
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Mobility Options when traveling
Dependent upon your limitations, a knee scooter with functional steering, good brakes and larger tires will allow you to navigate the varied terrain found in many european cities. One that I know of is the Kneal from Vergonmed.com. It will be availabe from Many Durable Medical equipment suppliers in the spring as a rental, for 140.00+ or so a month. This seems expensive compared to crutches, but the feedom that a device like this offers far outweighs the cost. Do an online search for knee walker or scooter and you will get an idea.---Cheers
Bob Cesena <email>
Mount Vernon, WA USA Tue 12/11/2007
Mosel River wheelchair adventure
I use a wheelchair and just spent a week in Germany during grape harvest time. Obtained an old Dodge Braun Entervan from Mrs Michelle Schauf, www.Promotours.com, email: reisen@sos-pflege.de. Stayed at a wheelchair accessible vacation apartment (FeWo) in Bruttig-Fankel, about 5km from Rick's favorite Beilstein. Familie Ernst, www.rolliholiday.de. Email: info@rolliholiday.de. Beautiful 3 room suite with roll-in shower bathroom. Used Rick's tips - bought food at local stores, cooked in FeWo and picnics on banks of the Mosel. Went wine tasting - sightseeing - day trips on river cruise - had a great time! Do not go to Burg Eltz - impossible for wheelchairs. Do go to Burg Pyrmont nearby - it is accessible, but still bumpy cobblestones. Forget Beilstein, but roll through Bruttig and dozens of other more wheelchair friendly villages, like Piesport, Bernkastel, Traben-Trarbach, Zell, cochem, etc. Even drove over to Rhine River for a cruise from St Goar to Bacharach. Go there. Trains get you close, but Michelle also runs a pick-up and delivery service to airports with her wheelchair vans - cost is worth it. Go and see it for yourself.
George Gentry <email>
Long Beach, CA USA Fri 10/26/2007
Our experiences in Europe
My girlfriend walks with a cane because of polio as a child. Because of this we had to consider what she would and wouldn't be able to do while on our trip. We bought the Rick Steves Accessible Europe book and it was helpful. Peoples attitudes in Europe tended to be very friendly and helpful especially when traveling on public transportation. People always offered to give up their seats especially in London. We took taxi's and busses more often because climbing up and down a lot of stairs is difficult for her. The London underground metro had many elevators / escalators while Paris and Rome's system did not have nearly as many. Small towns like Siena, and Bacharach usually had cobblestone roads and we had to rely more heavily on taxi's. We asked for a wheelchair assist at some of the airports like London Heathrow because the airports are so huge. This had the added advantage of getting us through customs more quickly than the other people as we weren't standing for long periods of time in lines. Many attractions with long lines such as the Louvre and the Orsay let us enter for free and skip the lines! I wasn't expecting this but it was very nice. It never hurts to ask if the different sites you are going to see have a disabled rate. One dissapointment was that we couldn't go to the top of the Eiffel Tower for "Security Reasons" but everyone told us that the view from the second platform was best anyhow. We always asked about accessability at our hotels and all of the hotel staff were very helpful and friendly. I got strange looks when I was at the bottom of the Spanish Steps in Italy and asked for a Taxi to the wonderful park at the top but it all worked out fine. We wanted to see the Church in the Rock at Idar Oberstein and we found a taxi driver that knew of a back road way that avoided A LOT of steps! We had a wonderful time and extra planning never hurts.
Jess Williams
Honolulu, HI USA Fri 09/14/2007
Disabled travel in Krakow, Poland
A good hotel in Krakow, Poland is the Aparthotel Maly Krakow, http://www.malykrakow.pl/index.php/main/lang_en It is about 3 blocks from the main train station, with a disabled room on the main floor. The shower stall is roomy. The rooms are good sized, although the twin beds are slightly narrow. I require crutches to walk and since I have to sit on the floor of a shower if there isn't a tub. I need a large shower stall. Access is possible for wheelchairs, including the breakfast area across the courtyard. I paid 279 PLN/night ($100)
Jeffrey Komar <email>
Bothell, WA USA Sun 09/09/2007
Public transport in Vienna, Austria
I just came back from a trip to Vienna. All the Ubahn (subway) stations had elevators for the disabled, but be forwarned. Some of the subway trains are not trains, but 1950-60s tram cars linked together. These don't have a lip at the door, accessible via wheelchair, but 3-4 steep steps. I use crutches and can use steps, but it takes quite a bit of effort for me. The same goes for trams around town. Not all are handicapped accessible. If you're in a wheelchair, taxis may be better.
Jeffrey Komar <email>
Bothell, WA USA Sun 09/09/2007
Polish rail/Slovak Rail
Rail travel in Poland and Sovakia via Slovak rail and Polish Rail. This would be difficult if not impossible for the wheelchair bound, and even someone with crutches like me needed help. Access to trains is rarely via platform and usually requires climbing a set of steep steps. We often met helpful people I could hand my luggage to while entering and/or exiting.
Jeffrey Komar <email>
Bothell, WA USA Sun 09/09/2007
Austria, Slovakia, Poland
Cobblestone, cobblestone, cobblestone, which can be very slippery when wet! Smooth sidewalks are not or rarely seen unlike here in the US. A bit of a challenge with crutches. Take extra crutch tips. In 8 days I wore a pair of new crutch tips flat. I did see curb cuts in all 3 countries but they weren't everywhere. Eastern Europe is work for the disabled, but is worth the effort. Many helpful people everywhere
Jeffrey Komar <email>
Bothell, Wa USA Sun 09/09/2007
Traveling with an Electric Scooter
My wife took her $2000 scooter to Germany with her. On the return home the airlines dropped it and it was totaled. They only reimbursed us $1500, stating that that was their maximum liability under the Montreal convention. Maybe we should have taken out additional insurance before we left.
Just a warning for others traveling with an electric scooter.
Dave H. <email>
Milwaukee, WI USA Tue 08/21/2007
Walking in Venice
To Carolyn on Rick's blog comments re: Venice & Dubrovnik. I'm planning a trip right now for my best friend and I. My best friend requires a wheelchair. Venice has an amazing site for accessibility: http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/1317. You can use web translators, but under the itineraries link, there are PDF walking tours in English with maps where barriers are detailed. Venice is very small- just make sure that you're in town, as opposed to the mainland or another island. Have a wonderful trip- let me know about Dubrovnik!
Laurie <email>
Chandler, AZ USA Thu 05/03/2007
Wheelchair Rentals in Rome
We were able to rent a wheelchair in Rome for my mom who had impaired physical mobility. Price is very reasonable and the store owners were very nice & friendly.
ORTOPEDICI E SANITARI
VIA VESPASIANO 22 ROMA (NEAR VATICAN)
IRENE SALAZAR
MILPITAS, CA USA Fri 04/27/2007
Wheelchar in Germany?
I found these on Google:
If you want to take one with you, try Wheelchair-in-a-Bag (not expensive, really, at $269 and only 18 pounds with it's own carry bag) at:
https://www.shop.wheelchairinabag.com/displayProductDocument.hg?productId=1&categoryId=2
To rent one with a rental car, try Avis' mobility scooter and see if they have the program in the country you're traveling to:
http://www.scootaround.com/avis/avisfaq.htm#faq1
Good luck!
USA Wed 04/18/2007
Scooter/Wheelchair rentals?
I will be traveling with a senior citizen around Germany in September. He can walk, but after knee replacement surgeries, it is difficult for him. We would like rent a motorized scooter and/or wheelchair to help him get around easier. Are there facilites that rent these items? Would it be better to rent one in the U.S. and bring it with us? We will be flying in and out of Munich and driving around the country otherwise for two weeks. Any idea/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Melissa <email>
Phoenix, AZ USA Tue 03/27/2007
Reality?
Never assume that bcuz someone has a medical condition (even with a doctor's explanation to show the screeners) that he will be allowed to take needed things aboard plabes. This is a rigid,inflexible system that is not set up for the convenience or assistance to the public.
Hopefully, we are wrong
Paul n Sara <email>
USA Fri 03/23/2007
Diabetes
My brother has diabetes and we traveled to ireland with him last year. As far as i remember we brought it in a small soft cooler (almost like a lunch box) and kept a "breakable" ice pack in there. Im sure you can find out if they are avaliable in the EU. But since he does have diabetes hell have special permission to bring his supplies on the plane with him anyways so pack a few extra(breakable ice packs) in your carry-on and you should be fine
Maggie
Boston, USA Fri 03/16/2007
Diabetes (insulin kept cool)
I will be travelling to Paris, Florence and Bologna next September with my boyfriend, who has diabetes; he must keep his insulin chilled. We are looking for inexpensive, low-frills places to stay (but in "good" locations, such as the Rue Cler neighborhood in Paris). We know refrigerators in hotel rooms are rare in low-frills European hotels, and I am sure some "mom and pop" places would be happy to keep his insulin in their refigerator. However, we must make sure there is someone available in the lobby to retrieve his insulin any time, should he need it (he can keep small amounts in an insulated bag for several hours, but not for days). Does anyone have specific hotel suggestions or ideas on how to best deal with this issue?
Julie <email>
Seatt;e, WA USA Thu 03/08/2007
Lisbon metro - highly limited access
Lisbon's metro system is a bit difficult to use because of lack of escalators and elevators at some stations. Some of the newer stations may have escalators but they don't go all the way to the station platform - instead people have to use stairs. This can be a real problem at the Marques de Pombal and the Alameda stations where there is no direct transfer from one line to the other. The access gates don't have any separate gate for wheelchair users.
The Porto metro has better accessibility, at least with the underground stations. They have escalators as well as elevators from the street, to the ticket machines level, and the actual plaforms themselves. In Porto there are no access gates unlike in Lisbon, but passengers must place their ticket right at the ticket scanners and wait for a green light and a display of "Boa viagem".
Josh Hanz <email>
Frisco, TX USA Sat 03/03/2007
Free accessible travel reports
For free accessible European reports (as well as articles on dozens of other global destinations), point your browser to globalaccessnews.com
For over 11 years, disabled travelers have generously shared their experiences with us in an effort to make travel an easier process. Global Access News offers a free monthly travel e-zine.
Ms. Marti Gacioch <email>
Encinitas, CA USA Sat 02/24/2007
Travel in Israel/Turkey
Would like to hear from anyone who has travelled in Turkey and Israel about accessibility. I am told our hotel is accessible (5 star). But what about the places you visit in Jerusalem, for instance. I have a travel scooter for distances and can use crutches, too. Thanks for any help...Jann
Jann <email>
Baltimore, MD USA Thu 02/22/2007
The good news is, in Paris, a disabilty gets you pulled out of a line and taken in a special entrance at the museums. My husband uses a cane, and we got VIP everywhere. We would be approached by a staff member, and kindly invited to follow them, usually after asking something like "Excuse me sir, you have trouble to walk?
USA Thu 02/15/2007
Chartered Bus
Hey,
Europe can be very accessible. Obviously you can get a Euro Rail Pass which can get you almost anywhere for a decent price, however I found it to be a hassle because they were always over booked..especially in the summer. I went on a 2 week trip to Europe on a CONITKI..which was so much easier. We had a chartered bus, air, music, and I got to go with other people my age. I loved it. I always knew I had a ride, I had my own seat, and it was comfortable, accessible, and nothing of mine got stolen. You should check them out at www.contiki.com.
kat
tampa, FL USA Fri 01/05/2007
dont like extra steps
In London the bus is much easier then tube everytime if you have any mobility problems !!!
John Brangwin
USA Tue 01/02/2007