Fun, Doable Itineraries

This is going to sound very spoiled but here goes: I am getting tired of the Caribbean, Mexican and Alaska offerings and would like to try some new itineriaes and places that are somewhat wheelchair friendly. What are some of the best itineraries you have done with someone who is a full time chair user or very limited mobility?

We're leaving next week to New England and Canada. We're on Princess for the first time. We've got an accessible balcony cabin on Regal. My sister uses a mobility scooter and uses a cane full time. She also has MS so we're going north because the heat is hard on her. We were going to try Europe but timing didn't work.

I'll report back and let you know how things are.

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S E Asia to Australia. Some places are better than the US. Hong Kong is the most disabled-people-friendly place in East Asia. Singapore is good too.

Can't wait to hear how your Canada itinerary is!

Hong Kong! Hmmmm, I would have never thought about that. Thanks for the idea to look in Asia

There will be some challenges, but one can overcome challenges. Also, you have to have an open mind in regards to “accessible”. If you can walk a couple steps with assistance, you can get just about anyplace. We normally do things on our own.

You should be willing to write to almost anyone; examples: I write to the various Port Authorities and city officials (anyone important I can find an email address for). Before I go to that extent, I'll normally attempt to contact local transit companies and sites that we are interested in seeing.

There could be language issues. In an effort to eliminate any misunderstandings, I attach a picture of us on the scooters and provide the source with size and weight in both our measurements and metric. My traveling companion cannot walk, thus requires assistance or being lifted; I also give her weight.

As far as “accessible”, someone mentioned Hong Cong. The funicular advised us that it was accessible. Well, they were willing to carry both scooters and my companion on. One bus refused to let us on. Never did find out what his problem was.

In Portugal, one hostel that we booked assumed it was accessible because they had an elevator. They never mentioned the two flight of stairs getting to the elevator. After that I ask if we can roll all the way from the street to our room. Oh, we have combined cruises and land trips.

Beijing: We made a deal with the travel company to carry my friend up on the Great Wall. We were expecting one of those chairs that two men would carry. Wrong, she went up piggy back. She was happy, she got up on the Great Wall.

I agree, Singapore is very accessible. We took the metro and went every place on our own.

Egypt, they will make it work. Our scooters have been on a buggy. I did see a couple porters carrying a man in a wheelchair across a rope bridge. Doubt that I would have been that brave.

Some parts of Europe you will run into the same problem we occasionally find in Mexico. The tour or transportation wants a small fortune for transporting our scooters. In northern France, a company wanted an outrageous amount for transportation. In southern France, we found a lady that offered very reasonable transportation cost. She did not speak English and we do not speak French. In the correspondence, I wrote everything in English and then used a website to translate into French and would send it to her both ways.

Barcelona is one of the most accessible cities in the world. A lot of beautiful places and things to see there. Public transportation is excellent.

Overall, Europe is becoming more accessible. Forget about riverboats. Those docks were built hundreds of years ago. Castles you will find limitations in, however do your research and many have made accommodations. Some countries will assist. Other countries, you bring your own helper.

You would love the Saint Lawrence River. The funicular in Quebec is accessible. Consider a repositioning cruise from FLL to Montreal or Boston to Montreal. You would probably see a bit of ice or packed snow and a great cruise..

We have been very fortunate being the fore-runners. A couple cities were attempting to establish tourism for the handicap. One small port in Turkey, the city took us everyplace, the mayor (his representative) treated us to lunch, we were guest at the various sites, we visited their special education for the handicap and we answered dozens of questions about getting around. It was a wonderful experience.

The nicest thing I have found is that people all over the world are wonderful. We have been in a few tight spots and there is someone right there to help. Other times we have just chatted with locals. However, you also have to take the same precautions you take at home or in the Caribbean.

Is there anyplace in particular that is of interest to you?

Betty

Barcelona is one of the most accessible cities in the world. A lot of beautiful places and things to see there. Public transportation is excellent.

I absolutely agree 100%. Barcelona was EASY! The subway had elevators at all the stops (unlike Rome and London).

Rome and London were not horrible - bus service with lifts was adequate. Rome's worst drawback was lack of curb cuts and the dreaded San Pietro Stone streets (large cobblestones) that catch front wheels really bad in the gaps between stones.

Nice (from Villefranche) was a nice city but getting to the train station at Villefranche was a chore due to a long stairway up the hill. We found a route via city streets but it was a long way around. Nice has a nice light rail in city center that runs to its train station. Monaco was super hilly so a bit hard even with me pushing wife's chair.

Mallorca was pretty easy but we took a guided tour.

Livorno to Pisa was easy via train but getting to the right platform was complicated. Pisa was very easy to get to the sights due to being pretty level and a car free walking mall through the center of town.

One thing for Europe that surprised us was due to wife's wheelchair use all the places that charged admission were free. Sagrada Familia, Vatican Museums, Ostia Antica, Castel St. Angelo, Colosseum and Il Camposanto at Pisa (fascinating indoor cemetery with many famous people). Most places we also bypassed very long lines. We had not planned to go inside Sagrada Familia due to the blocks long line and were gawking at the exterior when I guy in a suit came up and asked if we wanted to go inside - then escorted us to a special gate and got complementary tickets for us. We were totally blown away by the inside.

I have found any city that has hosted the paralympics to be easy to get around. We have been to Europe, Australia, China including Hong Kong and a really nice surprise was Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. This city was called Jesselton before it was leveled in WWII. It has been rebuilt and access was relatively easy. It is on the island of Borneo. It is much easier in any port if you can manage a few steps but I did get every where I wanted to go. I absolutely agree with "raindropsalways" that research is the key.

I have found any city that has hosted the paralympics to be easy to get around.

This is a slap my forehead statement :) Of course that makes so much sense. My sister and I really want to go to Europe and I will definitely keep this in mind when looking at itineraries.

Paralympics: Even though cities were up-graded to meet needs of the handicap, some failed to maintain true accessibility. If you go to Athens, be prepared, things may not be perfect. There is an article on Tripadvisor regarding the use of the Acropolis elevator. The metro was also questionable. Apparently one of the cars has a plate to lay over the gap, but we did not find it. We just made a running jump. Passengers inside were ready to grab us, so it must be an on-going problem. The gap would not be a problem for wheelchairs. Regardless, we were able to get around and see all that we wished to. Since I had been to Athens a couple years before the Olympics, I could tell that they did a great clean up job and a lot of improvements had been made for the handicap.

Betty

Australia is (at least in my experience) pretty accessible, particularly in the capital cities. Public transport can be a wee bit of an issue - in Melbourne we still have far too many tram routes that don't run low-floor trams (instead have 2-3 steep steps to get inside), but trains are mostly pretty good (in all but the city stations, the driver needs to get out an access ramp - but I've never had any problems) and I think the majority of bus routes now have accessible buses run on them. There are a few parts of the city (esp older buildings - such as several of our theaters) that can be interesting to access, but a good number of places now are making an effort to be more accessible, even if it means having to contact a member of staff and be escorted up via a service lift or something (not perfect, but the most practical solution in buildings that are perhaps 100 or more years old)

I've not cruised there, but I've also found NZ to be pretty accessible.

I think a lot too comes down to being aware and realistic about your capabilities and limitations, and looking in advance at what you've got to work with (how much assistance you need to do things, are you traveling with people who are able bodied and can give extra physical assistance if need be, etc.

I've been through the pacific islands...definitely not the most wheelchair friendly of places & I don't think I'd choose to travel there on my own, but between my brother, princess assistance staff and very friendly, helpful people wherever we went (both other cruisers and locals onshore) I had no major problems getting about. Rough roads/paths and no kerb cutouts makes life interesting, but not impossible.

The 2 week round trip cruises from either San Diego (HAL) or LA (Princess to Hawaii). Perfect if you love sea days, and there are accessible things to do in the ports in Hawaii. If you can transfer to a car, renting a car is an option in most ports, and there are accessible tours available in some ports as well. Did this 4X with my parents (my mother was a full-time wheelchair user due to MS) and it was always a great trip, with a plus of no air travel required since we lived in So Cal.

One more suggestion that I haven't seen mentioned here yet is Norway. The weather is cool during the summer cruise season, the cities have accessible busses and the views are exceptional. The cruises up the fjords stop at Flam, where it is a short flat walk to one of the worlds most renowned railways.