greg_on_the_go

Hi, it's been a long time coming, but I think I'm finally ready for my first trip to Europe. At this point, looking at June '19. Some destinations I'm looking at are: Milan, Belgium, Spain, or possibly Geneva, Switzerland. *The reason for Geneva is to get a taste of the Alps, day-trip over the French border, and explore Lac Leman. For Milan, I'd like to see the Last Supper, visit the castle, and I like fashion also. * Please only suggest one place.

I have limited mobility so would like a place with few to zero cobblestone streets, fairly easy to navigate around. I will probably do a combination of one-day bus tours and taxi/bus to local sights. I love flea markets, art museums, castles/historic homes.
Suggestions, please? Thanks, Greg

ibobi

You could quite easily do a line from Geneva, to Milan, to Florence (if you like art and fashion), to Rome (or vice-versa). All big cities, and therefore accommodating to those with mobility issues.

Have an amazing time! Nice that you are planning early.

suze

but ibobi, they specifically said "please only suggest one place"

Normally I would choose Lac Leman because it is beautiful, and i love it there... but it is not the best with mobility issues... cobblestone abound (in Vevey, Montreux, etc.)

PalenQ

Book trains early for nice discounts over walk-up fares - www.seat61.com has didactic info on doing this - general info on trains check also www.ricksteves.com and BETS-European Rail Experts.

Geneva for the Alps - hopefully the skies will be clear and you will get a very detached view of them - to get eyeball to eyeball with glacier-girdled soaring Alpine peaks take bus from Geneva to Chamonix and take mountain trains to glaciers. Mobility challenged no problem on any train or stations they go to.

Paris of course cannot be beat for fashion - nor Milan especially since you are going there for your Last Supper.

How long do you have on this jaunt? Then others can suggest a logical easy itinerary to go by train - cars are useless in most cities especially Italian ones where they cannot even be driven into most city centres.

What do you mean by limited mobility - can walk? What must you avoid - stairs, steep hills, etc.

StCirq

iBobi, great that you chime in from time to time, but your suggestion doesn't seem to mesh well at all with the OP's requirements. I'd be really curious to what your European experience really entails. Your suggestion seems super-simplistic to me and not grounded in knowledge.

OP: How about you fly to Milan, enjoy it for a day or two (it's a great city and you can get around easily on public transport), take an (easy) train to Stresa on Lago Maggiore and spend a few days there? There are stunning mountain views all around it, and if you want, and can, you can take funiculars up into the mountains.You get the best of the gorgeous lake and the Alps (and are close to Switzerland). And travel along the lake to many towns - caution: if you arae of limited mobility, as I was at the time, you may ned someone's hand to hold onto when you embark and disembark from the boats, but the boat pilots will help you if no one else does. It wasn't a problem for me except for my embarrassment at being such a gimp.

I was there last (in Milan and Stresa) November for 10 days in horrible weather and had a really nasty left-foot/hip immobility and still managed to have a wonderful time (had been there before several times, speak Italian, a lot of things that made it easier, to be sure, but still...). The cobblestones weren't bad, the town (Stresa) is pretty compact, you can get into town from the train station in a taxi for about 7 euros (just hang out at the bar at the train station, have a coffee, and the taxi will come in 15 minutes or less -ask the bartender, this is how things work in Italy). Nice town with lots of friendly cafés, good shops, and amazing food store called La Cambusa just above the main piazza, boat acces to the three Borrommean islands, lovely place.If you go to Isola Pescatori, be prepared for a bit of uphill and downhill strolling on uneven pavement, but nothing I couldn't navigate holding my `dh's arm. Not bad at all, really.

I'm guessing the tourist office in Stresa or Milan would have ideas for tours for you, but I really don't think you'd need them without a serious handicap.

Your reasoning for Geneva isn't good, IMO. The city itself is a UN coven and boring beyond beyond belief, though pretty.

Spain or Belgium? I could give you lots of ideas there, but seeing as how you seem to want to see the Alps and the Last Supper and enjoy fashion, I think my idea would suit you. Which castle exactly, was it in Milan that attracts you? Sforzesco? It's not a castle I would travel to Europe to see as there are hundreds/thousands more interesting/important, but sure, if you're there, go for a visit. It's a pretty visit, but not something I'd consider a must-see for me in Milano. You do need to go to Peck, though.

Paris can easily be beat for fashion by Milano, by the way.. Not that it counts for anything worthwhile.But you will be wowed by the fashion in Milano, especially if you get off the usual tourist tracks around the Duomo and into the crooked little alleyways in the Brera.

greg_on_the_go

Thanks everyone. StCirq, I like your idea of Milan/Stresa - however I may do a one- day bus tour to Lake Como and/or St. Moritz (Viator). Would you say Milan is easy to get around - no major problems with language mixups etc.?

Anyone have experience with Barcelona BTW? I see there are some amazing airfares there during the month of May - even tho I realize things could change in a year from now.

swandav2000

Hi greg-on-the-go,

If you are still considering a stay in Geneva, I have to say that it's not in the Alps. It is closest to the French Alps, but that bus ride to Chamonix is about 2h long, so your views of the mountains will be somewhat distant. Lake Geneva (Lac Leman) lies actually next to the Pre-Alps. While you can ascend a few mountains nearby (Rochers-de-Naye, Mt Pelerin), the experience and the views are really nothing compared to the big mountains in the heart of the Alps.

If you are thinking of visiting the Alps, I suggest that you get to a town that is right in the middle of them -- Thun or Interlaken in the Jungfrau region or Pontresina, Sils, or Samedan in the Engadin Valley, all in the Swiss Alps. Or, if you want to see the French Alps, stay right in Chamonix.

Hope you find just the right spot, and have fun as you plan!

s

StCirq

greg_on_the_go, I didn't have any particular problems maneuvering around Milan, though like any city in Europe I've visited there are uneven sidewalks all over the place. Nothing daunting, though, especially around the Duomo area, which is all piazzas and arcaded walkways. I don't imagine you'd have many language mix-ups unless you went off the tourist track considerably. My husband speaks no Italian, and he managed OK when I wasn't close by.

A day tour to Como sounds nice, but I'm not sure you'd need it if you also go to Stresa unless you wanted to compare lakes.

suze

I think Milan is a good fit for your request and it seems there are things there that interest you already.

from Milan, Venice is only a 3hour(?) train ride away, so that's another option for a day or overnight trip to add.

But I do also think probably any major city of Europe is going to have reasonable ways to get around without difficulties in the central core. It's more when you try to get off the beaten path a bit, that challenges might arise.

IMDonehere

First I agree that Geneva is the largest sleep clinic in Europe.

You state that you love flea markets, art museums, castles/historic homes. Then I suggest Madrid. It has world class museums including the Prado, the have one the largest and craziest flea markets in Europe called the Rastro on Sunday mornings and historic sites. Ironically I would not advise you to on side trips to Toledo and Segovia, even though they are wonderful towns, they are both hilly.

Jean

I think Venice would be particularly challenging for someone with mobility issues.

PalenQ

not if they stick to boats and flat places like San Marco.

Jean

And that strategy depends on how easy/difficult it would be for the OP to get on and off the boats.

StCirq

Getting on and off boats on our December trip to Venice with a bad foot was probably the second-hardest challenge I faced, first being the bridges.

PalenQ

Water taxis easier -if wheelchair those can go over bridges with special rails last time I was there.

ibobi

Absolutely avoid Venice with any mobility issues. It's amazing. But even having a roller suitcase there is hard.

thursdaysd

Venice is not impossible. I have seen and read about people using wheel chairs there - there is an elevator in the Doge's Palace, for instance, if you ask. There are also sometimes ramps over the bridges near the Grand Canal. I have visited it with a bad foot. But I agree that it is not a place for a first timer with issues when there are so many other places..

Be careful about where you stay if you have issues with stairs. You can not assume that smaller hotels and B&Bs will have elevators.

Lamorna

I like IMDonehere's Madrid idea. Iv'e just been and although it can be hilly, it's very easy to move around and I mostly seemed to bobble around the top of the hill so no problems for me!

el Rastro flea market on Sundays was great fun, the city itself was charming and 'easy' and there is IMO the best art museum I've visited (Prado) and a lovely palace and cathedral. We flew direct in and out but as a major capital city of southern Europe, I'm sure it' well-connected.

marvelousmouse

my mother is handicapped so when I travel, I notice accessibility issues. And I found that really, there isn’t any large city that I would NOT take her to. The few things she couldn’t do would be things like hiking around around ruins, or climbing belltowers, which she wouldn’t have done when she was healthy. This includes Venice- sure, she couldn’t climb a lot of the bridges, but I found myself maneuvering around those anyway, because I don’t want to climb those either. A lot of museums have been modernized because museums need to be modernized for conservation purposes- so there’s almost always an accessible lift, although often you have to ask to use it.

two main sticking points though. The first is location and lodging. I stayed at several hotels that appeared like they may have been accessible on the website, but in reality, they were really impractical. I learned that lifts may be tiny, there may be stairs to the lift, and rooms in old, old hotels may be either tricky to get to in terms of staircases or very oddly shaped. In the US, my mother can even use nonhandicapped room because of how standard and new most hotels are. In Europe, I’d have to be very careful booking. And location is an issue too, especially in Venice- at the end of the day, you probably want a place a cab/boat can drive right up to, rather than one set back in an alley or courtyard (as cool as those are!)

the second is bathroom access. That may not be an issue for you. But it’s an issue for my mom, and a lot of restaurants may have their bathroom upstairs or downstairs. A lot of historic buildings may have 3 regular bathrooms throughout, and one accessible bathroom on the far side. So if you had bladder issues, and don’t move so fast, that could be tricky.

anyway- I definitely recommend London Florence and Paris. Probably Rome. Anywhere in Germany. Venice is a possibility but I will say that you’d probably spend more on lodging and on water taxis than most people- I would not have my mother attempt the vaporettos (water bus) if it was crowded. One time I was stuck in the middle of a crowd, everyone rushed forward and I was practically carried on board. It hadn’t been the boat I wanted, and it was a bit of a freaky experience for me- can’t imagine how my mother would have reacted. She needs extra time to board buses and boats.

lastly- possibly consider how much you really can do before you get tired. I would pick the one city your really really want to see. My choice would be Rome or Paris but anywhere would do. And don’t do a string of cities- just enjoy one place at a slower pace. Europe involves a ton of walking, often slightly uneven surfaces. and any transfers, luggage dragging, packing- it all takes energy that wouldnperhaps be better spent seeing all of the fantastic art and architecture you’re there to see.

have a great trip!!

greg_on_the_go

Thank you for all the great advice. Just for another option - what do you all think Munich as a possibility? The palace and castles would be great along with a day trip to Salzburg (guided tour) or across the Swiss border. I do have some Swiss-German ancestry, so could be fun.