Have you dreamed of traveling to Europe but not sure you can because of accessibility issues? Well, you CAN and the Matysek Family DID! There were a party of 5 with Matthew using a wheelchair. Below you will find a summary written by Andrea about their experiences in London, Amsterdam, Paris & Zurich. I have added my own commentary regarding the planning process and issues I encountered. These will be in italics. Enjoy!!
"As we
boarded the plane to start our first leg of our trip to Europe, it didn’t seem
real. We had traveled to Bermuda, Jamaica, and around the states, but I never
thought I’d ever be touring 4 countries overseas.
We had
planned this trip as a big family trip, so it was my husband, Ron, and I, along
with our 17 year old son, Matthew, our 23 year old daughter, Meagan, and her 25
year old husband, JC. We started by looking at river cruises, but discovered
they were not wheelchair friendly at all. Then, a friend recommended Kristina,
so I met with her and began planning our trip!
We decided
to start in London and then take the Euro Train to various other locations. As
we looked at hotels and Kristina checked handicap availability, we discovered
that many hotels do not have much accessibility." European countries are not obligated to provide Handicap Accessibility. Many hotels do not have elevators. Much of these countries have extremely old architecture and it is near impossible to alter it. However, when the Olympics were held in London, accessibility became much more widespread and available.
"We started
in London, where we had set up private transport to our hotel. This is
necessary when you are dealing with five people and a wheelchair.
One thing I
highly recommend is having a tour set up when you first land in England. We got
there at 6 am and left the airport by 7. It was tempting to sleep because we
were so off schedule, but by going to Stonehenge on a private tour allowed us
to stay active and adjust to a new schedule. During the hour and a half drive
from London, we all took short cat naps and then would gaze out on beautiful
countryside. We all enjoyed Stonehenge and didn't purchase the audio guides.
There were signs every where, so I'm not sure what else the audio guide would
tell you. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to go to Windsor Castle, which was
disappointing. I would have loved to spend the day there.
On our other
two days in London, we had chosen to do the On Again, Off Again bus since the
price was really good and it took us anywhere we wanted to go. We were able to
see all the sights of London getting on, hearing the commentary, getting off
and walking where we wanted to. We saw the Tower of London, the London Eye,
Buckingham Palace and the changing of the Guard, plus many more things. One of
our favorites that was included was a thirty minute cruise down the Thames. We
had a great captain/guide. London was relatively accessible with a wheelchair,
which was nice. We did have to push the chair due to the uneven roads, but it
wasn't too bad. Most of the buses had working ramps to accommodate the
wheelchair and even a special seating area for Matthew to lock into to. That
was a great relief!" One of the issues they ran into in London was that the Hotel we had set up for them was on the older side with very small accommodations. They assured me that they had an Accessible room. However, upon arrival, they claimed they did not have an Accessible room available. The hotel accommodated them as best they could and finally did move them to an appropriate room.
"We took the
train to Amsterdam, with a layover in Brussels. One recommendation I would make
if you are traveling via train, (especially if you have someone traveling with
you who is unable to carry his own luggage), is to make sure you are using
smaller luggage. We tried to lug 5 large suitcases on the trains, where you are
responsible for your own luggage. We even tried to condense it down to 4, since
one of us had to push a wheelchair and Ron uses a cane for walking, so he was
unable to help as much as was needed. Traveling by high speed train is
fantastic though. You see the countryside, but get where you want to go within
a half day.
Amsterdam.
One of my favorite cities, as well as the favorite of the whole family. It was
fascinating, beautiful, and crowded but not as hectic as London. I think it was
because so many people walk, ride bikes or take the tram. We saw bike garages
just like our parking decks here in America, which probably held 1000 bikes.
In
Amsterdam, we stayed at the Crowne Plaza. It wasn't the cheapest hotel around,
but it was fantastic! We had tremendous service, and it was always clean. The
staff was extremely helpful, especially when Matthew got sick and we had to
postpone our trip to Paris." This is where having Travel Insurance is absolutely invaluable! Andi contacted Travel Guard and they advised her of what she needed to do and the documents she needed. They needed to stay and extra day in Amsterdam, missed their train and needed to cancel 1 night in Paris. Andi contacted me and I was working on my end to assist her as well. Once they arrived home, Travel Guard sent all the forms she needed and they will be reimbursed!! If they had opted to not purchase the Travel Insurance, they would have not had any assistance with the medical issues and would be out hundreds of dollars!
"Every where we went, we either walked or used our "I
Amsterdam" card to use the tram. This card was helpful in getting discounts to
certain museums, free entrance to other places, and discounts on food or
shopping. We didn't find the shopping discounts to be great, but it was helpful
when we went to the Van Gogh museum. It let us skip the line and go right in.
Places to visit in Amsterdam: the Anne Frank house (get tickets online way in
advance), the Van Gogh museum, the Reiks museum, a canal cruise, and a day trip
to Zaans Schas. This is a village that has 6 working windmills, all for a
different purpose. There is one windmill that was accessible, so Matthew was
even able to see the inside workings of the sawmill windmill. It was a
fascinating place. I wish we had been able to spend more time there. We had
booked a trip to another city, which wasn’t worth the time we took to go there.
While in Amsterdam, we were able to stroll the streets at our leisure and we
found many wonderful restaurants, including the one at the hotel. I highly
recommend eating Dutch pancakes. They are similar to ours but contain bacon
and/or apples. Absolutely delicious!!! Meagan and JC truly enjoyed a tour
through the Red Light District in the evening. They also explored Amsterdam
after dinner our other nights there. It was nice to be able to walk to the
train station from our hotel."
"Next stop: Paris.
We had a shortened visit to Paris, due to Matthew’s illness in Amsterdam. In
some respects, we missed out on a lot of sightseeing there, but in other
respects, it was okay. Paris was extremely busy. The traffic was horrid and the
people not very polite to us. We did have a fantastic tour of Versailles, with
a guide that couldn’t have been better! We set this up through Accessible Tours
Europe. She was so knowledgeable that we couldn’t take in all that she showed
us. Our guide and driver dropped us off at the Eiffel Tower, which was huge.
You don’t realize it until you stand below it. We did not go up in it, although
that would be something I would do if we were to go back. Two things we learned
were that the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays and the famous shopping areas close
at 7:30. Both were disappointments to us, but we were happy we saw what we did."
"Our final
destination was Zurich. Many people have asked me why Zurich. I am so glad we
went there! It is a big city, but easy to walk around and has some beautiful
scenery. We stayed at the Park Hyatt there and were spoiled beyond belief. It
is not an inexpensive place to visit, so you need to be prepared for that.
Dinners for five in a decent restaurant would cost around $150. It was super
expensive, but I would go back there any time. We took a tour through Viator,
called the Zurich City Tour. Our guide was absolutely wonderful. He helped with
Matthew’s wheelchair and told us about everything we saw. We drove all around
the city and took a ferry ride across the lake. Then we took an aerial tram to
where we could see the surrounding area. The views were amazing. If I could do
anything different, I would have made sure we had time to take the train to
Lucerne, also."
"All in all,
this was a great trip! I would change a few things. One would be to have at
least 4 days in each country. We were on the go so much, that we became
extremely tired. By the time, we reached Zurich, we didn’t have the energy to
really enjoy it as much as we could have. The other would be to pack lighter,so
it was easier to get on and off the trains."
Things I
would keep and do again: a private tour in each country (a necessity with a
wheelchair, if you aren’t going with a completely accessible tour group),
sampling food that is typical for each country and staying in chain hotels that
understand handicap accessibility. I want to go back and explore Switzerland
and add a trip to several other countries, such as Ireland and Scotland. American chain hotels are more accommodating in terms of accessibility. However, they usually only have 2-4 Accessible rooms in their inventory so they fill up fast. As a Travel Consultant, it is my job to be sure that the room meets my clients needs. You would be amazed at how many hotels we went through in order to find accessible availability!
It was a pleasure planning this dream vacation for the Matysek Family! I am honored that I was able to make their dream a reality. Just because you or a member of your family has special needs does not mean you cannot travel to your dream destination!
Dream Big and Happy Travels!!
