First trip to Europe need advice.

[Dan]

I have used Uber WAV when in London. It might be worth installing the app as a backup.
https://www.uber.com/gb/en/ride/uberwav/?uclick_id=f7449a41-6d8d-4528-afb6-da31c548da01#access

Was using a Salsa Quickie M.

Uber Access is currently available in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Leeds, Bradford, Newcastle, and Brighton. This service is priced exactly the same as our affordable UberX option.

[shirley_hkg]

Excellent .

[martin007]

Have to book in advance for seat removal . Right ? and how ?

I always try to book in advance...

[biscuit]

Ioften went to Paris on the National Express coach when I could walk - but I would now avoid the coach and go on Eurostar instead, if going from London. There is a Eurostar from Waterloo or maybe Waterloo East station.

And, forgot to mention this, but Lenny's horror story reminded me, AIRLINES LOSE AND BREAK ANYTHING IMPORTANT OR UNIQUE, so try to leave high-end and other items you cannot replace at home... They also once discovered that my lead acid battery was removable, so they took it out and made me carry it as hand luggage to my connecting flight (thanks so much for that, Air China!), and confiscated my batteries in that China airport. A different airline have dismantled my car transportable wheelchair into its car transportable components and left them scattered around the airport for me and my mother to hunt for.

When my father travelled on a ship - as those passengers also have to entrust their luggage to strangers - he got a can of bright yellow spray paint and made all his suitcases very ugly yellow. I would be tempted ...!

If you are in Derby, be sure to visit Nottingham. That whole area is lovely. The legends of Robin Hood are very much part of English culture and he lived in Nottingham Forest (which no longer exists).

[biscuit]

Furthermore, if you are invited to visit the neighbour, ask them to please not decorate the way to their front door with potplants, stone sculptures and garden gnomes.
Which is where I just came back from.

[biscuit]

Are there 6 people in your travel group?? Train travel is expensive, car might be better for a group!

[shirley_hkg]

Thank you so much , biscuit. I will certainly take your advice.

I took my chairs joystick with armrest off, and had it sandwiched between backrest-Roho , before hand in my wheelchair.

Mother-in-law is at Burton-upon-Trent. Derby is midway from Nottingham. What public transport are there to start from London ?

[shirley_hkg]

If staying in Derby , that will be some wonderful wheelchair rides .

Are there cycle tracks ? Is it feasible or safe ?

[biscuit]

Trains go from Birmingham New Street to Burton-upon-Trent, even coming from London you have to go to Birmingham and get a different train from there. I have not travelled this route. There might be fast trains running south. There are various new railways recently opened since I last went to London. Have you yet booked, to your arrival airport? As my home is in the Midlands I would personally fly to BHX (Birmingham) as it is a major airport. And check out rail travel to Europe (and London also) from Birmingham.

[biscuit]

Yes there will be cycle tracks in the cities, suburbs and country, and they will be safe. (Well, there can be bad people lurking on cycle tracks all over the world, actually, but if you have fear you will never go outside. I have lived in London (Lewisham) and Johannesburg and nothing bad happened to me there, but they are both renowned for crime!) Google maps will be good when you get here, if you have a decent SIM card, but do not do what I did when visiting Australia, which was to try and buy a local SIM card. Activating the stupid thing took ¾ of my days there!

[shirley_hkg]

Prepaid sim card and roaming service are common. Won't leave home without data nowadays.

[biscuit]

Oops. My mistake. London has trains to many mainland Europe destinations and they go from St Pancras station, in the north of London, not Waterloo in the south of London. https://www.thetrainline.com/trains/eur ... -to-europe
Now the travel bug has bitten me! I have not been outside England since 2018. I am going to study train timetables!

[Burgerman]

Public tansport... Is always unreliable.
At best its late, broken, delayed, not running because of weather or heat or cold or leaves or snow. And now strikes! Which are ongoing all summer.

Train strikes: When are they and why are they taking place?

The latest wave of train strikes this week culminates on Saturday, the day of the FA Cup Final at Wembley.

Members of the train drivers' union Aslef are walking out following a day of action on Wednesday, with stoppages by the RMT union on Friday.
Which lines will be affected?

According to National Rail, the following rail operators will see services disrupted by the strikes:

Avanti West Coast
C2C
Chiltern Railways
CrossCountry
East Midlands Railway
Great Northern
Great Western Railway
Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express)
LNER
London Northwestern Railway
Northern Rail
South Western Railway
Southeastern (Aslef days only)
Southern (including Gatwick Express)
Thameslink
TransPennine Express
West Midlands Railway

Will some trains still run?

Thousands of trains are expected to be cancelled causing disruption to millions of passengers. On lines where there are services, they will start later and finish earlier than normal.

This varies depending on the operator.

On Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express and Southeastern, for example - all trains are cancelled on 3 June.

Others will run a skeleton service on core routes so passengers are advised to check with the operator before travelling.

[Burgerman]

Check here for KNOWN IN ADVANCE issues:
https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/status-and-disruptions/

For all the rest that happen daily you just pray if thts your thing!

[Burgerman]

Also if you want to see a very pretty english town/villiage, that looks as if its a theme park but isnt visit Bourton-on-the-Water.

I would move there if I could!

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=Bourto ... &ia=images

[HiltonP]

Shirley-HKG,

A little late coming to the party but here is my two cents worth.....

We travelled to various parts of Europe and the UK between 1996 and 2005, using a manual wheelchair (I am a permanent wheelchair user). I make use of a motorised wheelchair at home and therefore have a good understanding of their limitations and strengths, and appreciate the challenges facing you.

We have spent a fair amount of time exploring London, Paris, and Switzerland.....

London and Paris are both pretty level and therefore relatively easily managed with the wheelchair. The biggest challenge is transport, especially if you are using a motorised wheelchair. The taxi's were not able to handle any sort of motorised chair when we travelled, things might have changed. Depending on where you are going you might be able to make use of buses and trains, with the buses usually being the best choice. The London Underground is a bit of a hit and miss affair with some stations being accessible and others not, so once again it depends on where you are leaving from and where you are wishing to go to. We spent most of the time on the streets "walking" to our destinations. The sidewalks are all pretty good for access. London has seen a huge improvement as a result of the Olympic Games with the result that most of the inner city is really comfortable access wise. They have also gotten over their heritage building nonsense, and started using some creative architects, with the result that many of the older sites are now accessible.

We enjoyed Paris a great deal and would return in a heartbeat! Most of the city is really level and the sidewalks wide and easy to navigate. All of the major destinations such as the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre galleries and museums are all accessible. We even managed to catch the train from central Paris to Versailles and enjoyed an entire day out there exploring the Palace and Gardens. Certainly very doable with a motorised chair.

Switzerland is modern and first world, so most of their main centres are accessible. Incredibly you will probably be able to get your motorised wheelchair up to the top of the Jungfrau (we managed to get my manual chair up there) and would certainly be able to manage the Schilthorn. Once again the biggest challenge for you would be the transport between centres. With a manual chair one can push and squeeze and wiggle to make a plan, but with a motorised chair things are a lot more difficult. In Switzerland we used a rental vehicle.

Strangely enough we found one of the problems to watch out for in Europe was that being first world they often resorted to technology in order to make things accessible and therefore used motorised hoists, lifts, etc. The problem with these is that they break, usually when you don't want them to! On our trip to Versailles for instance the elevator in the Paris station worked beautifully when we left, but by the time we came back in the afternoon it was broken! We had another similar thing happen in Switzerland. It's not something you can necessarily do anything about, other than just be aware that it can happen and you might have to resort to a plan B. Just be ready for it.

As with all of our travels internationally we found everyone very willing to help regardless of language or culture barriers.

[shirley_hkg]

Definitely not any late, HiltonP. That's a lot of information . I'm flying to London in end of September.

Still planning everything. Will look into your advice thoroughly .
I really like wandering around city in my power chair, so I always have it ready for 20 miles capable.

Thanks a lots

[shirley_hkg]

Currently using Google map, any mapper would you recommend , especially good for people who use his own wheelchair to roll from one place to another ? Not hopping on vehicles.

Citymapper ?
Any thought ?

[Burgerman]

I use microsofts built in windows 10 one with my laptop. Laptop has GPS etc.

[Burgerman]

Screenshots...

Obviously you can search by name, postcode, plan a route, it talks to you as you drive or move, real time positioning via GPS, many ways to view as you go, and many options to zoom in, out see maps or images, etc.

But on a big clear screen. I cant be trying to decipher what you see on some microscopic phone. Phones are for calls. I just throw the laptop on my passenger seat. Or on my knee. Then I have a proper computer with me everywhere I go. With a sim card and unlimited data built in like a phone has. The laptop I use is the size of a A4 sheet of paper, and 8mm thick. It fits under my sweat shirt when not in use!

[shirley_hkg]

That's really way better than Google map on a cell phone.

[boxydan]

Shirley asked about Hamburg.

I went to Frankfurt and Munich. I looked at possibly doing Hamburg but did not in the end.

The Hamburg Airport has S bahn service. They claim it is mostly barrier free. They claim their U bahn is barrier free.

I used S bahn in Frankfurt. Basically I positioned myself at the front of where the train would stop. I would give a little wave to the driver then he would come out and get the ramp. I would not have been able to get on or off without their assistance. Checking HVV shows they have variable heights on the S bahn there. Some carriages are 6 cm and some are 16 cm. It says a couple of stations have more restrictions.

https://www.hvv.de/en/mip

"As a rule the access height which needs to be negotiated is maximum 6 cm with the newer S-Bahn carriages and with the older ones a maximum of 16 cm. It is only at the stations between Fischbek and Agathenburg (S3) that there are access heights of up to 26 cm. It is not possible to raise the platforms at these stations since they are also use by goods trains with overhanging loads. All S-Bahn trains have ramps and largemulti-purpose compartments. Ramps can in principle only be used at the first doors behind the driver’s cabin. No barrier free boarding is possible at the stations Neukloster, Dollern and Agathenburg.
When you wish to board, wait where the very front of the train will stop, check the indications on the train destination display and the train stopping markings on the stop signs) or the signs on the platforms.

Short trains (3 carriages), full-length trains (6 carriages)) und long trains (9 carriages) have in many cases different stopping points and corresponding stop signs.
When the train comes into the station, signal clearly to the driver.
Our train drivers will then fold out the ramp directly behind the driver’s cabin.
Then you can roll directly into the carriage.
Say where you want to get off as soon as you enter the carriage.
Our drivers will help you in the same way when you get off as when you got on.
If necessary, make contact with our drivers by knocking on the door of the driver’s cabin.
Hamburg Airport can be reached barrier free by S-Bahn. S1 trains split in two in Ohlsdorf station: the first three carriages go to Hamburg Airport, the rear three to Poppenbüttel.

S1 trains reverse direction in Blankenese station, S11 trains in Altona. Please change to the new front of the train there or already take account of the reversal of direction when you board the train. "


For Ubahn:

"All U-Bahn stations which have been converted for barrier free accessibility have partly or completely raised platforms to facilitate boarding. The maximum access height is 5cm. The width of the gap depends on the operative and technical tolerances in the interplay between the carriage and the platform: as a rule this is c. 5 - 11 cm. The boarding area is designated in colour with a chequerboard pattern on the platform and by means of (wheelchair) symbols.

Our tip: always board the train in the designated marked area where you also need to get off again in a raised area of the platform! "


When I was in Munich, it was not 100% within my comfort on the U bahn. One station the gap was wider than I was comfortable with - but that could me being cautious. I just went to the next station.

Another occurrence was one station I got off the lifts to ground level were out of service. Again had to get bac on a train and go to the next station.

There were a few lifts that were out of service throughout Munich. I talked with the van driver heading to the airport there - I had an early AM train and did not want to take S bahn. He kind of joked that Munich commonly has issues with lifts.

Getting around the streets was mostly fine. Due to the older nature of some of the cities - certain parts were cobblestones. Not impossible to traverse but gave my suspension a workout.

Public accessible toilets need a universal key which you can get. You may want to contact them ahead of time.

https://www.cbf-da.de/index.html
https://shop.cbf-da.de/product_info.php ... ucts_id=61
https://www.hamburg.com/publicservice/info/11936514/

When I was looking at getting one I recall that getting one through the Swiss folks in advance seemed easier. I never did get one and there was one time I really could have used it.

https://www.eurokey.ch/

[shirley_hkg]

Boxydan, thank you.

I forgot to mention I will be on a cruise first.
https://www.ncl.com/uk/en/cruises/11-da ... HLVNBBOSOU

I'm looking at places to visit when ship moored. That would not be far away from the cruise terminal.

When the sail ended , may visit a city or 2 further.
Won't be too ambitious, Amsterdam/Rotterdam / …

[martin007]

That cruise makes a stopover in Bilbao!
In Bilbao there is a lot to see and eat...

[boxydan]

Of note for using more of the longer distance trains such as if going from Hamburg to Amsterdam/Rotterdam -

The intercity trains required assistance of station staff which I arranged ahead of time. There is a large height difference between platform level and carriage level for the intercity trains. This is opposed to say Japan where they are same height and sometimes can be roll on/off. With D bahn, I called ahead to their disability assistance line to arrange specific trains timings, completing reservation/seat assignments. Then when arrived to the station checked in with staff maybe 30 minutes ahead of time. They have a manual lift they operated to get me from platform to carriage level. This is more involved then say a ramp employed by S bahn in Frankfurt which was done by train driver.

I got lucky and got a customer service representative that could converse in English on the disability line. They said it is hit or miss with that. Otherwise there was a contact number in English that did not operate 24 hours a day and would have to coordinate with their disability assistance folks.

All of the details arranged were confirmed via email so once done it was nice to have that in hand.

[shirley_hkg]

Dan. Thank you for reminding me the platform height issues across cities. My journey on land starts from Southampton , where we disembark . Paris is the closest , but I'm not sure if it is a good place to visit.

That cruise makes a stopover in Bilbao!
In Bilbao there is a lot to see and eat...

Addicted already !

Martin , would you please tell me more about it ? Say the route to go there from cruise terminal , by walking will be my cup of tea..

I love markets .

[martin007]

Paris is the closest , but I'm not sure if it is a good place to visit.

Paris isn't a good place.
In Paris now not even the police are safe...

Addicted already !

Martin , would you please tell me more about it ? Say the route to go there from cruise terminal , by walking will be my cup of tea..

I love markets .

I don't know where the cruise ship arrives.

Bilbao is an industrial city (metropolitan area) in northern Spain.
Now it has lost much of the industry, but it is still rich.
The standard of living there is comparable to that of Switzerland...


> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilbao
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Bilbao

> https://www.euskadi.eus/contenidos/info ... 1_PM-7.jpg


And there you eat very well.

[martin007]

https://youtu.be/GD3_4N7WHAI

[shirley_hkg]

Should be "Getxo cruise terminal"

[martin007]

Getxo is part of the Bilbao metropolitan area.
From the port terminal to the center there are 16 km.
There is transportation by metro, bus and taxi.

> https://sillerosviajeros.com/fin-de-sem ... n_el_metro


P.S. The page is in Spanish, use a translator.