Pisa/Florence in a wheelchair

[North&South]

Hi all

 

DH and I looking forward to our med cruise in September and have our plans for all Ports bar Livorno planned but really at a loss for what is best for us as DH in a wheelchair. All the trips on the Cunard voyage personaliser lead to using steps so is there no way of visiting these beautiful cities? He can get up and down coach steps with my help and patience from others but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

N&S:)

[Captain Beefheart]

Hi North & South, might be worth posting your question on the European Disabled Cruising section,as this is dedicated to European cruises.

Hope this is of help.

[tommui987]

Hi all but Livorno planned but really at a loss for what is best for us as DH in a wheelchair.

N&S:)

 

Last year we were on a cruise from Barcelona to Barcelona with one stop at Livorno.

 

I rented a scooter and we booked a tour of Florence, skipping Pisa and spent all of our time in Florence including the Academia and Uffizi (sp?) museums. The museums both had handicap accessible doors/ramps/elevators for wheelchairs and scooters. It was easy to get around - the guide also drove us to the two key churches in Florence where there were handicap entrances on the side.

 

We had the Rome by Taxi people reserve us tickets to the museumw - a must - but I understand that you could get discounted tickets if you had a handicap. (ID required).

[xxoocruiser]

Hi all

 

DH and I looking forward to our med cruise in September and have our plans for all Ports bar Livorno planned but really at a loss for what is best for us as DH in a wheelchair. All the trips on the Cunard voyage personaliser lead to using steps so is there no way of visiting these beautiful cities? He can get up and down coach steps with my help and patience from others but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

N&S:)

 

Few years back in Livorno there were taxis all lined up at that pier that offered various tours once arriving in port. The taxi's were pretty organized as all the tours were very competitive in pricing. Three of us shared a taxi selected to go to Pisa only as being a Sunday most places in Florence were closed. At the time none of us used a wheelchair but had we and were able to transfer into the car the driver would have placed the wheelchair in the trunk.

 

It was a very good decision as a car or van can drive right through the entrance to Pisa whereas the tour buses were to big and had to be parked a few blocks away from the entrance to town.

[Sequim88]

My wife uses a wheelchair (I'm the motor :D ). We self-toured Pisa and had no accessibility issues at all - at least nothing we could not overcome pretty easily. We took taxi from dock to Livorno train station. Had a little issue getting to the correct track via the tunnels from the station to the platforms so (with guidance from staff) used an access road to cross the tracks above ground. Train was speedy and scenic. At Pisa looked for and found the "I" tourist information office and got a map and advice how to get to the sights. Walked through town on a pedestrian mall, crossed the river and found the Cathedral, Tower, Baptistery and the Mausoleum which was a special find. All had ramps (except the tower).

 

The Mausoleum ramp as off to one side and we arranged with the ticket booth to come open it for us. As with all other museums and historic sites we were admitted without charge. Even at the long line for the restroom we were ushered in and directed to a wheelchair accessible bathroom without the nominal charge. The mausoleum was very interesting with the graves of some pretty famous people there.

 

We had plenty to do in Pisa so were glad we skipped Florence - it would have been too much to do both. We had time for a leisurely lunch on the way back to the train and weren't overly exhausted back onboard the ship.

[Chunky2219]

We did a Livorno stop before I qualified for sticks and a chair, but I remember it well.

 

Florence is quite a long bus journey from the port but well, well worth a visit, it's probably the best Italian stop we've ever done. Cobbles will knock your teeth out and of course, not everything is accessible but as Tommu says, there's plenty you will access. Unfortunately, the restaurant that served the best pizza I've eaten in my entire life was down a flight of stairs so I can't recommend it to you.

 

As for Pisa, the area around the tower and the church is level and very accessible but all things considered, we'd probably not bother going back there.. After a quick look around and the usual photo propping up the tower we were ready to get back before the driver had returned to the bus.

 

But Florence, I'd definitely do.

 

Sadly, I don't find Cunard a whole lot of help with disabled access for tours and I've never yet seen them offer a wheelchair accessible bus. But if your DH can climb a couple of steps on to the coach his wheelchair will store underneath for a conventional tour. Declare the disability when booking trips and they'll reserve a front seat for you as well but make sure you get to the bus early because everyone with a limp thinks the front seat is for them.

[North&South]

Thanks for all your advise everyone. Really appreciate it. I think we will book a trip to Pisa on a coach as just a few steps up and down, should be all that we need to do, without worrying about getting a taxi there and back ourselves.

N&S :)

[l2c]

We went on a ship tour that went to Piza and had no problem getting around with the wheelchair. I don't do Europe much anymore but I am glad I did what I did in the past years. It is worth the effort.