Push Scooters

In alot of the places you are going the scooters will not be any good, their tires are small and work best on smooth pavement, not on cobblestones or paving bricks etc.. Also many sidewalk areas around tourist sites are crowded,, so frankly they will be dangerous and annoying .
At Versailles you will carry them all through the palace( which frankly I very much doubt they will allow ) and the gardens and grounds immediately around the Palace are covered with pebbles , not paved, so useless there too. They will only be useful around the paved path that goes all around the canal, BUT, you can easily rent bikes there, they rent them by the 1/4 hour and are a great way to see the outer grounds and get to the Petit and Grand Trianons as well as Marie Antionettes Hamlet( don't miss ). Learn to use public transit,, in Paris if mobility is a real issue for dd then suggest you use buses rather then metro as metro is often assessed by long passageways and stairs,, sometimes lots of stairs( some stations have elevators or escaltors but don't count on it) but the buses come frequently and will get you everywhere you want to go. There is also the HOHO options, hop on and off as you will touring buses, in Paris there is L'Open Tour which if weather is nice is fun as you sit up on open top and can really enjoy seeing the neighborhoods as you pass through them( google Cityrama or L'Open tour) , they have hohos in Rome and London too.

My two cents worth: In Vienna (where you are not going) scooters are very hip! And sometimes you even see grown ups going to work on them and, yes, schlepping them onto the U-bahn (metro). On the other hand, I can see how they might be useless on cobblestones in the old quarter. Good luck & happy travels.

Thomas, It was reading about commuters using scooters in Rome that got us thinking. It sounded charming. I've since read about other cities where people are doing this as an addition to the bus or train. I'm glad to hear Vienna is another one.

Jenny - never really saw push-scooters in the tourist sections of Rome; out in the suburbs (like Via Cassia) sure... but downtown the sidewalks are just too crowded and the cobblestones too uneven. In Rome, the primary " commuter scooter" is a motorino! I'd prefer to ride a bike around on the "walls" of Lucca but a scooter would work there. Not so much in Sienna, Ostia Antica, or Villa Adriana. (Maybe down the hill from the Villa area, but not in the ruins). Sounds like you are headed to MANY places - What a great trip! Hope you're taking plenty of time.

Sorry that your daughter has the difficulties but I'm not completely sold on this as the best solution. I'll discuss each place in a moment, but the over-riding question I have, and of course I make no judgments on parenting, but are the children going to carry the devices when they are unable to ride them? My concern is that when you are all dismounted Mom and Dad will have one scooter each in each hand, like a pair of dumbbells, and be unable to use their hands to further assist the children. So my responses to the venues: London, tourist areas pretty crowded, many attractions may not allow them in, must be very sure to look the correct way at junctions, lots of uneven paving slabs Paris, cobblestones and tiny wheels are an accident waiting to happen. I've never seen such huge and high cobblestones as in Paris. Rome, too crowded, and motorinos sometimes drive on the pavement so I suggest it may be too dangerous Florance sic (Florence), the pavements are way too narrow. Sometimes it is difficult for two pedestrians to pass. Uneven paving slabs and some cobblestones. Zurich, Never wandered much except around the station, but it may work there (BTW I'd pick elsewhere in Switzerland) Ostia, I assume you mean the old Roman ruins, not the beach. A lot of the paths are not well paves, many in gravel Hadrian's Villa, dunno, never been Sienna, maybe a play on the main square, if that's allowed. Similar concerns to Firenze. Don't know if they would allow taking into the Duomo. Its quite hilly with lots of corners and intersections. Lucca, agree with above post Versailles, agree with above post. Massive cobblestones and loads of gravel Giverny, dunno Oxford, most pavements narrow, many uneven. Very crowded. Canterbury, don't like Canterbury, no comment Dover, to hilly.

Oh, missed Giverny,, no way. The garden paths are wall to wall people, and narrow, and pebbly or paving stones, and no coat/bag check.

Thanks guys. Better to have it shot down here than there. We probably will take one. We are apartmenting a ways out of the city center in Rome, Paris, and London so one to help one child to the metro before entering the touristy areas still looks fairly good to me. If it turns out not, I think we could donate a scooter.

When my son was 10 we brought his Heelys shoes with us, that decision was a good one! In Paris he would roll everywhere he could, the good thing about Heelys is that you can put the wheels on or not so very flexible and light.
Lots of European families wanted to know where we had got these, since they we're new on the market at the time. Hope this helps!

Jenny I really feel for your daughter with her foot problems. I like the wheelie suggestion! How cool would that be! Would it help your daughter if she could sit while on the museum days or lines or sightseeing? I have a suggestion, google "The Packseat Portable Stool by GCI Outdoor". It is small, has a packing sleeve, folds, and is portable. I think you could store in the museum if they wouldn't let you use it inside. Surely museums you want to see have accommodations for disabilities. If so, maybe they would allow the stool. Could you bring a note from her doctor translated into the languages of the countries you are visiting? Would she go in a wheelchair? I like the wheelie suggestion! How cool would that be! Bobbie

Imagine the joint at the base of your big toe stuck out an inch or so and in compensation for your big toe travels sideways across your second toe. One foot has been operated on and is almost normal. Her feet are deformed, but not to the point of being crippled. We hike and walk at home. She is a trooper and very physically active. However, her feet do limit our distances and do cause her discomfort. Down hill is the most painful way for her to walk. Walking on the flat is not too bad, but we worry about the day after day toll. Bicycling causes little pain or no pain though she couldn't possibly wear bicycling shoes. Narrow footwear like skates are really not possible. Scooters allow her to favor the uncorrected foot. She scoots and bikes a lot. The skate shoes probably wouldn't work with or without cobbles because the wheels themselves would probably be painful. Certainly the sideways push off the inner foot necessary to skate would hurt. The portable chair to sit in museums from time to time is a good idea. We will bring a collapsible walking stick and the chair would be a good addition. I'm sure we could get a doctor's note for a wheelchair at museums. But she wouldn't like it much. It would have to be a really bad day. The take the bus, not the metro point is well taken. The underground does involve a lot of stairs. I remember. I think if the scooters are not a good idea, that bike rentals where possible and being careful about how much we do, is the best answer.

Jenny, I really think you should look at Fat Tire Bike Tours, they seem like they may be a perfect fit. They are easy,, seriously, I personally had not been on a bike for over 25 years when I tried my first one. The bikes are comfortable ( and have fat tires good for cobbles etc hence the name of company) They are safe, in the city they are mostly in bike lanes, and the one to Giverny to see Monets gardens is my personal favorite, you train with group to Giverny, pick bikes up there, get picnic supplies in town( its a small town/city so traffic not an issue at all) then ride to You arrive at Monet Gardens , get a ticket and skip the line in, then they just arrange for you to be meet back at bikes in a couple of hours . This tour is appropriate for kids as young as 9 or 10, we certainly had kids that age on the tour I did. For the Paris sightseeing tours I suggest kids over 11 or so ( although i have seen younger kids) . A day tour of Paris will give you and family a great overview of Paris, its light and fun, not heavy on history , but tibits of interesting facts, a stop for ice cream . The night tour is a personal favorite, and includes a night cruise on Seine, but ends around 11 pm so perhaps not good for kids under 12 or 13 . I did their London tour too, and will be taking the one in Barcelona this summer. I promise these tours are not physically taxing, they are fun and easy, your daughter does not need any biking gear ( shoes etc) and we had people on tours with us from grandmothers to 7 yr olds( depending on tour).

Not sure if this is a good alternative, but Sinclair in the U.K. sells an A-Bike that folds up like an umbrella. A=Bike. It has tiny wheels which make it tippy, but if you're thinking of using a scooter, I think the handling would be similar. I bought one but don't use it much. I wish I'd had it back when I commuted with a decently long walk, subway ride, followed by another walk. It is made for commuters.