Access in Paris
Ah,
Paris! The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the food, the
wine…. Of course, everyone dreams of going there, but what about the
access? For those of us with mobility issues, our first concerns are:: Will there be
curb cuts? How about accessible bathrooms? Are there accessible buses
and taxis? Can I easily visit the famous sites and cafes, cruise the
Seine and shop like other tourists? Relax. Paris is possible to enjoy
whether on foot or in a wheelchair, but planning is the key. Gordon Couch and Ben
Roberts’ "Access in Paris” is here to help with
your planning. The research and
survey work was conducted by the Pauline Hephaistos Survey Projects,
which included both able-bodied and disabled survey team members. The
team stormed hotels, hostels, churches, museums, transportation and
accessible bathrooms and more then condensed their findings into
commentaries on each venue with coded access symbols that easily tune
readers into the level of access (or lack there of ) of each venue.
This guide is free,
but a
£10 donation is requested to
help defray the cost of research, printing and postage. If your order is
coming from outside Britain, please send cash in your local currency or
use the
www.paypal.com account (Access Project (called).Gordon Couch) Do not
send local checks as the cost of cashing them in Britain is prohibitive.
The 1993 guide
comes with a 1997 update, which includes Disneyland Paris.
If you have
questions, contact Gordon Couch at
gordon.couch@virgin.net
or write:
Access
Project,
39 Bradley Gardens,
West Ealing,
London W13 8HE, UK
Top of Page
The Accessible Guide
to Florence
Whether you’re
renting a wheelchair, needing bus schedules, seeking hotel accommodation
with a roll-in shower, or searching for museum access information, the new
Accessible Florence Guide by Cornelia
Danielson will prove helpful. Visit
http://www.bftservices.it/ for additional details. Read an excerpt
here:
http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=23692
Top of Page
|
Access in
London
Even an able-bodied
traveler can find London (population seven million) to be a complex city to navigate. Many
of its buildings are hundreds of years old, and we know very well that ancient rarely =
access. Still, London remains one of the most popular travel destinations in the world,
and Global Access frequently receives queries from readers seeking information to
simplify a trip there. Thankfully, the producers of
Access in London
have done just that, and they deserve a big round of applause for the tremendous
accomplishment of squeezing an incredible amount of access information into
this 320-page
book.
Want to figure out transportation alternatives in a
city with an antiquated subway system? Access in London shows you the options. Seeking
budget (or luxury) accommodations? This book provides a full range of
hotels, hostels and camping. Wondering what
museums, theaters, restaurants, and historical sites are accessible? Wonder no more. It's
all here from the British Museum to the Tower of London, and everything in between.
The 2003 guide is free
but a
£10 donation is requested to
help defray the cost of research, printing and postage. If your order is
coming outside Britain, please send cash in your local currency or use
their
www.paypal.com account (Access Project (Gordon Couch). Do not
send local checks as the cost of cashing them in Britain is prohibitive.
The 2003 guides are free, but donations are requested to
cover printing and shipping costs. In the UK, please send 10 pounds. If you're ordering
this book outside the UK (where postage cab be considerably more expensive), please send
the cash equivalent of $25 U.S. in your local currency to:
Access Project
Pauline Hephaistos Survey Project
39 Bradley Gardens
West Ealing W13 8HE
United Kingdom
Top of Page
|
Wheelchair Through Europe
   
What access can a wheelchair user expect in Europe? Annie Mackin's Wheelchair
Through Europe offers a first-hand view of what it's like to travel through some of
the world's most popular destinations by power chair.
Mackin traveled with an able-bodied friend and used a Quickie wheelchair complete with
a portable DAMACO motor and batteries.
Her book chronicles visits to the following destinations: Amsterdam; Germany: Bavaria,
Munich & the Romantic Road; Italy: Rome, Venice, Florence, and the Tuscany hill towns
of Siena and San Gimignano; France: Paris, Nice, Cannes, Chartres, Giverny; Monte Carlo;
Switzerland: Interlaken, Grindelwald; Britain: London, Bath, Glastonbury, Avebury,
Stonehenge, Salisbury and the Northern Lake District.
Mackin emphasizes budget travel as well as access to affordable accommodations, trains,
museums, popular sites, shopping and disability resources in each country.
Annie Mackin's Wheelchair Through Europe is available through mail order for $12.95
U.S. including postage for the continental U.S. Overseas orders require an
additional $5.00 U.S. postage. Send check or money order payable to Graphic Language
Press.
e-mail: graphiclanguage@yahoo.com
Graphic Language Press
P.O. Box 270
Cardiff by the Sea, CA 92007 U.S.A.
Top of Page
|
Easy
Access to National Parks
The
great outdoors is for everyone! And thanks to the well-documented research
of Wendy Roth and Michael Tompane, disabled campers will be more aware of
the access available in the U.S. National Parks. Whether you're longing to
visit Yellowstone or Haleakala, the Grand Canyon or the
Everglades, Easy Access to National Parks will simplify your trip planning. Traveling across the U.S., Roth, who
has M.S. and uses a power chair, and Tompane, who is able-bodied, visited
forty-five national parks, two national historical parks, four monuments,
two national parkways, and dozens of state parks and national forest
campgrounds. The fruit of their extensive efforts is now available in this
informative, entertaining guide.
Available for $16.00 from Sierra Club Books. 404 pages.
Top of Page
|
|
Accessible Fun in Florida
This soft cover 424-page book covers Florida from the Panhandle
to the
Florida Keys. Access to tourist attractions, beaches, state and local
parks, theaters, sports stadiums, fishing piers, boat rentals, resorts,
campgrounds, houseboats and more are
featured. $24.95. Order on line at www.wheelchairsonthego.com
Or call (727) 573-0434 or 1-888-245-7300 with your credit card information
Or send a check, money order or credit card information to:
Wheelchairs on the Go
14074 Egret Lane
Clearwater, FL 33762
Top of Page
Accessible
Quebec
This guide contains accessible information on 300 hotels, attractions and restaurants.
The sites were assessed by Kéroul with criteria recognized by
Tourism Québec. Kéroul is a non-profit organization founded
in 1979 to develop accessible travel.
An English version of the guide is now available for $10.00 from Kéroul. 111 pages.
Kéroul
4545 Pierre-De Coubertin Ave.
P.O. Box 1000, Station M
Montreal (Quebec) H1V 3R2
Tel: (514) 252-3104
Fax: (514) 254-0766
Top of Page
A
Wheely Good Access
Guide to
Sydney, Australia
This new guidebook by Megan Harper details
accessible venues in Sydney and lists accessible accommodation,
restaurants, tourist attractions, car parks, shopping centres and
outdoor venues. The book is designed for wheelchair users, the
elderly, and parents pushing strollers.
Harper surveyed the major tourist areas of
Sydney, including the city, Bondi Beach, Manly Beach, North Sydney,
Chatswood and Newtown.
Harper, who has wheelchair using friends, was
surprised at the lack of information available on access in Sydney.
She started to research the access issue while completing her
Master's degree at the University of NSW in 1999. Her thesis focused
on access to the city's hotels.
Harper donates 10 percent of the proceeds from
sales of the guidebook to the Spinal Unit at Royal North Shore
Hospital in Sydney, in the hope that the funds will increase the great
research work currently being carried out there.
Price:
$19.95 (+$2.50 P&H) (within Australia) Orders
from outside Australia: AUD$32/US$21 (includes P&H).
Contact Megan Harper
at fleaharper@yahoo.com.au
Mobile 0417 217 393, Fax
02-9427 8820
Cheques are made payable to:
Megan Harper
P.O. Box 1755
Lane
Cove 2066, Australia.
Top of Page
c
The
Wheelie’s Handbook
of Australia
In the early 1980s, a
disabled friend of mine carefully planned his first trip to Australia.
At that time, access information for the land of Oz was nil. So not
knowing if he could count on accessible accommodations, transportation
and attractions, my friend reluctantly decided to leave his power chair
at home and settle for his attendant pushing his manual chair.
Thankfully, wheelchair users planning to visit
Australia in the millennium need not sacrifice their mobility
independence any longer because excellent writers such as Colin
James
continue to broadcast Australia’s excellent access progress. James, a
well-known entertainer, traveled the continent with his wife Diane
to compile “The Wheelie’s Handbook of Australia,” which includes
over 500 accessible accommodations in over 300 towns and 400
accessible tourist attractions.
This wonderfully comprehensive book is
thoughtfully cone-bound, enabling readers to easily turn pages
rather than wrestle with traditional stiff binding.
Ever wonder if you could catch an accessible taxi
in Sydney, wheel on an accessible beach or cuddle a real live koala?
If so, this is the book for you.
This handbook is also a continuing work in
progress because James continually updates his web site with newly
discovered accessible venues.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~wheelies/
The Wheelie’s
Handbook of Australia is now available by writing
Colin James
3 Furner Avenue
Bell Park, Victoria 3215
Australia
Cost per book is AU$22.95 (within Australia),
or AU$32.25 (Asia and New Zealand) or $AU35:25 (for orders from
Europe, the U.S.A. and other countries). Or charge to your VISA
or MasterCard.
Top of Page
|
Easy
Access Australia Second Edition
Bruce
Cameron takes another bite out of his homeland with his second
edition of
Easy Access Australia. First published in 1995,
Cameron updates this 2000 edition with the latest access info from
each of Australia's territories regarding everything from
accommodation to transportation, equipment hire, helpful
organizations, popular attractions, attendant care and toilets.
Cameron so thoroughly researched available accommodations that he
even provides floor plans of the recommended lodgings. Simply outstanding.
Thoroughly researched and beautifully presented, this guide will
help facilitate a G'Day in Australia whether you're visiting Ayers
Rock, Sydney or the Great Barrier Reef.
506 pages. Illustrated.
To order Easy Access Australia, contact the author at
e-mail: bruceeaa@vicnet.net.au
or visit the website at
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~bruceeaa/Learnmor.html
In Australia, the cost per book is 27.45 Australian Dollars.
In the United Kingdom, it is 20 pounds and in the US, $25.
Top of Page
|
EasyWalks in Israel:
Sites and Stories
by Aviva Bar-Am
EasyWalks in Israel: Sites and Stories is a unique
user-friendly volume of non-strenuous strolls, easy walks and super-easy hikes throughout
Israel. It also includes sixteen wheelchair accessible sites! Chapters begin with a
description of the attractions offered, give a degree of difficulty and tell the reader
how long it will take him to visit the site. The book was written by Aviva Bar-Am, a
former correspondent for Israel's English-language newspaper, "The Jerusalem
Post". Based on her acclaimed weekly column, "Landscapes," EasyWalks
is written in a conversational, journalistic style. It contains history, legends,
anecdotes ,and occasional Biblical references. Included are nature walks, historic sites,
roadside stops and scenic drives accessible to wheelchairs. Many of the other trips are
are considered super-easy (level ground) and even more are paved walks. New and
old Jerusalem neighborhoods are included, as is Old Tel Aviv, Old Jaffa,
Old Haifa, and other historic cities.
The book can be ordered from http://www.israeltravels.com/
Price: $US 21.00 includes shipping anywhere in the world. 206 pages; 45 half-page and full-page color photos.
Top of Page
|
Access
in Israel
& The Palestinian Authority

Far from an easy
place to research access, Gordon Couch did a top-notch job covering
accommodation and getting around Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and the
north coast, Galilee, Upper Gallilee, Be'er Sheva, the Negev and
Eilat.
The top 20 sights are well covered and
readers will receive a good grounding in what o expect whether it's the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock, and Al-Aqsa, the Church oof the
Nativity, Masada, The Jewish Quarter and the Arab Souk in the Old City, Gaza and
more.
This 2000 guide is free,
but a
£10 donation is requested to
help defray the cost of research, printing and postage. If your order is
coming from outside Britain, please send cash in your local currency or
use the
www.paypal.com account (Access Project (called).Gordon Couch) Do not
send local checks as the cost of cashing them in Britain is prohibitive.
If you have
questions, contact Gordon Couch at
gordon.couch@virgin.net
or write:
Access
Project,
39 Bradley Gardens,
West Ealing,
London W13 8HE, UK
Top of Page
|
A World of Options
Would you like to travel, work or volunteer overseas? This
comprehensive two-volume set provides a look at the many opportunities now available
to disabled people. Its 600-plus pages are packed with personal travel accounts
detailing trips to such global destinations as: Africa, China, Europe, and more. It not
only provides a helpful commentary on what ADA means to a disabled traveler, it
also offers
in-depth access critiques on various airlines, rental cars, hotel/motel accommodations,
cruise ships, and buses worldwide, as well as adventure travel and volunteer
opportunities. All in all, A World of Options provides the
essential information a disabled traveler needs to plan an accessible journey and/or work
abroad. The resource listings are particularly interesting; they provide valuable input on
everything from camping in Britain to exploring Costa Rica.
Now available for $45 U.S. (including
shipping and handling) from:
Mobility International USA
PO Box 10767
Eugene, OR 97440 U.S.A.
541-343-1284 (voice/TDD)
Fax: 541-343-6812
email: info@miusa.org
Top of Page
|
Exotic Destinations for Wheelchair Users:
Hotel Guide to the Orient
The inscrutable Orient can prove even more inscrutable when it comes to access. This handy
hotel guide may help minimize the challenge. The guide covers Hong Kong, Macau,
Singapore, Tawian & Thailand.
It is published by Full Data Limited of San Francisco and is available for $14.95
from Bookmasters 800-247-6553.
Top of Page
|
Wheels
& Waves
Cruise, Ferry, River & Canal Barge Guide
for the Physically Challenged
Wheels and water are usually an unlikely duo, but Genie and George Aroyan
researched what works and what doesn't. Available from:
Wheels Aweigh Publishing Company
17105 San Carols Boulevard, Suite A-6107
Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931 U.S.A.
and from Bookmasters (800) 637-2256.
Top of Page
|
|