Accessible Rome & Florence in 8 Days: Wheelchair-Friendly Italy

Request assistance from your airline when you book: at Rome Fiumicino, staff help you from the aircraft to the arrivals hall. There, your driver waits with a wheelchair-accessible vehicle with a ramp or lift, for the 45-minute ride to your hotel.

A word of honesty about Rome: much of the historic center is paved with sampietrini, small, uneven cobblestones, and sidewalks are narrow or missing in places. That is why the vehicle stays with you for every outing in Rome and drops you as close as the traffic rules allow.

In the evening, dinner on Piazza Navona, a large pedestrian square.

Night in Rome, in a 4-star hotel with an accessible room.

A private guided visit of the Colosseum, with a guide used to accessible visits. The main entrance and the ground level are step-free, an elevator reaches an upper level for the view over the arena, and there is an accessible restroom. The underground (hypogeum) is reached by stairs and is not accessible, and the elevator does not run on the free first Sunday of the month, so we avoid that day. Visitors with disabilities and one companion enter free, but a timed slot must still be booked: we do it with your other tickets.

The Roman Forum is only partly accessible, with ancient paving and gravel paths. We follow the accessible section and add the viewpoints above the Forum, reached by vehicle.

In the evening, a drive through Rome lit up, with a stop at the Gianicolo terrace.

Night in Rome, in your 4-star hotel.

The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel on the museums' barrier-free route, with staff help where needed. Visitors with a certified disability of at least 67% enter free and without queuing, and so does one companion when the visitor is not self-sufficient. These free tickets cannot be booked online: they are issued at the Special Permits desk in the entrance hall when you show your disability certificate, so bring it. Wheelchairs are lent free at the cloakroom while available, against a valid ID. The museums' own guided tours are not open to wheelchair users, so we confirm with the museums beforehand how your private guide can accompany you.

The shortcut from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's Basilica has steps, so we leave by the museum exit and the vehicle takes you around to St. Peter's Square, where wheelchair users are directed to a step-free entrance on the right-hand side of the colonnade. We check the current route with the basilica before your visit.

Night in Rome, in your 4-star hotel.

A morning for the Pantheon, with its level marble floor, and the Trevi Fountain, best seen from the street level above the basin. We choose the smoothest approach to each and avoid the busiest hours.

In the afternoon, an accessible pasta-making class in a step-free kitchen, with the dinner you cook.

Night in Rome, in your 4-star hotel.

Transfer to Roma Termini, where the station's assistance service, booked in advance, helps you board the high-speed train to Florence with a lift. The train has wheelchair spaces, and the trip takes about 1 hour 35 minutes. At Firenze Santa Maria Novella, the assistance team and your accessible vehicle meet you.

Florence is flat, but its paving stones are uneven in places and sidewalks are narrow. In the afternoon, visit the Duomo: the cathedral and the Baptistery are visited at ground level. The dome (463 steps) and the bell tower have no elevator.

Night in Florence, in a 4-star hotel with an accessible room.

The Uffizi with a private guide: you go in through door 1, the priority entrance, elevators link the floors, and the gallery lends wheelchairs free against an ID. Italian state museums, the Uffizi and the Accademia included, give free, priority entry to visitors with disabilities and to an accompanying family member or carer; bring your disability documentation.

After lunch, Michelangelo's David at the Accademia. Both museums close on Mondays.

At sunset, the vehicle drives you up to Piazzale Michelangelo for the view over the city and the Ponte Vecchio.

Night in Florence, in your 4-star hotel.

A day in the Chianti hills with your accessible vehicle: a family winery chosen for its step-free cellar and tasting room, lunch among the vines and the views on the way back.

Siena is beautiful but steep, with a sloping main square, so we suggest it only with a power wheelchair or a strong companion, and plan the route with you.

Night in Florence, in your 4-star hotel.

Accessible transfer to Florence airport, or back to Rome Fiumicino by train with station assistance, for your flight home. As on arrival, airline assistance takes you to the aircraft.