Venice is not easy for the disabled

Venice travel will be beneficial but will be limited

In a way this post hurts me. I feel sad because Venice is not for disabled people. In addition to top sights such as the Doge’s Palace and St. Mark’s, Venice has narrow pedestrian streets and a series of bridges for the disabled. I can’t sit in a wheelchair, but my knees are bad and after a week in Venice, the bridges wreaked havoc on my knees.

Other myths of Venice include the issue of getting around this magical city as a disabled traveler or someone in a wheelchair. But Venice can be accessed with great difficulty for the disabled.

I had a wonderful conversation with a lady who was waiting for the vaporetto at the Rialto with me. He has two crutches and a bad leg and knee pain. When I asked her where she lived due to the difficulty of getting around Venice, her response was, “I’m Venetian, I know how to avoid bridges.”

Her bright blue eyes seemed happy and she explained that locals could get a kind of subsidy to move to a more accessible place. This usually means staying near boat stops and prime locations. campoShe also noted that the Waterbus network works well for her and that everyone will help her when she needs help,

I spoke to more than a dozen Venetians who were walking slowly with canes, sitting in cafes, or shopping in wheelchairs. They all complained about the bridges but acknowledged that they had learned how to be mobile despite their physical disabilities. Additionally, almost everyone in a wheelchair received assistance. They all said that it is very important to have a companion to help you travel in Venice.

Vaporettos make it easy to move between neighborhoods and also offer significant discounts.

Simply ask your hotel or accommodation for discounted tickets for the disabled and wheelchair users. It costs 1.50 euros for each vaporetto ride. This is a significant discount from the usual $10 per ride.

Venice for the disabled needs to learn to walk without crossing bridges.

During my recent months in Venice, I stopped near the San Samuele waterbus stop so that I could walk to Campo San Stefano without crossing the bridge. There were lots of restaurants and shops nearby. The vaporetto will take me to Rialto, Accademia or San Marco in just a few stops. Basically, Venice was open to me—not completely, but enough for me to enjoy life here. From Academia Boat Stop. I got spritzes, ice cream, great food and music in the evening.

More than a decade ago, the city made a bold effort to make major bridges accessible with motorized lifts. Unfortunately, these lifts regularly broke down due to salt water and moisture. Eventually, they were destroyed. A more recent effort to help accessibility was the addition of a disabled person-mover to the Calatrava bridge connecting Piazzale Roma and the train station. That experiment also failed. In previous attempts, both the problem of salt water and the weight of the bridge sidelined the project, as it was not originally designed to have track attached to its side.

In Venice wheelchairs are accessible to about 50 percent of the city (some claim 70 percent).

The mantra for wheelchair travelers in Venice is to find a flat area with no stones and an accessible hotel. Venice has everything it needs for the disabled but there are hundreds of bridges that prevent easy access.

• Waterbuses running from bus/train stations on the Grand Canal to St. Mark’s Square provide accessible travel. The boat concierge is available to assist if you need assistance.
• St. Mark’s Church is accessible.
• The Doge’s Palace is accessible.
• Many museums and churches have wheelchair accessibility.
• Be prepared for delays when moving from one neighborhood to another on boats, especially with connections.

• Waterbuses can be very crowded. You may have to wait for the next boat.

• There are no cobblestones in Venice. The paving stones are flat and easy to navigate. The entire city is flat.
• Don’t try to save money by staying on the mainland in Mestre or Padua.
• “Accessible” hotels may have amenities in the hotel itself. However, there may be accessibility issues in reaching the hotel. Be sure to check ahead of time to make sure you can get to your “accessible” hotel.

The real magic of Venice is not found in its sights. It is found in the city only.

The woman I met at the waterbus (vaporetto) stop had these important words for me. She loves her city and believes it is magical. “The true beauty of Venice can be seen with a ride down the Grand Canal,” the woman told me. She added, “I, myself, still can’t believe that this place exists and I can’t even imagine it being built today even with our advanced technology.”

That being said, the following can be visited with good access. This is by no means an exhaustive overview of wheelchair access in Venice as much more of this magical city can be experienced.

• Visit St. Mark’s Church and the Doge’s Palace.
• Enjoy the expanse of Zettere along the Giudecca Canal.
• From Academia, people in wheelchairs can access about 70 percent of Dorsoduro. Stroll through vegetable markets as you float down the San Troverso Canal, enjoy a good cichetti and wine, and watch a Gondola being built and restored.

, Visit Venice Beach from St. Mark’s Square to the gardens of the Biennale (an international art show held every other year). The Biennale has electric carts to transport the disabled and the elderly through the pavilion.

• Have a wonderful meal along Zettere or Via Garibaldi at the eastern end of the city.
• A waterbus ride to Giudecca Island offers amazing dining with spectacular views of Venice across the cruise ship channel.
• From the San’Toma Vaporetto stop a person in a wheelchair can pass through the Frari Church and go to the Scuola San Rocco to see the Tintoretto exhibition. Scuola S. Rocco has a special wheelchair that can go up stairs!

Venice is an experience whose beauty and uniqueness no traveler will ever forget. However, I have to admit that even wheelchair users in Venice will never forget the bridges.

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