Accommodation
Accessible and wheelchair-friendly stays
What to ask the host, where the ground is kinder, and a Booking.com search with the wheelchair-accessible filter already set.
Tuscany is beautiful, and it is also cobbles, steps and hill towns. I would never pretend otherwise. I lived in one of those villages, and the lanes I loved most would be hard work with a wheelchair.
That does not mean you cannot come. It means choosing the base carefully, and asking a few plain questions before you pay.
What to ask the host
- Is there a step-free way in from the street or the car park, and how far is the parking from the door?
- Are there steps inside, or a lift that takes a wheelchair?
- Is the shower step-free, and is there a grab rail?
- What is the ground like between the door and the town: smooth paving, gravel, or cobbles?
- Can you have a ground-floor room, and is the breakfast room on the same level?
Booking.com can mark a room as wheelchair accessible, but listings vary in how carefully they are filled in. I would still write to the host with those questions, and ask for a photo of the entrance if you are unsure.
Towns that are easier underfoot
Lucca is the one I suggest first. The centre is flat, and the tree-lined walls are a wide, level walk. There are official notes on accessible routes in the city. Pisa has ramps at the cathedral, Baptistery and Camposanto; the tower itself is a long climb of steps. Florence is mixed: some museums are well set up, and the streets can still be awkward. Viareggio has a long, level seafront, and some bathing establishments publish accessibility details.
Most of the little hill villages, including the ones above Pescia, are steps and narrow stones. They are lovely to look at, and they are not a kind first base if you need step-free streets.
I have a longer set of notes in Accessible Tuscany: wheelchair travel tips.
You can also open my accommodation directory with the wheelchair-accessible Booking.com filter already set, then pick a town and search from there. I have not marked individual towns as accessible, because listings vary; the filter travels with the search, and I would still write to the host.
Ad: Booking.com affiliate link. The search opens Booking.com in a new tab, with the filter already set. If you book through it, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It helps keep this site going.
The Booking.com button uses the site’s “Entire unit wheelchair accessible” filter. I would still confirm the details with the host. Lucca, Pisa and Florence notes are from the towns’ and museums’ own accessibility pages, gathered for my tips post.
Photo: Sergio Spolti, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
