Accessible Venice
(from page 1 of article)

ABOVE: Ponte delle Guglie bridge. The steps on the right are half-height with rounded edges for easier negotiation by wheelchair travelers with companions.

Step 3: Buy a vaporetto tourist ticket.

ACTV, the Venice transportation authority, offers 1-, 2-, and 7-day tourist tickets that allow unlimited travel on any of the city's water buses. You can buy these at the ACTV office in the Piazzale Roma or the vaporetto ticket booths near the railway station, the Fondamenta Nuove, the Piazza San Marco, and other locations. An even better option may be the Venice Card, which includes the use of public toilets, admission to municipal museums, optional roundtrip transportation on the Alilaguna airport boat, and other perks.

Once you have the tourist ticket or Venice Card, you'll be able to get between the various yellow "accessibility zones" on the map by using the water buses. This strategy works especially well on the Grand Canal, the Canale della Giudecca, and the Lido, where the No. 1 and No. 2 (formerly 82) routes are wheelchair-accessible.

The No. 1 boat is the most useful, since it zigzags from one side of the Grand Canal to the other on its 20-stop journey from the Piazzale Roma to the Lido. As the photo shows, this water bus can be crowded during the tourist season, but the conductor will usually clear a path for you, and the crew will help you on or off the boat quickly and without fuss.

TIP: About two-thirds of the vaporetto lines are fully wheelchair-accessible; a few are not, although wheelchair-accessible boats are being introduced on the circolare lines that use multi-level motoscafo boats. Accessible lines are marked in my illustrated article on Vaporetto routes.

Step 4: When in doubt, call ahead.

Most churches are accessible once you get inside. The tricky part may be in getting up the steps, but this can be managed if you have a strong companion or aren't shy about bumming a lift from athletic tourists or locals.

Other buildings, such as museums, may vary in accessibility. The most impressive rooms in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, for example, require climbing a long flight of marble stairs--unless you use the special wheelchair with motorized rubber treads, which lets you assault the staircase like an army tank. Your best bet is to phone before you go, so you can make other plans if the building requires a sturdy set of lungs and legs.

More online information...

Accessible museums, beaches, and a 2-star hotel are described on the Venice page of Accessible Europe (see below). This Web page also tells where to find accessible WCs and parking. Also see the Italy section of Accessible Travel: Countries in my Europe Travel Planner.

If you're arriving by train, see the City of Venice's Informahandicap Venezia page, which has information on  the Centres for Assistance to Disabled Travellers (CAD) in the Venice Santa Lucia and Venice Mestre railroad stations.

...and two agencies that specialize in accessible travel.

Rebekah Serin of Regency San Marino SRL's Accessible Italy department writes:

I am originally from New York and now live and work in Florence, Italy. I am with the specialized tour operator Regency San Marino SRL. We arrange group and individual travel in Italy for individuals with disabilities. We also can organize personalized itineraries for individuals, depending on their interests.

We work with accessible coach buses, minibuses with tie-downs, and hotels with roll-in showers. We also visit accessible museums and restaurants and offer rentals of wheelchairs, electric scooters, and portable suitcase ramps. Your readers are welcome to visit our Web site and contact me for further information about our services.

Rebekah Serin
Manager, Accessible Italy
Regency San Marino SRL
Tel: From US: 011-378-0549-941108 or from Europe: 00-378-941108
Fax: From US: 011-378-0549-941110 or from Europe: 00-378-941110
Web site: http://www.accessibleitaly.com
E-mail: info@accessibleitaly.com

Massimo Micotti's Accessible Italy has been serving disabled travelers since 1993. The company offers four-day packages in Venice, Florence, and Rome that include transfers and half a day of guided sightseeing. Signor Micotti's staff also operates Accessible Europe, which works with local travel agencies in more than a dozen European countries to provide accessible hotel accommodations, minitours, van rentals, and cruises.

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