ROME, ITALY

When:  

November 13-19

Weather:  

Off and on rain showers nearly every day.  Not a ton of sunshine.

Accommodations:

Charming Navona.  Definitely NOT wheelchair accessible in the traditional sense. 

They did have an elevator…but you had to go up several stairs in order to get to the elevator.  This is not a huge problem for John and I, but I can see it easily being an issue if you aren’t comfortable with stairs.  The elevator was also TINY.  If my chair had been much larger, I don’t know that I would have fit.  We learned that it’s important not only to ask IF there is an elevator, but also the DIMENSIONS of the elevator and whether there are stairs required to get to it.

The room/bed was just fine…plenty of space to access the side of the bed for transfers.  We took the bathroom door off and my chair just BARELY fit through. I was able to use the sink and toilet, but had to be lifted into the shower. 

We didn’t love the location because it felt like it was pretty far from lots of the things we wanted to visit. 

Sights/Activities:

Piazza Navona – Open square with fountain…rough pavement, but accessible using free wheel. Pantheon – Several stairs to enter…may be a ramp but I can’t remember :/ Otherwise accessible…smooth floors inside. Colosseum – Fully accessible. Arch of Constantine and Arch of Titus – Surrounded by rough pathways, but otherwise accessible. Imperial Forum – Accessible with GREAT effort…giant cobblestones and frequent stairs. Trevi Fountain – CROWDED…stairs to get down close to the fountain. Vatican, Vatican Museums, and Sistine Chapel – Mostly accessible…some wings of the museum require stairs to access.  They can provide you with a map to help. Capitoline Museums – Mostly accessible…they brought us in and out of each museum via funny entrances with ramps, and some floors were not available by elevator…this is why the ticket is free!  These were my FAVORITE Museums in Rome! Pont Sant’Angelo – Bridge with Bernini sculpted angels…rough pavement, but accessible. Borghese Gallery – Back entrance still had several stairs.  Upper galleries accessible by elevator…but my chair was too wide to fit in the elevator!  They have a narrow wheelchair (sort of like an aisle chair on an airplane)  that will fit into the elevator, so if you are willing to transfer and see the upper floors using that chair, it is possible.  Victor Emmanuel Monument – Accessible via elevators…even a GIANT outdoor glass one that goes to the top of the building…great views! Trajan Market – Mostly Accessible via elevator. Circus Maximus – Surrounded by rough pavement…we only saw it from the outside, so I’m not sure of its accessibility

Equipment used:

Free wheel – Amazing for rough pavement and cobblestones which are EVERYWHERE in Rome.  Literally no idea how I would travel without it.  If you don’t have one, look into it!

Poncho – I have a Frogg Togg poncho that I’ve cut and adapted to keep me covered in the rain.  This can be used in conjunction with my rain jacket. I also have a smaller-rectangle-sized piece of poncho that I’ll place over my knees if it is not raining too hard and I don’t want to deal with the full poncho.

General Accessibility Thoughts:

Challenges —GIANT Cobblestones and rough pavement.  Hills.  Many places not accessible without doing at least a few stairs. 

Positives – Most museums FREE. Skip lines.  REALLY neat city with tons of cool history.  Not everywhere is accessible, but enough things are to give you a flavor of the city. 

TONS of other people have documented Rome’s accessibility in far greater detail than I have, so there are a LOT of great resources available if you search for them online.  It’s definitely a tough city to navigate…but I’d say it’s worth it!

—— To read some of my reflections on our ROME trip, click here ——