Hotels booked through Rick Steve’s in England.

You mean on Rick Steve's Tours? Or in general?

Rick steves tour’s

I can’t speak to your tour in particular, but I do know that on the 2 other tours I took the guides had some discretion with room assignments. Those who were unlikely to deal with a great deal of stairs were often assigned rooms on lower floors.

That said, I would expect that being able to at least do a flight of stairs will be important for touring as well. I’m in London right now and I can’t begin to describe the number of stairs I have done sightseeing!

OP steps and stairs are everywhere in London.

I’m of the belief its attributes to the Brits longevity.

In the museums and stores like Harrods you will find elevators. The elevator in Liberty is wooden.

Your hotel should have an elevator but call the RS Office for definitive answer.

FYI: Its basement, ground floor, first floor, second, etc.

Most of the hotels used on RS tours are small and old. Many have no elevators and you may need to manage steps with your luggage. (Remember, no bellman service on RS tours. You deal with your luggage.)

Which tour are you considering?

To be honest, if your companion can’t manage stairs this may not be a good fit for a tour for them. You may need to try and talk to someone in the office about whether this tour model would be too strenuous for them.

There are always lots of steps and lots of walking on an RS tour.

I’m sorry, I’m still a little confused. Are you taking one of the RIck Steves Tours for England ( which one?), or did you book hotels in England from suggestions in the RIck Steves guidebook?

This is the expectations list under the tour description:

Physical Demands
Our tours are physically active! It's an essential part of the Rick Steves tour experience. On our Best of London in 7 Days tour — among other things — you'll need to happily…
Carry your luggage up several flights of stairs to reach your hotel room.
Be on your feet, walking and standing, for up to three hours, indoors and outdoors, in all weather conditions.
Sleep with street noise and no (or weak) air conditioning.
After orientation and transportation lessons, be able to navigate around the city on your own.
Be able to climb many flights of stairs in and out of the London Underground system.

@ Patty. The poster answered that question earlier in the thread stating “tours”.

THANKYOU everyone for your comments

Of the 7 RS tours we have taken, the Best of England tour had the worst hotels for accommodating mobility issues. Only two hotels had elevators. In the first the elevator was not working. In the London hotel they had elevators, but our room was up a set of very steep, narrow stairs. (That room also had steep, slippery tiled steps up into the shower. Oddest thing ever.)
Every tour we have taken involved lots and lots of walking, with stairs and uneven terrain. Every tour we have taken includes at least a few hotels with challenging access.

Atlasmaps reported. Don’t click on link.

If you don't want to climb steps in a hotel, you will need to book a room in an American style chain hotels which has reliable elevators or take tours which provide this type of accommodations. This is one of the reasons we have not taken one of his tours.

I don't know the answer to the question, but I do know that anywhere in Europe/England etc is going to involve stairs at some point. And they can be uneven, narrow, slippery, and basically not "up to modern North American standards", for lack of a better term. Elevators can be extremely small too, if you can find one!

If you have a date and tour in mind, it may be worth a phone call to RS Tours and inquire. No harm in finding out. Steps may be inevitable, but you will know.

This is an older thread but I hope the OP got the answer. The Physical Demands listed in each tour description should be taken seriously. I'd hate to show up and find out I cant do any of it, even after signing the agreement that I can.

this thread was just reawakened but the poster asked the question on the the 5th of May and replied with a Thank You the same day, and hasn't been seen since. In their previous threads millerlindann historically has not returned after saying Thank You.

Just to save late replies from a lot of work...

It would be interesting to know which way the OP and their travelling companion decided....

(writing at the same time as stan)