Renting a wheelchair in Paris

I have no recent personal experience, but a friend of mine was recently in Paris and said it was very UNhandicapped accessible. And he was not in a wheelchair but had other mobility issues.

I'm sorry to hear about your injury. I would not consider the metro to be wheelchair friendly. There are many stairs, few escalators (that often are not working) and even fewer elevators. I think you will need another transportation option, such as taxis. Where are you staying? Many places don't have elavators in my experience. Is there a way you can postpone your trip until you are mobile?

Ditto Andrea. The Metro is not navigable in a wheelchair; I don't know if the buses are. If you're not in a wheelchair, at least the buses are at ground level. Don't even think of trying to use the Metro unless you can navigate LOTS of stairs. I believe some of the major museums have loaner wheelchairs, so if you can get to the museum, you won't have to exhaust or injure yourself getting around. Yes, you need to make sure your hotel will work. In addition to elevators, consider the size of the room and bathroom, and shower/tub arrangements. See if you can find a copy of Rick's old book, Easy Access Europe. I believe it's out of print, but if you can get a used copy, it had lots of information about Paris

Ula, I'm sorry to hear about your injury. David Levbovitz is a Paris-based blogger who I regularly read. A couple of years ago, he put together an article on Accessible Paris with links to various sites that provide information on travel in Paris with a disability. Some of this information might help you out. www.davidlebovitz.com/2008/02/accessible-trav/

Hello, I work in accessible tourism and have seen many people in wheelchairs go to Paris. You do have to plan accordingly; the Metro isn't very accessible. There is an excellent resource for European travel, www.sagetraveling.com, that may provide a bit more information for your travels. Good Luck!

Thank you for the tips. We just returned from our European travel and Paris was a total highlight of the trip. During our journey we had many challenges but also a great time. My broken leg was not an obstacle on airports except at London's Heathrow (wheelchair travel assistance at terminal 3 is negligent and incompetent compare to Canada, France or Germany – we almost missed a flight having 3.5 hours window between arrival and departure. Be prepared to be dropped on the "waiting" point for next assistant to pick you up . I had 6 separate "helpers" and some of them did not know where to go). In Paris I was able to rent a wheelchair from a company called MediMed. It was delivered to our hotel and it cost us 45 Euro for the first day and 10 Euro for each additional day. http://www.medimad.fr/location%20fauteuil%20roulant%20manuel%20ou%20electrique.htm I used a normal taxi since the wheelchair was folding. The cost from La Defense to the City Centre was about 25 Euro one way. We explored streets of Latin Quarter , Luxembourg Gardens, Notre Dame, Louvre. Some streets are difficult to navigate but since I was pushed by the family we managed well.
I need to mention that we did not see people on wheelchairs except Louvre and Notre Dame. I will definitely come back to Paris. After reading Rick's " Paris 2012" I'm totally in love with the city. Happy and safe traveling everybody! ULa

Yea!!! I'm so glad you had a good time, despite the challenges. Hey, it's still Europe and Paris 8^D

So good of you to check back in to let us know it can be done! Hope you get to return quickly.

Thank you for letting us know you're trip was a success! Thanks for the link as well.

Hi Ula, On your visit to Paris you rented a wheelchair from MediMad. They require a deposit cheque for 600€ for the rental don't they? Upon return you get it back I guess. Did they bring it back when they come to collect the wheelchair?
Thank you.

Ibrahim, since Ula only ever posted the one question and one update, and they were 3 months ago, it is possible that she doesn't regularly follow the Helpline. The webpage for the hirers you ask about has a Paris telephone number at the top of the page. Might it be worth a phone call to work out the details with them?

Nigel,
Of course, thank you for reminding. Will do.

Hi Ibrahim, I used a credit card to rent a wheelchair and did not have to pay anything extra. We left a hotel on Sunday and scheduled a pickup the next day so I guess all went OK. I was not charged any additional fee nor left any deposits. You have to be persistent with a concierge at the hotel though since they told us that this type of disability help service is not available in Paris. We proved them wrong by providing the url and Medimed's phone number to call and clarify. I would only advice you to check the air pressure when the wheelchair is delivered.. We got our wheelchair under pumped and noticed that while using it in Louvre. Unfortunately nobody there had any bike pumps. Majority of bikers are using rentals and Lovre's own wheelchairs are maintained by an offsite company. I would say that we got very lucky that day finding a nice owner of a rickshaw just meters away on the street. The other option would be to locate the closest gas station - they will help you too. Have a wonderful time in Paris ! Cheers,
Ursula PS - Thank you Nigel :)

For the benefit of future disabled, semi- disabled travelers, I'll share our recent experiences with my 89 year old Mother-in-law. Three years ago she and we were willing to do Paris, Prague, and Cologne, with the use of a walker, the type with a seat, so we could occasionally stop, rest, have a seat and catch our breath. We were so proud of her willingness to see Paris' major sites such as the arc de T. We knew there was an elevator that would take us close to the viewing level, but it required walking up the additional 17 or so steps on her own power (two surgically replaced knees). She is a spunky lady, it took a little while, but she had the opportunity to look down avenue Champs E. We took the metro several times, went up and down some stairs, escalators, but she had the "want to" to make the most of her visit. It actually worked to her advantage in the Louvre, the security people felt sorry for her and let her enter past the rope area and get directly in front of Mona for a photo op. Just recently, she traveled with us to Czech Republic and Germany. This time her health had deteriated somewhat and required a wheelchair. The point I want to make here is that on both occasions the airlines we used cooperated so nicely and made the trip as stress free as possible. I'm very patriotic and up until recently have tried to use only USA airlines, but our daughter now lives in Germany, and strongly suggested we use Lufthansa. It will be very difficult for me in the future to choose any other airline other than Lufthansa. The level of care my M-I-L received through all the connecting flights was first class. Very impressed with this SERVICE orientated airline.