Stenuous trip vs. non-strenuous?

I too have MS, but a quite mild form thank goodness. I guess I look at it differently. It may not get bad, especially with the therapy that is offered these days. 20 years ago, they had almost nothing. Today, I think they will either find a cure in a few years or medicine that will restore those nerves. On the other hand MS is such a surprise disease. We don't know if we will wake up and not be able to see, to walk, to speak, to swallow, or to hold a pen. So, I just try and live every day to its fullest. But, this did not answer your question very well.

I guess you would want to look at visiting those places now that perhaps aren't easily wheelchair accessible. Trains for instance, going up in the alps, anything with stairs, chair lifts, luge rides, caves, catacombs, going up in steeples or domes of churches like St. Peters or Sacre Cour. Walking tours that might fatigue you later on. Also those countries that are hot, as this can also be debilitating to those of us with MS.

I feel like I did not answer your question very well and I hope that some other posters will help answer the strenuous countries part.

Thank you for sharing this with us and I hope we can help you with some good advice.

Actually Jo, I thought you answered her question very well.
My first thought was stairs and hikes, so definately the Swiss/German/or French Alps first ( my dd and I loved our day hike in Wengen, Swiss Alps, and I loved my trip to Zermatt years ago) . Then places like Mont St Michel, or the Dordogne region in France, and Rome( which being on seven hills, is well a bit hilly,, LOL ) .

Places like Paris and Amsterdam , both being flat seem like "easier " choices for later.

My moms best friend has MS and they were able to travel for years together,, although as Carol approached her mid sixties , and used her chair a bit more and tired with her cane, then started switching to cruises, where somedays Carol would not do the excursions( in places like China where it can be alot harder to get around if in a chair) .
So Susan you could have years of " active" travel yet, who knows, but then who knows what any of us has left ,, I do think you are smart to get some of your must sees out of the way now though. My mom always wanted to go to India, but left it too late, she could still travel , but her health got to a point where a trip to a third world country just wasn't smart.

Guess who's written a book about it?

Rick Steves' Easy Access Europe

However, the book only covers northern Europe--no Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Portugal or San Marino.

If you do a google search "Disabled Travel Europe" you'll get a lot of sites with advice for just that.

Thanks for the ideas. I really want to prioritize my trips to take advantage of my health now.
We did Gimmelwald three years ago, but didn't really get a chance to hike with my daughter having had leg surgery. We did Italy this last Sept. with CT, Rome, Venice. etc.
Those both seemed like must do's first, so now I'm just thinking about what is next.
Hopefully my health will stay good, but I don't want any regrets! I'm very thankful that we have made travel a higher priority now while we are still somewhat young. I notice many older people traveling and thought that it must be really hard on them. I don't want to wait until we "retire", it may be too late.

We took a Rick Steve's tour of Greece this past Spring which was fantastic. You need to be able to climb onto the bus, pull your own suitcase etc. Lots of stairs and hills but managable for most. I did think it was a good thing I wasn't dependent on a wheelchair etc. as Greece, well where we went, didn't seem very handicapped accessable. Another place I'd go is Tuscany and the hill towns. China would be on my list as well. And the list goes on.....

Susan & Monte -- go to Paris as soon as you can! You won't regret it.

Thanks for the ideas! I really want to know the most difficult places...I sure think the CT was one of them! Glad we already did that.

Any other ideas?

Susan, you didn't mention Florence when you noted your Italy trip; if you didn't make it and want to, I think it was a little more challenging than most of Italy.

If you have an interest in the Holy Land or Middle East, those can be challenging and might be good to move up on your list. Israel, Jordon, and Egypt are all wonderful, but many sites aren't too accessible.

On our recent trip we did go to Austria and Germany, plus Italy. And, thankfully we did go to Neuschwanstein and other castles. We spent one day in Salzburg walking around. It was really wonderful and I'm so glad I did this trip! I didn't have any trouble, and I'd love to go back again while I can!
We did go to Florence, but just long enough to see "David" and the Duomo, then off to Siena for four days.
It does sound like I've made some good choices so far. If you haven't been somewhere, you wouldn't know how difficult it might be. The "easier" trips I want to save until later.

It seems like there is a lot of walking all through Europe, so maybe I should ask instead, what are the easier trips? I was thinking maybe Ireland, Scotland, English countryside with renting a car and driving around to see things...would this be correct?

INstead of generic questions, where people answer and then you say you've already been there, why not tell us where you're thinking of going--and then we can be more specific.

The only places we have been is Germany, (Rhine and Bavaria) Switzerland (Gimmelwald), Paris (bus tour for two days), Austria (Salzburg and Hallstatt, each for a day), Italy (Venice, CT, Florence for a day, CT, Rome)

We were kind of thinking England, Ireland, Scotland, but then I thought we should wait on those.

I'd really like to go everywhere throughout Europe, just want to prioritize as best I can.

If you are interested in heading farther east, Croatia and Slovenia (and Montenegro and Bosnia) are stunningly beautiful, but may be difficult countries to navigate (hopefully much) farther down the road. Some examples include areas like Dubrovnik, Plitvice National Park, the Istrian region, and Lake Bled, where they either have a ton of stairs or many hills.

It's a part of the world I'd recommend anyone visit, so I thought I'd throw it out there to put it on your radar. And here's to many, many more good travel years for you!!

Thank you all so much. I love the ideas!

Hi Susan and Monte,
We're trying to prioritize too: our list right now includes: 1) Turkey 2) Greece, and 3) Sicily.

Travel to these areas seems a little more challenging. It's difficult not to want to return to favorites though!

A city that could be visited by a person in a wheel chair is Stockholm in Sweden. I think the museums on Djurgarden island in Stockholm are accessible by wheel chair. Skansen (on that island) has an entrance, located to the west of the main entrance, for persons who are physically handicapped. There might be motorized carts to ride in through Skansen, available at that entrance. The Nordic Museum has elevators (2 floors). I guess the Vassa ship museum, on that island, is accessible in a wheel chair. On Gamla Stan island, the old royal palace and its museums, and the Noble Prize recipients' museum might be accesible in a wheel chair. A person would ride in a Taxi car to those buildings. And I guess the city hall in Stockholm is accessible in a wheel chair. Guided Tours of that City Hall building are popular. At Oslo in Norway, I guess the museums are accessible by physically handicapped persons, but I do not put a high priority on travelling to Norway if a person would go to only the city Oslo. For a visit to England : in my opinion, seeing the pretty farm land at northern Gloucestershire and at other parts of England, while sitting in a rented car, is worth the effort of travelling to England.

Both Turkey and Sicily are absolutely wonderful. I personally was disappointed in Greece(I went on a Smithsonian tour.) Both were fairly demanding locales, but utterly fascinating with great ancient sites but challenging to get around and do justice. I am in my early 70's and 1 and 1/2 years ago did a Central Asian tour. Two participants on this tour were a 24 year old guy and his 92 year old grandfather. I am only hoping I can talk a grandson into going with me soon!