Does anyone mind sharing with me where the most wheelchair accessible cities are? I've finally saved up enough money to send my mother and grandmother to Europe. The thing is, my grandmother is going to be 83 soon and after a couple of falls, cant walk long distances. To deal with that, I'm thinking of renting a wheelchair for her. I lived in Copenhagen for about a year and found it to be easily accessible so was thinking of Copenhagen and the Scandinavian countries. However, I'm in my early twenties so my definition of accessible isn't exactly the same. Any help would be appreciated thanks!
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
You can start with some info and links at http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/trip-planning/travelers-with-disabilities. When a couple of mobility experts worked on an "Easy Access" book with Rick 10 years ago (content linked on that page), they chose to focus on London, Paris, Bruges, Amsterdam, and a bit of Germany, on the premise that were more generally accessible than some parts of Europe and a good starting point. I would guess that Scandinavia is equally accessible, but not a big seller among guidebook destinations.
Posted by
Vienna, Austria
5370 posts
Vienna is very wheelchair friendly. Public transport - all subways stations have elevators, trams with low floor/roll on are readily available. Street curbs are graduated at crossings. Much of the city center is pedestrianized (smooth pavement, not cobblestones) and all sights have wheelchair access. Also, it is quite flat.