Hello
I'm planning on taking my mother and possibly 2 Aunts to Italy. They are all in their 70s and my mother needs to use a wheelchair sometimes. She is mostly independent, but I expect the cobblestones will be hard on her and I'll be pushing the chair. I've been to Europe many times, but not looking to 'host' the tour on my own. I like the itinerary of Go Ahead tours for the 9 day Rome, Florence, Venice tour. Any input or feedback on current tours. I'm interested in location of hotels, space on and condition of the bus, pace of the tour.

Thank you!

I think a tour under these conditions is a really bad idea - esp one that moves around a lot in a short time. These tours have to keep to a schedule and can;t wait for anyone who can;t keep up. If anyone can;t keep the pace of the group they will find themselves spending a lot of time sitting on a bus or in a cafe waiting for the others to return. Also - tour buses ordinarily can't get yuo right next to sights - but park some distance away and after the tour yuo then hae to trek back to the parking lot.

For anyone with limited mobility you are much better off making your own arrangements - s you can travel at the speed you can manage and can get cabs that will take you right to and pick you up again right at entrances and exists - rather than walking 5 or 6 blocks to a bus in a parking lot.

Also, Venice is difficult for a wheelchair. I suggest you do a search here for other people who have looked into this - since the city has many bridges that have to be crossed and doing that or getting on or off a vaporetto with a wheelchair can be a challenge.

I checked the tour. The big item for me on tours is the hotel location.

The sample hotel for Venice is on Lido, the beach island a boat ride away from the main island of Venice--an easer location for pushing a wheelchair, but little of the Venetian charm.

The Florence hotel has the best location of the three samples, relatively central.

The hotel in Rome is not in the charming center, but it is located on the better side of Roma Termini station near lots of bus lines.

The tour offers optional tours, many of which you can do on your own for a dramatically lower price, but you would have to arrange transport which may or may not be troublesome. Be sure to figure in the additional cost of all these extras when you consider the price.

I certainly understand not wanting to host 3 others around and the desire to look for a tour in this instance. This website might be helpful in tracking down tours that might work:

www.affordabletours.com

I don't know what your budget is, but you might check Tauck tours (www.Tauck.com). I have taken several tours with them, and their hotels are always 4/5 star and centrally located. There have also been people on the tours with mobility issues that were handled well.

Hey AR,

>... not looking to 'host' the tour on my own.<

I agree with nyt.

If you can't serve as tour guide for your three senior relatives, it might be better for just you and Mom to go on this trip.

As regards Venice, I would not go for a tour unless it says *categorically* that the itineraries will be suitable for a wheelchair-user - otherwise, best to DIY. As nytraveler said, Venice is difficult for a wheelchair user due to the stepped bridges every few yards. Large parts are doable, though, if carefully planned. We live in Venice & were recently visited by my PILs, and my MIL is a full-time wheelchair user. We were very pleased with what we could do using the accessible itineraries on the comune website - http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm.../IDPagina/1381. Note that you can get around by vaporetto - which you'd need to do these itineraries (and can use to & from the Lido) - but a folding manual wheelchair is what you want as sometimes a heavy electric chair or scooter can't get on as the step is too high and they are too haevy for the staff to help lift. If your mother is only an occasional user, though, I assume you'll have a folding chair. Something else to watch out for is accessible loos - most loos in bars & restaurants involve at least a couple of steps. The comune website also shows where the (rather few) public loos are.