ruqi p asked:
I am planning to visit Italy,( Rome,Florance,Venice,Milan)Switzerland (Geneva,Montreux,Interlaken,Zermatt,St.Mortize,Appenzel and Zurich)and Austria (Vienna and Salzburg)with my wife who is in a wheelchair. I have 18 days for trip.I was planning to fly to Rome,rent a car and start my trip from Rome and drop the car off in Zurich.Fly back to Toronto from Zurich.Will be very obliged for any information on renting a car,accommodations and routing.
Go Avis for cars
That’s a lots of driving though its going to be quieter and the weather maybe not so good. Do get a car with sat-nav to take the strain off you.
You will be passing through some some really nice places where its easy to get lost. Also, apart from the longer hikes (Rome-Florence) avoid the auto routes, for the simple pleasure of seeing places the big roads were meant to avoid.
On Italian and French auto routes, you take a ticket on entry and pay when you leave. A lot of French auto route toll booths are automatic and will only take credit cards. The Italian routes were still taking cash in 2006. In Switzerland, you need to buy a window-sticker for unlimited use. Its about 40 Swiss Franc but if you hire your car from Switzerland, it will (or should) already have one.
Hotels? Most Sat-navs will also have a list of local hotels as well so if you are like me and enjoy just to explore ‘off the beaten track’ then that can be helpful in reaching a decision. English is spoken in most places so a call the day before is usually all that’s needed to get a room.
I like to take a map as well and mark the places I pass so as to identify them in my photographs. there are lots ancient towns and villages up on mountainsides that are just nice to see but easy to forget.
Enjoy your trip.
Why drive when you can take the train? Train services are very good, wheelchair friendly, and save you a lot of money.
Don’t forget that you also have to pay for petrol, it’s around €1.20 per litre at the moment. There are 3.5 litres to the gallon. Do the maths. That’s in addition to your car hire and insurance costs. And you do realise that in southern Italy, in Rome for example, driving is not so much a way of getting around as a spectactor sport ….
Venice is lovely but it is NOT wheelchair friendly. I would just not bother with it – you can’t drive there at all.
I think you are trying to fit too much into a short space of time. I suggest doing just two of the three countries you want to visit, I’d go with Austria and Italy.