Mont St-Michel and someone with difficulty climbing?

A few months ago a nice lady (was it Judy?) asked the same question, she stated she was older and stated she was concerned, how steep was it. Half the repliers said: it's pretty steep! and half said, oh it's not that bad, you can do it. When she got back after her trip, she posted here and said it was steeper than she had expected, she finally made it but was about at her physical limit. So on behalf of your friend, don't under-estimate the steepness! There are no creative solutions, your friend will have to walk it if she/he wants to tour the abbey interior.Using the search box you can probably find the prior posts on exactly how steep various people thought it was. Someone without a mobility issue might lightly say, no problem--but be cautious here if your friend's mobility issue is significant, as it seems to be from your brief description. Worst case, he/she can try it and simply turn around or stop off at one of the cafes that lines the lower part of the climb and have a glass of wine while you tour. I guess that's the creative solution!?

More specifically, she said that while she had anticipated the many stairs, she didn't expect how steep some of the pathways are.

There are plenty of places to rest on the way up - it doesn't have to be done all at once. But it is a lot of climbing. And it can be wet. So I would urge your friend to do as many stairs as possible before leaving and wear shoes with good traction.

Sherry,
Here's Judy's post.

(http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/17851/mont-st-michel-im-back.html)

I agree with previous poster, be careful, Mont St Michel is not friendly to those with any mobility issues.
I suggest you leave friend at hotel for the day ( she is a grownup and can entertain herself for a day right? ) and you go on your own, it would be foolish ot miss it because of your friend, and a good friend would insist that you go on your own. My mom travelled for years with a friend with MS, they often split up and did things seperately because of friends mobility issues.

My family and I did this several years ago. There should be no problem with climbing up to the Abbey --
there are plenty of places to stop and look at fantastic views along the way. I suggest that if your friend is still skeptical, he/she should take along a bottle of water and a good book, and if the climb is too difficult (not knowing physical condition) he/she can perch on one of the beautiful wall areas and read while you continue.

Sherry, We returned from MSM and yes, the climb is steep, but take your time. It actually isn't a long climb to make.

Once your friend gets there, there's plenty of shops to poke around. That may help her "climb" not so strenuous if she stops every so often to shop at postcards, t-shirts, etc.

There are hotels at MSM but I found them to be not private. Tourists like me were poking their heads in their room (well the windows were opened!) and people dont' leave until well past 11 pm.

I'd stay off MSM if you're looking for privacy.

I was just there last week on a Saturday. I am a 61yr old woman in reasonably good shape. I found that on the way up, the tour guide didn't stop often enough and set too fast a pace. I think if you really take your time, the climb up is fine. If you have to rush...it is a challenge. There is only one little main street and it is heavily cobbled so, the walking is uneven. The view from up top is wonderful and I think well worth the effort. It was very, very crowded on Saturday and I wonder if it is less so on a weekday. The tour buses have the up front close parking but, I don't know if you can drive up in a private vehicle to unload passengers or not. If you take the trip all the way there and have your own vehicle, stopping along the WWII sites like Omaha Beach and the American cemetery and all the surrounding areas were just beautiful.

You have basically two options for reaching the abbey. You can follow the main road through the town, which winds slowly upwards, with a couple of areas where the incline gets a bit steeper. Or, you can climb about 20 feet of stairs immediately and walk along the ramparts. The walk along here is much more level, only ascending by one or two steps at a time...until the end, when it ascends sharply over a narrow staircase. Both of these options terminate in the same area. Unfortunately, the only way to reach the abbey from here is up a fairly long staircase. So, yes, if mobility is a problem, there really isn't an easy way to the abbey.