I'm not sure if Samantha reads these post but I just want to say that I love this show and what I wouldnt give to have her job. I especially loved the episode when she went to Salzburg, Austria and she jumped around the gazebo from The Sound of Music. Thats my kind of girl. I'm interested in traveling the world as an architect to learn more. But I'm in a wheelchair. How is accessibility around the world?

I wish I had better news for you mykella, but the correct unvarnished answer is, it depends. For example, London is quite accessible as is Berlin and the newer parts of Munich. I recommend the former if Germany is in your future as many of the S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations are retrofitted with ramps and elevators. Lyon is quite accessible too, albeit the hilly terrain may make the journey more interesting than you'd like. Paris is not wheelchair friendly (but for most sidewalks) and there is no handicap access to the Metro. Once one gets into the countryside it gets worse, no matter if you are in England, France, the Netherlands, or the US for that matter.

Try London first - likely the most accessible - and if you find the trip appealing (and I bet you will), you might venture out from there. A quick call to a travel agent may be helpful if there is somewhere specific you have in mind. Think of access in terms of distance from the city center - the further one is from city center, the less likely one is to find wheelchair access - and that's pretty much true anywhere.

Bon voyage,

Intl Doc

Rome is really bad for the handicap. I've seen people carrying up wheelchairs up many steps. What a shame.

Well, that's the point, isn't it? Many buildings in Rome were built before there was such a thing as a wheelchair. Others were built before the West devloped a collective consciousness in regard to access for the disabled. And this is one reason why Berlin and London are both more accessible: they each sustained heavy war damage and their respective reconstructions (moreso the latter than the former) better accomodated, e.g., wheelchair access among many other related improvements. Other cities not war damaged - or as heavily damaged - such as Paris and Rome are less friendly to access as they still have older infrasructures. Berlin, I'm surprised you didn't point out, LPT, has undergone a tremendous infrastucture construction spree in what had been Ost Berlin, and even the oldest S-bahn stations (such as Treptow, near one of my regular haunts) have ramps and elevators retrofit to the older stations.

Mykella, I wish you the very best on your journeys and can't possibly imagine the frustration you shall doubtless experience. Please accept my vey best wishes and ...

Bon chance!

Intl Doc

Oh yes, Berlin is on the up! I hope many of you can make it there. And true, because it's a modern city, it is easier for person in a wheelchair to get around. I happen to think, a wheelchair should be able to make it up the glass dome in the Reichstag, because it is made of ramps all the way up, and not too steep!
mykella, hope you will have many great adventures!

Thanks for the help.

I know this is an old thread now, but I just found this information that I know will be very helpful for a disabled traveler. This is only about Europe. Not Latin America.
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/easyaccess.htm