Rome, Italy

Is Rome wheelchair friendly?

Our experience of Rome is quite limited as we only had about 9 days in and around Rome.  Being a walkable city for regular tourists, Roman roads are wheelchair accessible in a way, if a wheelchair tourist can tolerate those cobblestone roads and if there is somebody who is willing to push the wheelchair.  Luckily, my husband's wheelchair has pneumatic tires and it did fairly well.   We didn't even think about taking his Pride Go Go scooter.  We are so thankful to goodwill Italians who helped us to make our visits easier.   

The Arch of Constantine and Colosseum - Early morning stroll.

Just get out and take a stroll.  At first, the way Romans drive looks scary and chaotic but they definitely know how to share roads with pedestrians.  Additionally, pedestrian ways don't disappear all of a sudden like they do here in Kentucky.   Needless to say, Rome's cafes provide a place to rest, view those magnificent treasures, and drink real espresso.

We stayed at Hotel Mercure Rome Delta Colosseo, claimed to be a 4-star hotel, but our room was slightly worn, but it was just fine.  It is an average hotel with several great things.  Three best things about this hotel are 1)  hotel rates are quite reasonable at around 200+ Euro for a double room, 2) excellent location, 3) accessible room with two bathrooms - one is a large roll-in shower + toilet with very good grab bars, and the other with a shower and toilet with 3-tier large shelves.  For most Americans, room temperature may feel warmer in summer as A/C doesn't work as efficiently.  The location of this hotel can off-set any negative things.  Hotel staff were friendly, polite and helpful.  Oh, by the way, their elevator is very small, enough for one person in a wheelchair and one person or two pettite persons.  It's about 200 meters to Colosseum, and from there Forum and Palatine are so close.  It is convenient to Laterano and Colosseo metro stations.  Right in front of the hotel you can visit San Clemente Church. 

This is a view when you step out of the hotel entrance.

Another good thing about this hotel was a rooftop cafe/bar.  My husband and I didn't like food there but anybody stays in this hotel should get up there to see stunning views.  For some reason, a hotel front desk lady gave me some coupons when I charmingly complained something about the room.  I cannot remember what I complained about but I remember 3 food/drink coupons we got. 

A restaurant we want to go back is Il Templo di Iside (Via Pertro Verri off Via Labicana), only a few minutes walk from this hotel.  It is a rather small seafood restaurant but I was impressed with all the fresh crabs, lobsters, and shrimp dislayed over ice at their vestibule, which reminded me of restaurants in Japan.   The inside is beautifuly decorated with white linen cloth covered.  It is a very narrow and small restaurant but wheelchair accessible with ease.  Waiting staff were very attentive, professional and patient.  They are very willing to give you a hand. Their outside tables are easily accessible by wheelchair.

The owner (Francisco?? I think other local clients called him Francisco.) was so passionate and good at selecting dishes for you from their today's catch.  It was almost like Japanese omakase menu.  (We were lucky to have our daughter's Italian boyfriend with us as well.)  We started with cold and cooked antipasti with shrimp and scallops.  For the first dish, I don't remember what we ate but the secondi was unforgetful...grilled shrimp were so sweet and tender.  It was about 50 Euro per person including wine.  For any physically handicap people, restaurants in Rome are perfect, as nobody in restaurants seem to care how long it takes for clients to enjoy their meals (or coffee, or whatever).

Inside of the restaurant.