Best destination in Europe for slightly disabled?

I would suggest an organized tour. They can better deal with his limitations.

I can only speak about Italy. The Trenitalia system has a list of train stations with accommodations for people with disabilities; these are the major train stations. A few trains have a sliding boarding platform, or have a no-step entry. A few trains have cars specifically for people with disabilities.

Hotels, even those with elevators, may have a few (or almost an entire flight) of steps either up to the hotel's front door or inside the lobby to the elevator.

Restaurants and bars often have bathrooms up or down a flight of stairs with no elevator access. The stairs can be winding and narrow as well.

In 7-8 days, (be sure to deduct the arrival day and departure day, since most of the day will be spent getting from/to airports), I would choose one country, or one major city with some daytrips to others. This will cut down the relocation issues.

Be sure your friend (or you) verifies with the hotel what the stair situation is like. Ask if photographs are available, or check the hotel's website for photos.

Budget wise, Switzerland is one of the most expensive countries in Europe. Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean are less expensive than Northern Europe.

Regarding accommodations for disabled, that is something that i have never paid any attention to on travels. However, I can say that many B&Bs don't have elevators. In places like Amsterdam, stairs would be a real problem.

There is so much to see in Europe that requires significant walking. Venice is a walking city, but can be seen to some degree on a boat. Countries with hilly terrain would be more of a problem.

For only 7-8 days, you should focus on no more than 2 cities, not number of countries, especially for a slow walker. Even a very physical fit person cannot visit multiple countries in that short of a time frame unless they are very close together (Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, etc.) It is very hard to generalize whether an entire country in accessible - I would focus on mid-sized or smaller cities that tend to be flat and are not overly busy and overcrowded. I can speak for Poland being fairly flat and inexpensive (I'm from there) - I would look into Krakow for a full 3-4 days and another city on the train line or via a hired driver. In Krakow, you can even ride around in a golf like cart with a driver who will transport you around (I did this due to a small child in my family who got tired of walking). Almost everywhere in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe, public transport is the cheapest means of getting around. But, if you have to hide a driver, then it helps to be in Eastern Europe, because the labor rates are much lower and such a service would be less expensive than a Western European country.

You would be better looking at a specialised operator.

Switzerland and Italy are expensive countries, whilst central Europe is cheaper, generally. Western Europe IMO is better placed for people with physical limitations.

I would suggest that you look at companies such as canbedone.co.uk or accessible travel.co.uk, which will at least give some ideas on itineraries that are possible.

Look at 2 cities maximum if covering this as an independent traveller.

The cheapest option anywhere is usually a bus, but not all of these are disabled friendly. London has buses that dip down at stops for easy access and they have inbuilt ramps for wheelchair access. The trams/buses in Budapest have 3 steep steps to access and no provision for people of limited mobility.

Accessible - Inexpensive - Great Location....pick two because you can't have all three. For example.... If you stay in the heart of Paris you will have many attractions within minutes of walking or an inexpensive cab ride. Public transportation can be very crowded so a good strategy is to spend more money to stay close to what you want to see, less traveling saves time, effort and money. If you only have time for two destinations (and that's all he should plan for with 7 days) Paris and Rome would seem the obvious choice to me. Planning far ahead of time will also be less expensive.

This is going to be a challenge. Europe is old and was not originally built for easy access by folks with physical challenges.

I remember noticing that at least some of the trams (as opposed to buses) in Rome sat quite low to the ground. They looked as if there would be just one, not terribly high, step to get on board. When you come across a city that seems like a possibility, use Google to find photos of local trams.

I Googled to see whether there was a book I could tell you about and found that in 2004 Rick published "Easy Access Europe: A Guide for Travelers with Limited Mobility". Although I don't think it has been updated since then, I imagine much of the general information would still be helpful. Perhaps you can find an online seller who will ship a used copy to you. The US Amazon website has it. Most of the other books I found on Amazon are specific to one or two destinations and probably wouldn't be useful until you have decided on a destination or two.

I found some accessibility tips right on this website. It's sort of wheelchair-focused, but still useful. Note particularly the reference to Sage Traveling, which specializes in accessible travel. I'm sure there's good information on their website.

There are places in Europe (including mountainous areas) where the views as you moved from place to place are stupendous. You just need to be able to get onto the train. (Or bus, but of course toilet breaks during bus travel usually require getting off and back on the bus.) A boat ride along the Rhine or on a Swiss lake would be lovely once settled on the boat, but I'm not sure how easy the latter would be.

It's 10 years out of date, but Rick's book Easy Access Europe is available for free as a download from his website:

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/easy-access-europe

You could probably get some general tips from the text.

If visiting a particular place in Europe is part of his dream--then he should go to that place. If it's just Europe in general, I would stick to major cities--London and Paris--and plan to use taxis and Uber.

London, Paris and Rome are not budget destinations by any measure. The main problem with big cities like these are price, huge tourist crowds, and things (people, cars, motorcycles) moving in a rushed pace. Compared to the main cities in India, your friend may not have much to worry about. Even the large ones are less crowded and traffic is more "organized", so it's all relative. If he really wants to see a place like London, then he should definitely go but just lower his expectations about being able to see a lot of things quickly and inexpensively. If budget (and not physical ability and crowded conditions) is the main barrier, then I suggest concentrating on lower-tier, less expensive cities. Berlin is less expensive, and most cities in Central/ Eastern Europe (Budapest, Krakow, etc.) will be less expensive than world capital cities like London, Rome, Paris (and all of Switzerland and Scandinavian countries).

The fastest, newest train sets have the easiest boarding to start with, but I believe that all EU countries, at least, offer free boarding assistance for disabled and travelers. I haven't much explored this on the Czech, Hungarian, or Polish railway web sites, but know that it exists for each country further west (Trenitalia, SNCF, SBB, DB, etc). You may need to reserve a day or more ahead for the assistance, through the contacts that each web site specifies.

I hope he will be going with a companion, and then I'd highly recommend he take a transport wheelchair. It is a very light chair, maybe 25 pounds that can fold and be carried upstairs, over turnstiles in train stations, etc. Although, he would have to be pushed by someone else. He could hold his crutches and get out of the chair or ride. There is so much walking for site seeing it could be too difficult to get very far on crutches.

We have done this with our daughter in Paris, London, Munich, etc. our best experience as far as a disabled traveler was Paris. The French our very accommodating, but I suppose it isn't the cheapest country. We don't have experience with eastern countries.

In area, Europe is roughly 3 times the size of India. Paris to Rome is about the same distance as Delhi to Mumbai. What would he most like to see in Europe?

If he can walk no more than 100 m. at a stretch, he must travel and tour with a wheelchair. Will his wife be able to manage that?

Thank u all..