Accessible Europe?: 2005
We have just created a guidebook for travelers with mobility problems (ranging from having difficulty walking to using a wheelchair), with the focus on London, Paris, Amsterdam, Bruges, Frankfurt, and the Rhine. Please share any tips or comments for people with disabilities regarding European travel in general and these destinations in particular. Thanks for your help.
Reconnoiter All Sites Before Parking
When travelling with a wheelchair and travelling outside the major cities by car, don't be afraid to drive around a lot to find the accessible entrances and parking areas before you park the car. Otherwise you may find yourself wheeling down busy streets dodging potholes to get to the accessible entrance.
Curtis Brown <email>
St Louis, MO USA Wed 10/12/2005
Caen DDay Museum Ramp
The DDay Museum in Caen, Normandy, France has a wheelchair ramp but it is hidden on the left side of the steps in front of the museum after crossing the gravel area next to the road.
Curtis Brown <email>
St Louis, MO USA Wed 10/12/2005
Tower of London minimally accessible
Only the Crown Jewels and the lowest level of the White Tower are accessible to wheelchair users.
Curtis Brown <email>
St Louis, MO USA Wed 10/12/2005
London Black Cabs-Not Accessible
Plan on the using the bus in London when in a wheelchair. Forget about flagging a black cab from a wheelchair (unless you're willing to pay ~$10 extra to call one to your hotel). We recently returned from a trip to London (Sep 2005) and were very disappointed in cab after cab just passing us by or not willing to take on a wheelchair passenger.
Curtis Brown <email>
St Louis, MO USA Wed 10/12/2005
Accessible Europe
As the parent of a 16 yo boy with CP, we travelled to Paris and Eurodisney this past summer. Disney was VERY well accessible, Paris was more problematic. Narrow doors, elevator cars that are small and MANY rail stations without passages and/or lifts for WC users made it a challenge.
We travel frequently so I have many more country/city specific observations.
Joe McWilliams <email>
Atlanta, GA USA Mon 10/10/2005
Rough terrain
When travelling anywhere there is rough terrain or cobblestones, I would highly recommend that you use "Frog Legs" on the front of your chairs, and also use the larger front wheels. The Frog Legs prevent you from getting stuck in holes often and will "jump" obstacles that can stop you dead in your tracks with regular front wheels and stems. My daughter uses them and we have climbed the Rockies and the hills of Tuscany and have never gotten stuck, nor have I ever dumped her or flipped her and her chair forward.
Kaye Norlin <email>
La Salle, IL USA Fri 09/23/2005
Hello All!
I am planning a trip to France (Paris and a small village near Pau) and Spain (Barcelona, Granda & Seville) next summer. My mother has a form of Muscular Distrophy and walks with a cane. Any suggestions on how we can make the trip easier on her would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance :-)
Lexie <email>
Atlanta, GA USA Fri 09/16/2005
Belgium/London/Irelnd
We recently did a trip to London, Ireland, and Belgium. We use a manual wheelchair for my son, who has cerebral palsy. At home, he uses a power chair but due to the difference in electricity, we took a manual (Lester, the charger manufacturer warned that we should not use the cheap power converters as that would ruin the charger).
London is wonderfully accessible but we were there on July 7th and that put a pall on that part of the trip. It's a wonderful place and we've been there before in a wheelchair and highly recommend it for wheelers. Not only taxis, but more accessible Underground stations than New York and Boston combined. The majority of bus lines are also accessible.
Two hotels I can recommend for access here are Days Inn across from the Imperial War museum and Jury's Inn in Chelsea. Both have roll-in showers and can accomodate 3 adults in the room. Both are also very inexpensive.
Outside of Dublin, Ireland presents a lot of challenges to wheelchairs. A rental car is a real necessity out in the countryside. Our favorite little Irish village turned out to be way off the tourist path, between Cork and Limerick is Bruree, the prettiest village we saw (including the self proclaimed "prettiest village in Ireland", Adare).
The first floor of Knappogue Castle is accessible as is much of St. John's Castle in Limerick. The Jury's Inn in Limerick has roll-in showers with adjoining rooms. They gave us the adjoining room free because the accessible room would only accomodate 2. No A/C here and it was very hot.
Belgium was beautiful but very inaccessible. Brugges was the highlight, but where was the smooth paths that Rick talks about in the book? We could not find them at all and bumped around on cobblestones all day.
We stayed at Citadines St. Catherine's hotel in Brussels about a block away from St. Catherine's cathedral. It was an apartment/suite and not technically accessible but had a lot of room and a lift up to our third floor location.
Darryl
Duarte, CA USA Sun 08/28/2005
Handicapped travel tips
I have a partially paralyzed leg which has gotten worse as I've gotten older (the big 60 is now in view) and I've made several trips to Britain and France (with side trips to other places) over the years. (I teach both English Literature and French in high school.) Here is some advice drawn from my own experience as a person who must now use a walker:
1. Choose your travel wardrobe carefully and fit it in one small piece of luggage. People will be more likely to help you cheerfully if there isn't a lot of haulage involved. (My daughter says, "Gee, Mom, you meet meet all the cute, athletic young guys." But I bet they wouldn't be so helpful if I had a mountain of luggage!)
2. Always plan a minimum of two nights at a destination. This cuts down on the physical hassle of moving from place to place, and gives you a chance to rest on alternate days. Be sure that the place is accessible by giving them all your requirements (door widths included) before you reserve.
3. Bring a camera with a zoom lens. You can get closer to things without physically moving--and you don't necessarily have to take a picture of everything you look at! (Don't forget an adaptor for the charger, if you have one.)
4. Be cheerful about your limitations. Sitting in the garden while your companions tour a steep-staired medieval castle is not all bad. You might actually meet and chat with some of the locals!
5. When you are out and about and find an accessible toilet, use it! Some "modernized" tourist facilities offer them, but off the beaten path they are rare.
A good place for accessibility, by the way, is the small West of England cathedral "city" of Wells. I have thoroughly enjoyed two visits there--minimal curbs and steps in most of the city center.
Marilyn P.
Austin, TX USA Sun 08/14/2005
Childern with autism
THANKYOU! Our trip was great and we plan on more tarvel.
Cathy doyle
Bittberg AFB, Fri 08/05/2005
Accessible Europe
Our family travelled to Europe with our son who is severely disabled in a power wheelchair. We rented an accessible van in England, visited London, then took a ferry from Dover to Calais. We saw Honfleur, Normandy, Paris, Lucerne, and Bavaria. Our favorite accomodations were in Grainau, near Garmish-Partenkirchen in Germany. We stayed in Gastehaus St. Hubertus (Tel. 08821/8622)...comfortable, scenic, small town friendliness. London was accessible by taxi, even in my son's huge power chair. If you travel to Paris, pay extra for a fabulous location, so you can walk to the sights. The Metro is difficult, and the taxis are not accessible for wheelchairs that can't be folded up.
Louise Allen <email>
Memphis, TN USA Wed 07/27/2005
Wheelchairs In Krakow
We recently took my wife's mother (80yrs old) to Warsaw and Krakow. Because of her limited mobility, we brought along a wheelchair. Airports in Poland were extremely accomodating (and we even got pushed to the front of the check-in line). However, we encountered continual access obstacles once we arrived in the cities. Although we managed to navigate the cobblestones and curbs, train stations w/ out-of-service escalators and no lifts were a constant challenge. Taxis and/or a guide with a car are definitely necessaary.
Wayne Tutzauer <email>
Denver, CO USA Tue 07/26/2005
Careful Planning the Secret of a Greazt Trip!
Early in the summer of '04 we took our second trip to Europe since I suffered a stroke that left me with limited mobility.(We spent 2 weeks in southwestern England in 1999.) We were in London at both ends of the '04 trip. Rick's new book was a great help and saved us numerous frustrations.
We found people very helpful, if you ask for assistance. We added Bruges to our trip because of Rick's book and had a wondeful time. Not only did we have good information to guide us, the village is mostly quite level and therefore easier than many similar towns that are on hillsides or hilltops!
I do not travel with a wheelchair, but always request one when going through airports or train stations, and seek them out in museums.
Asking for help and smiling a lot gets you all kinds of assistance. The staff at Belgium railway were wonderful. At one point two employees helped us change trains, carried luggage,took us to hidden freight elevators and insisted on staying with us until we were safely on the second train. When we tried to tip them after they spent close to 30 minutes helping us and waiting with us, they refused to accept the tip and insisted it was their job to make our trip pleasant. When we arrived at our destination, we discovered that they had called ahead and had a wheelchair and another smiling attendent waiting at the exit of our rail car!
The most difficult part of planning a trip is being sure that the hotels have both an elevator and a room available with a step-in or roll-in shower.(We email each hotel directly to confirm their ability to meet our needs and to request that they block the room we need.) I carry a small rolled-up rubber shower mat in case the shower is slippery. Also be sure you know whether the room is handicapped accessible OR handicapped equipped. I have seen too many "accessible" rooms that are not equipped with accessible bathing facilities. Grab bars and textured tub bottoms are not as common in Europe.
England in our experience is well signed and there is lots of helpful information about what is accessible and hotels are most apt to have equipped rooms or ground floor rooms with showers. France is making great progress, but still needs to make a number of changes.
We just finished planning for 2 weeks in Austrai and have had a difficult time finding equipped rooms. If you want to stay in very expensive American chain hotels at 250 - 300 euros or more per night, they may have 1 or 2 equipped rooms. IF you find a room with a shower, it is the cheapest and smallest room in the hotel.
It is important to have enough information to be assured that you will be able to safely use the room. A fall will ruin any trip. So know when to compromise and what your limitations are. Then ask enough questions to make sound decisions.
Bon Voyage!
Jan Stout <email>
Bellevue, WA USA Sat 06/04/2005
"Not far" in Eurospeak!
I enjoy traveling with my senior citizen parents. They are not able to walk long distances, so we have learned to budget for a lot of taxis. Note that Europeans, who walk more than the average American, have a different concept of "not far." We were once given directions to a hotel that was "only three streets away." Yes, but the streets were about three kilometers apart -- a long walk for my parents! You may want to ask how many "minutes to walk" instead of "how many blocks." (Or just take a cab if there's any doubt at all.)
Shelley Collins <email>
Seattle, WA USA Tue 05/31/2005
Wheelchair travel
We just returned from France and the Netherlands. We used your new book and found it usefull. Amsterdam isn't bad for wheelchairs, but very bumpy (coblestones). As long as we used a van for a taxi, they worked well. The best city we visited and a wonderful place is Lyon. Very accessible streets. We stayed at the Ibis Hotel, in a very workable accessable room.
Robert Knudson <email>
Olympia, WA USA Thu 05/19/2005
Childern with autism
I know that you mostly have tips for those with mobility problems,but if anyone has any ideas about traveling with a non-verbal child with autism. Please share your ideas.Thank-you
cathy doyle <email>
Bittberg AFB, USA Tue 05/03/2005
A "Quickie" tour of Rome
A friend and I spent eight days in Rome the first week in November, 2005. I'm a para and use a lightweight manual chair;my friend is abled bodied but hard of hearing. Our travel arrangement is this - I'm the talker- he's the walker..and it's worked well over several trips to Europe and New Zealand.
We planned well for Rome, but even so, I was unprepared for the extensive and somewhat vexing negotiations of cobblestones throughout the centro storico, especially in the area of the Coliseum, and St Peter's square. At one point I was reduced to pushing backwards over the cobbles in the area surrounding the Coliseum, since my front casters got stuck with every push and the prospect of pitching out of my chair onto the stones did NOT appeal. But having a sturdy friend to push, pull and sometimes drag me along helped immensely. That said, be prepared and have a wonderful time! We did all the usual tourist sites, and more. Went to the front of the line at the Vatican (excellent tour); visited St.Peter's twice, despite the problematic cobbles in the square, were invited into a monastary by two kindly brothers; met a lovely art professor at the Borguese Gallery who gave us excellent advice on what to see in the museum (and gave us a fresh picked herb bouquet from the gardens there).
We stayed in a small hotel on Capo de Africa, very near the Coliseum and with some great trattorias nearby. The room we had was wheelchair accessible, w a roll in shower and grab bars, very comfortable. Mrs. Khan, a Canadian emigre, runs the establishment and was very helpful in providing assistance and information whenever needed. Ramps were provided to give access to the dining and lobby areas and the breakfast buffet choices were quite delicious and generous. Rome was magical, all that we had anticipated. I recommend learning some Italian phases; I was able to communicate quite nicely with the very basic Italian I had learned prior to the trip- I found that if you speak Spanish, picking up Italian is not that difficult. We had many adventures - too many to describe here, but again, for such an ancient city, it was surprisingly accessible. See Rome- you will love it, cobblestones and all.
Rebecca <email>
Phoenix, AZ USA Mon 04/18/2005
Absent thought
Having the pleasure of your work, Steves, I can only take exception to your complete loss of interest of Southern Belgium.RSHG Bradshaw,
Scot <email>
Silicon Valley, CA USA Mon 04/11/2005
wheelchairs in rome and florence
my friend debbie and i have just returned from a week in rome with a day trip to florence. i am able to walk some but needed my wheelchair . the sidewalks and roads around the main sites are are very rough but not impassable. we were able to do everything with the help of some very kind people on the tour who stepped forward to assist with carrying the chair down the flights of stairs in the vatican and two of the men walk on either side of me as i walked down the steps. it was truly a miracle(i say this because it was the week of the pope's death) that happened during the week of easter.florence was more accessible as far as the churches and the art institute where the statue of david is.there are taxis that are adapt to carry wheelchair. i would go again and plan to do so. go ahead and go and enjoy everything just go with open eyes knowing there will be difficults but think of the adventure
mary carol jolley <email>
lilburn, ga USA Fri 04/08/2005
Trip to Germany with wheelchair
My best friend, who has a heart condition and uses a wheelchair, and I recently spent a week following Rick's tour of the Rhine Valley. We also spent some time in Mainz and Heidelberg. If anyone would like information on our trip, accessibility in Germany, or to ask questions, please email me. (Let me know in the subject, or it may get thrown out with the junk mail.) We greatly enjoyed our trip, and like someone else said, just enough things came up to keep us humble.
Laurie <email>
San Francisco, CA USA Thu 04/07/2005
Paris Metro Elevators
Anyone know of a map of the Paris Metro/RER that shows which stations have elevators? So far I think Cit?, Denfort-Rochereau, and Invalides have them. I'm especally interested in #14 and RER C.
Darryl <email>
NJ USA Tue 02/22/2005