hello, We are travleing in Januray 2003 with a person that is disabled, not in a wheelchair, any advice of areas that we should advoid because of accesabilty ? Also are the public restrooms accessable

Where are you going?

Cleo posted this question under Ireland - - don't know if it was supposed to signify just any one city (unlikely - - would have indicated that?), or the countryside, generally.<BR><BR>Probably new to this fourm, and never imagined that most readers can't tell that the message does NOT indicate that it is posted under Ireland, except to others who select Ireland (only).<BR><BR>I fault Fodors for this Achilles heel which very commonly traps newcomers - - more than I fault the newcomers.<BR><BR>I don't personally feel very qualified to answer this question. I have never traveled in europe with someone disabled, with or without a wheel chair. And I have never been in the countryside of Ireland, outside Dublin.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

I have never traveled to Ireland with my mom but in london it was somewhat chalenging. She is not in a wheel chair but cannot walk long distances either and she does not do stairs well.<BR>London metro as most european metros are hit or miss as far as elevators go, london cabs all accomodate a wheel chair, wheel chair attendacne is available at all european airports to help moving person from one area to anotehr.<BR> If you search on google for disabled travel you get a wealth of info also add ireland to the search criteria. It;s no picnic, but as long as you can keep your sense of humor it all works out.

Cleo- Make sure you bring your HANDICAPPED PARKING sticker from the US to wherever you are going..It is UNIVERSAL and then you can park closer to where you are going and eliminate a long walk....<BR><BR>I have no idea where you are going--England, Ireland-- which cities---or towns....<BR><BR>I do know that staying in the countryside and driving from spot to spot is way better for someone disabled as you can either drop them off at a site and park the car-rather than long walks or lots of stairs...<BR><BR>In LONDON, the TUBE is NOT doeable by the disabled as there are NO elevator and some of the stops do NOT have escalators.....<BR><BR>For the most part, there are NO a lot of PUBLIC restrooms- however, you can always pop into a resaurant,pub or mall and use their restrooms-also gas stations and rest stops have public restrooms.. I have travelled with some disabled people and have not encountered many obstacles except for getting on/off buses, cobblestone streets and public restrooms..<BR><BR>Hope this helps--

She posted under Ireland, not England.<BR>

Does no one have any more suggestions or helpful thoughts to offer?<BR><BR>

Message for Andy:

Andy, you state that the handicapped parking placard which is used here in the States is universally accepted. If so, that is good news, indeed. However, can you cite some authority for this or give me a website reference to verify it?

Thanks,
Blue

Big Blue-

We rented a car and travelled all thru England- everytime we hit a town that we needed to park the car- we would put up the handicap sign...

Never once did we get a tkt....

Blue- I have no website to reference the usage of the handicapped sticker- only personal experience where I brought mine and used it for 2 weeks straight all over England-- Everytime we pulled into a parking lot, we would ask if we could use it and always got a yes.... We also used it on the regular sidewalk areas....Never had a problem and this was the 2nd time we have travelled thru England with a handicapped sticker.......

I don't know about you, but I travel with a cane due to a very bad knee and I cannot do steps at all....My hubs lets me off at the shop I want to go into and he parks the car and puts up the handicapped sticker....

If it is NOT universal, I would be very surprised....But a legit website..NO, I never even looked for one....

I agree that the handicapped hangtags are accepted in Europe. I traveled to LeMans and Paris with my wheelchair-bound brother last year, and thanks to a suggestion on this board, we took his handicapped hangtag. We were given no-charge parking at the LeMans race, even at the main area.

The problem in the bigger cities, particularly Paris, is that there are very few handicapped parking places, and they are frequently used by cars without tags. The best lesson I learned is to drop off the person at an accessible entrance, then go park the car and walk back, rather than drive around forever looking for a close handicapped spot.

My best advice is to be conservative with plans, not trying to do too much, since everything takes longer. List a few highlights that you really want to see, and spread them out over several days.

Blue- I just found these 2 websites:

http://www.mobility-unit.dft.gov.uk/bluebadge/outeu/

and this one:

http://www.mobility-unit.dft.gov.uk/...g/index.htm#18


and here is some more:

United Kingdom
General
On roads and in car parks, parking places reserved for disabled people are marked with a wheelchair symbol.

In the United Kingdom the parking card is used in conjunction with a parking disc. However, people from other countries who display the disabled person's card without a parking disc will be given the same concessions.

Parking on roads
You may park for up to 3 hours on roads where waiting is prohibited unless the signs say yNo Loading or Unloading' (see the European traffic signs details).

You may park free of charge and without time limit on roads with parking meters or pay-and-display parking.

You may park without time limit on roads where parking is free but restricted by time.

Do not drive or park in pedestrian zones unless there is a sign showing that vehicles displaying a disabled person's parking card are exempt.

The Scheme does not operate fully in Central London. Check locally in Central London about concessions.

Parking in car parks
Some car parks allow vehicles displaying a disabled person's parking card to be parked free of charge. Check with car park notices or ask an attendant.

So.......... I think it is safe to say, BRING your BLUE HANDICAPPED STICKER with you and you will be fine....

Enjoy your vacation!!!

Interesting that handicapped placard from all US states is accepted universally in Europe. Did you know that this is not the case within the USA? Some states will honor placards from other states, others will not. Some states will honor placards issued by other states, but not placards issued by local governments in other states.

Thanks for the great responses, especially the one with websites. I spoke with the California DMV folks today and they say they honor placards from other countries but have no way of telling me whether EU countries will honor ours.

BigBlue