Europe travel

[johnm]

Planning my last big trip of my life. We are going to London, Ireland, Paris France, Venice, Florence, and Rome. travel starts early June (5th) and ends late July (30th).

My question is has anyone traveled a similar route? I'm wanting to go by train from city to city. I've already gone via the Chunnel to Paris and then TGV to south of France, but have never gone anywhere else by rail in Europe.

The other big problem is that I have to use a mobility scooter. has anyone seen them in use in Europe? i use this scooter..
http://www.improvelife.com/Sale/All-...nx-L-3-Scooter

Any helpfull information would be fantastic.

[kude]

Johnm,

I travelled Europe by rail in 1989 using a Eurail Pass. I had won the tickets to Paris, and then it was backpacking and traveling by trains. I was in my thirties, and I felt it was demanding. I lost weight lugging around a backpack. At that time, it didn't seem like a special needs friendly way of travel. Maybe the trains are accessible now. We usually stayed at places near train stations or slept on the trains. Italian trains were packed most of the time, it seems. Sleeping on the train was iffy, because people kept coming into the compartments at night. I spent 5 weeks that way, lugging my stuff around. There are lots of train changes to get where your going.

You've traveled on the TGV, so you pretty much know what it's like.

A friend who traveled in Europe told me she had rented a VW camper van and drove around Europe. You can always sleep in the van if you can't find a room.

[Seafarer12]

I have never been before but my mom use to go to europe for months when she was younger she always got the eurorail pass. Its the way to go just hop on and off when you want to. I am not sure about scooters but I imagine they will work with you like they do in the states. Most countries I have been to tend to respect their elders more than they do in the states. I just wouldn't expect ramp in real old places.

[Ernest]

http://europeforvisitors.com/europe/..._countries.htm

johnm
Take a look at this site, some info there might be helpful to you.

[The-washer]

Gee, I wish that I could help. It has been 26 years since I lived in France. I am certain things are far different now than they were then. Now, if you need a translator...

[Wayne B]

eurorail pass isn't cheap as it use to be either. no gov subsidies. but still the best deal

Wayne B

[johnm]

thanks for the links.

when i was there 6 years ago i didn't notice any handicaped people at all. and i didn't ride local transportation except the TVG from england to paris and then down to carcason. from there it was bus tour to barcelona then on a cruise ship for 3 weeks.

johnm

[roofeditor]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: johnm</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Planning my last big trip of my life. We are going to London, Ireland, Paris France, Venice, Florence, and Rome. travel starts early June (5th) and ends late July (30th).

My question is has anyone traveled a similar route? I'm wanting to go by train from city to city. I've already gone via the Chunnel to Paris and then TGV to south of France, but have never gone anywhere else by rail in Europe.

The other big problem is that I have to use a mobility scooter. has anyone seen them in use in Europe? i use this scooter..
http://www.improvelife.com/Sale/All-...nx-L-3-Scooter

Any helpful information would be fantastic. </div></div>

Hey John didn't know you were chair bound....sorry to learn that?

We did a few weeks in Europe this summer and had a great time. A few suggestions.

1. Fly first class if you can afford it? You said your last trip ever? Might as well enjoy your flight with a little room, good food, ability to fold all the way back and sleep AND associate with a different group of people. For us first class was $18,000 Orlando, Philly, Barcelona, Paris, London, Philly, Orlando BUT with the AMEX Centurion Card (I think the Platinum also has it) we got 2 for one on the first class. Then using a bunch of points on the card we got it down to $1800 for BOTH OF US.

2. In Rome Skip the Vatican it's so crowded you can't move an inch and in a chair you would really be restricted.

3. In Italy if you can make a few changes go to Sicily and particularly Taormina (Godfather filmed there) While there go to Mount Etna Europe's most active Volcano.

4. While in Sicily consider going to Baron Scammacca Del Murgo's Family Estate. Lunch, cheese, and wine on top of Mt Etna, very cool.......I'd move there!

5. I'd recommend Going to Naples and venturing to Mt. Vesuvius and the lost city of Pompeii but it's not really set up for a chair trip, very hard walk.

6. Going to Paris? See the Louvre and get a PAID licensed guide you will appreciate it, they really know their stuff and trust me on this I speak French and have family from France you will get lost in the Louvre and miss everything!!!! Chair is no problem!

7. While in Paris also call your concierge in your hotel and have him set up a GUIDED trip to The Palace of Versailles. With no professional guide you will wait 3 hours to get in and then possibly not at all. Get a small group that goes in a Mercedes Sprinter with about 10 people, the big tours suck! The chair is no problem.

8. While in Paris go out to dinner at The LIDO on the Champs Elysees Ave near Rue (street) Balzac! Sort of like Cirque de Soleil but with topless dinner show. $500!!! Or Le Moulin Rouge in the Pigale district. Crazy Horse is also a hot spot. If you want to see a concert go to Elysée Montmartre also on the left bank in the 18th district.

Cab drivers DO speak some English and some crap French and good ARAB!

Hotels in Europe are generally quite expensive and the Euro exchange will kill you. Breakfast near our hotel located right next to Notre Dame was $80 each day and this was a little sidewalk café!!!!

Boat tours in Paris/ nightly dinner and boat tours are actually pretty cool. Check out Bateaux Mouches on the Seine and watch out for the ghost of Jean Valjean the hero of the Victor Hugo book? If you read the book or saw the play you'll get the joke.

Oh what the heck pay for my air fare and I'll go with you! [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif[/img]

Venice and Florence are also expensive.

Do some research on a tour guide in the cities, trust me you can't do it alone you'll miss a lot. We had a 50 year old school teacher in Sicily that was excellent.

Did I mention to skip the Vatican?

Hotels are small and chair access is often limited. Do you NEED constant chair or just for long walks?

Richard

[bekair]

Goto http://www.fodors.com Good travel info there - just like the books.

I used it for out trip to Greece - really helpful info.

BBT

[johnm]

1. Fly first class if you can afford it?
we fly business class. cheaper than first but way better than coach.

2. In Rome Skip the Vatican
going to tuff it out and see the vatican again. last time was a quickie tour but want to spend more time and take better pictures.

3. In Italy if you can make a few changes go to Sicily
been there done that...

5. I'd recommend Going to Naples and venturing to Mt. Vesuvius and the lost city of Pompeii
been there done that when i could still walk around.

6. Going to Paris? See the Louvre
been there with guide. wife is an artist and wants to see all the galeries in paris that we missed last trip.

[i]7. While in Paris ... a GUIDED trip to The Palace of Versailles [/b].
been there done that. its fantastic.

8. While in Paris go out to dinner at
going to take a dinner cruise did the lido last time.

Hotels in Europe are generally quite expensive and the Euro exchange will kill you.
in exchange for first classs air tickets we will be able to enjoy some nice dinners. other than that we like the little walk up sandwich shops and sit on a park bench to eat lunch.

Breakfast near our hotel located right next to Notre Dame was $80 each day and this was a little sidewalk café!!!!
we stayed a block from the louvre last time and they had the continental breakfast included in hotel price. thats OK if you like cheese with every meal.

Oh what the heck pay for my air fare and I'll go with you!
sounds like you could afford to take me there. i'd really like that.

Venice and Florence are also expensive.
ya, but... try to keep the wife from those shopping spots...
last time florence was on the quickie trip. it just whetted our sences to go back and spend more time than 1-2 days

Do some research on a tour guide in the cities,
we have the names of several college students who do tours to practice their english. i has a VW van and said she would give us a ride to rome if we paid her fuel bill both ways. cant beat that. even at 8 bucks a gallon it will still be cheaper than train or bus. (and we americans whine about fuel charges..)

Do you NEED constant chair or just for long walks?
anything over 100 ft. or one flight of stairs. i have the names of several hotels that offer accessavble rooms and have place to park the scooter. most are in the 3-4 hundred doller a day range. two places i contacted said they do not book the HC rooms until last minute so we can call when we hit town to see if available.


question. what did you do for cel phone service in europe?

johnm

[roofeditor]

my reply in caps

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: johnm</div><div class="ubbcode-body">1. Fly first class if you can afford it?
we fly business class. cheaper than first but way better than coach.

2. In Rome Skip the Vatican
going to tuff it out and see the vatican again. last time was a quickie tour but want to spend more time and take better pictures. I WAS SO TICKED AT THE CROWD AT THE SISTINE CHAPEL I VOWED TO NEVER GO BACK

3. In Italy if you can make a few changes go to Sicily
been there done that... STILL WAS THE BEST OF ITALY FOR ME.

5. I'd recommend Going to Naples and venturing to Mt. Vesuvius and the lost city of Pompeii
been there done that when i could still walk around. POMPEII CITY WAS TOUGH AFTER THE VESUVIUS CLIMB AND I WALK FINE BUT LATER THAT DAY I WAS HURTING. ONE OR THE OTHER BUT NOT BOTH IN THE SAME DAY.

6. Going to Paris? See the Louvre
been there with guide. wife is an artist and wants to see all the galeries in paris that we missed last trip.

[i]7. While in Paris ... a GUIDED trip to The Palace of Versailles [/b].
been there done that. its fantastic.

8. While in Paris go out to dinner at
going to take a dinner cruise did the lido last time. CRAZY HORSE IF YOU LIKE FEMALE TA TA!

Hotels in Europe are generally quite expensive and the Euro exchange will kill you.
in exchange for first classs air tickets we will be able to enjoy some nice dinners. other than that we like the little walk up sandwich shops and sit on a park bench to eat lunch. IT'S BEEN A FEW YEARS FOR YOU? IT HAS BEEN CHANGING AND IT'S EXPENSIVE WITH THE EURO RATE. MANY DINNERS WERE IN THE $300 RANGE.

Breakfast near our hotel located right next to Notre Dame was $80 each day and this was a little sidewalk café!!!!
we stayed a block from the louvre last time and they had the continental breakfast included in hotel price. thats OK if you like cheese with every meal. CHEEZE, BREAD, WINE AND THAT'S PARIS FOR YA.

Oh what the heck pay for my air fare and I'll go with you!
sounds like you could afford to take me there. i'd really like that. YES BUT YOU WOULD HAVE A STRONG FRENCH SPEAKING GUIDE WITH YOU!!!

Venice and Florence are also expensive.
ya, but... try to keep the wife from those shopping spots...
last time florence was on the quickie trip. it just whetted our sences to go back and spend more time than 1-2 days MY WIFE WENT SHOPPING IN FLORENCE AND ALL I CAN SAY IS "WORTH AVE WEST PALM"$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Do some research on a tour guide in the cities,
we have the names of several college students who do tours to practice their english. i has a VW van and said she would give us a ride to rome if we paid her fuel bill both ways. cant beat that. even at 8 bucks a gallon it will still be cheaper than train or bus. (and we americans whine about fuel charges..)

Do you NEED constant chair or just for long walks?
anything over 100 ft. or one flight of stairs. i have the names of several hotels that offer accessavble rooms and have place to park the scooter. most are in the 3-4 hundred doller a day range. two places i contacted said they do not book the HC rooms until last minute so we can call when we hit town to see if available.


question. what did you do for cel phone service in europe?

ATT /CINGULAR WORKS THERE VERIZON AND NEXTEL DON'T.

johnm

</div></div>

[DieselDeaf]

It would be great to go to Paris now with the indoor smoking ban. It was nearly impossible to find a place to even a halfway smoke-free place to eat the last few times I was there.

Hopefully you were able to climb up the tower of Notre Dame the last time you were there with good legs. I think you should prepare yourself for a challenging trip having to use a scooter to get around. I don't think they have anything like our American Disability Act over there, especially in Italy. UK should be pretty easy though.

That is a long time to be over there, are you sure you want to be there that long? I would go out of my mind.

[kude]

Five weeks over there living off a train is a long time. It didn't take long for me to skip all the things you were supposed to see ( for example, the leaning tower, yep it leans, move on). I enjoyed long train rides. You could buy beer and food on the train, and when you needed to clean up get a bed and brealfast or cheap hotel. I kept criss crossing the continent, this is what's good about the pass. There's no way I was spending $80 for breakfast or $300 for dinner. You can buy groceries and make do for a lot less. I liked taking the train through the mountains of Switzerland, Austria and Italy, very scenic. Florence was a very nice city to spend time in. Spent every night there sitting out in the piazza eating and drinking wine, very relaxing with good company. If you can go first class for $1800 do it. Now today, I would do it Roofies way if possible.

[roofeditor]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DieselDeaf</div><div class="ubbcode-body">It would be great to go to Paris now with the indoor smoking ban. It was nearly impossible to find a place to even a halfway smoke-free place to eat the last few times I was there.

Hopefully you were able to climb up the tower of Notre Dame the last time you were there with good legs. I think you should prepare yourself for a challenging trip having to use a scooter to get around. I don't think they have anything like our American Disability Act over there, especially in Italy. UK should be pretty easy though.

That is a long time to be over there, are you sure you want to be there that long? I would go out of my mind. </div></div>

Climbed the Cathedral this year and climbed Eiffel Tower 5 years ago. Big mistake!!!! Legs were sore for a week. Eiffel tower is still cool if you can get past more Arabs than French or Americans combined!

[johnm]

took the elevator to the top of the eyefull tower last time. what a waste of time and money. so what if i could see far. couldn't make out what i was seeing. liked the second level the best.

couldn't climb the tower at notre dame because it was sunday and mass was going on. i was keenly interested in the buttress (sp) engineering method of construction.

the french ciggeretts sure stink even worse that american cigs. we didn't have any real expensive dinners when we were there last time. most of the food served to me in france was just barely passable as good food. i a meat and taters guy, not a frilly fancy food eater. keep the grass offa the plate and fill it with real food. we went to one place the wife liked the looks of. had to get a sandwich about half hour later so i felt like i had eaten something. wife sez, "but it was such a beautiful place to eat." i snarreled "food not worth eating" where is my twinkie stash [img]/forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif[/img]

ya, i want to be there that long. that is about 7-10 days per town visited. takes that long to see all the cathederals and plazzas and shops. i refuse to be rushed on this trip. i'll get up when ready and take my time getting around.

john