Hello, my name is Peter and I am a Norwegian tourist - this is an account of a recent trip of mine to Italy. I wanted to share my experiences as I have great difficulties walking and climbing stairs, so I usually rent a scooter or a wheelchair when I go on holiday. I used to think it was impossible for me to travel to Italy and to visit its incredible treasures but quite the opposite proved to be true!
I was surprised to find out that there are so many things that disabled people like me could see and enjoy. My journey begun by contacting a specialised travel agency named Accessible Italy that gave me plenty of good tips and helped me organize my holidays for my wife, my daughter and I.
The entire trip was planned via e-mail. All my questions were answered quickly and courteously. As it was my first time in Italy, the travel counsellor and I planned a tour of Italy, staying in the 3 most famous cities: Rome, Florence and Venice.
As I didn't want to travel with my wheelchair, I asked Accessible Italy to give me the contact of a rental shop. They, however, had an even better solution. They reserved a wheelchair for me in each city, at a very reasonable cost. This helped me a lot, a manual wheelchair was delivered directly to the hotel at my arrival and returned to the shop after my departure! While it was great having a wheelchair in each city I do think it would have been best to take a scooter or an electric wheelchair in Rome because of the cobblestones.
In Rome, as I didn't feel comfortable to use the subway and the crowded public buses, we hired a minivan with a private driver. The van was clean and comfortable and, most importantly, had an electric lift at the back, so I didn't have to be moved to a seat on the bus for the transfers and the excursions. The driver who spoke a curious but efficient English, was very nice and helpful and knew exactly how to use the lifts.
We wanted to stay in the heart of these incredible art cities so we asked for accommodation in accessible 3 or 4 stars hotels. In Rome, we stayed in a family run hotel very close to the Coliseum. It is a comfortable fully accessible hotel with its entrance on the ground floor. They have one large bedroom, almost an apartment on the ground floor, with a totally accessible bathroom with roll in shower and last but not least…the cuisine is out of this world !!!
As I already said, I wasn't optimistic about accessibility in all of the sites I always wanted to visit, so it was amazing for me to discover they were! Can you believe that they have installed a modern elevator in the Coliseum?!
I appreciated that Accessible Italy booked my tickets in advance for famous sites like the Vatican, Villa Borghese and Coliseum. The queues there are like in an amusement park! I also enjoyed the professional guides they had reserved for our excursion to the Vatican as well as for the sightseeing tour of Rome ‘s historical centre, which were really interesting and fun. They did a wonderful job of arranging the logistics we had planned in this marvellous but chaotic city! The level of accessibility in Italy is not easy to know if you don't live there.
To travel from Rome to Florence and from Florence to Venice, was quite easy by train, since it is wheelchair accessible and assistance on the track is included when you reserve the tickets. The same agency purchased them for us and delivered them to our hotel before our arrival.
We had the same travel arrangement in Florence but we also used the accessible minivan to make a few excursions in other art cities like Siena and Pisa. In Florence we stayed in a lovely hotel within walking (or pushing) distance from The Uffizi Gallery which is accessible, as well as the Academy Museum!
This hotel room was a bit smaller since there was a big wardrobe, but once again the bathroom was completely accessible with a roll in shower, so it was great anyway.
We had lots of different guides in Tuscany so we weren't just wandering around by ourselves. The guides Accessible Italy had arranged were friendly and very skilled in art and history.
We went to lots of different places, and everywhere we went the guides would go in first, to make sure it was all accessible for me.
Our tour ended in Venice and before our arrival, the keys to open and have access on the lifts of the different bridges, were delivered to our hotel.
Probably the biggest surprise of the trip was the level of accessibility in Venice. The wheelchair lifts on the boats worked very well and our transfers and excursions were made by an accessible boat with very courteous and helpful people. The little hotel Accessible Italy suggested, was a real treasure, at about 2 blocks from St Mark's Square and 6 blocks from the Rialto Bridge. It was completely accessible and the staff was extremely helpful and polite. The rooms were nice and cosy, with all comforts and accessibility of course.
We also went to a restaurant that Accessible Italy recommended, we were almost the only tourists there ….it was excellent! Plenty of shopping nearby for Venetian souvenirs and Italian designer’s fashionable clothes!
I would recommend Accessible Italy as they were just great in making our trip pleasant and safe in Italy. I am more than happy to share this experience with you.
They really helped us to make our life easier…Thanks a lot Accessible Italy!!
www.accessibleitaly.com Tel. from Europe: + 378- 0549- 941111 Tel. from US: 011-378- 0549- 941111
