Devices for Renters With Disabilities Services to make your rental easier In Summary: These assistive devices and services help make car rental easier for individuals with physical challenges and their drivers. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) TDD reservation service is available by calling 800-826-5510. Hand Controls and Wheelchair-accessible Vehicles For assistance devices for use by individuals with physical challenges, call the Budget Special Needs department toll-free from the U.S. at 888-221-1203. If you are not in the U.S., please find the appropriate Budget phone number for calling within other countries. Budget cannot provide hand controls on every make or model of vehicle, and cannot confirm a reservation for a particular make or model of vehicle on any rental. Driver for Renter With Disabilities Drivers for a renter with disabilities must have a valid driver's license, be at least 25 years of age, meet driver qualifications in effect at time of rental, and accompany the disabled renter to the Budget location at time of rental.
At no extra charge, the driver will be authorized to operate the rental vehicle for the renter with disabilities. The renter with disabilities must present an acceptable method of payment, and meet credit qualifications in effect at time of rental. Make a reservation today then add the additional driver at rental pick up. ABOVE: Ponte delle Guglie bridge. The steps on the right are half-height with rounded edges for easier negotiation by wheelchair travelers with ACTV, the Venice transportation authority, offers one- to seven-day tourist travel cards that allow unlimited travel on any of the city'sYou can buy these at the ACTV office in the Piazzale Roma or the vaporetto ticket booths near the railway station, the Fondamenta Nuove, the Piazza San Marco, and Another (and more expensive) option may be the Venezia Unica tourist pass, which offers an a la carte package of vaporetto transportation, public toilets, admission to municipal museums, optional roundtrip transportation on the
Alilaguna airport boat, and other perks with a frustratingly complicated pricing scheme. Finally, passengers with wheelchairs can buy single-fare "disabled tickets" at heavily-discounted rates from ACTV ticket booths and Hellovenezia offices. Each ticket is valid for 75 minutes, and a Once you have a pass or a supply of tickets, you'll be able to get between the city's various "accessibility zones" on the map by using(The city claims that about 70 per cent of the streets in the historic center are accessible by vaporetto.) This strategy works especially well on the Grand Canal, the Giudecca Canal, and the Lido, where the No. 1 and No. 2 routes are wheelchair-accessible. The No. 1 boat is the most useful, since it zigzags from one side of the Grand Canal to the other on its 20-stop journey from the Piazzale Roma to the Lido. As the photo shows, this water bus can be crowded during the tourist season, but the conductor will usually clear a path for you,
and the crew will help you on or off the boat quickly and without fuss. About two-thirds of the vaporetto lines are fully wheelchair-accessible; a few are not, although wheelchair-accessible boats are being introduced on the circolare lines that use split-level motoscafo boats. Fully-accessible lines are marked in our illustrated article on Most churches are accessible once you getThe tricky part may be in getting up the steps, but this can be managed if you have a strong companion or aren't shy about bumming a lift from athletic tourists or Other buildings, such as museums, may varyThe most impressive rooms in the Scuola Grande di San Rocco, for example, require climbing a long flight of marble stairs--unless you use the special wheelchair with motorized rubber treads, which lets you assault the staircase like an armyYour best bet is to phone before you go, so you can make other plans if the building requires a sturdy set of lungs and legs.
First, see page 3 of this article for a mini-map that shows wheelchair-accessible routes in the city center. If you're looking for a place to stay, see our article, which lists wheelchair-friendly hotels near the Piazza San Marco, on the Grand Canal, and by the Piazzale Roma (Venice's terminus for airport buses, taxis, cars, and the People Mover to the Marittima The City of Venice has accessible Venice pages with general advice, an accessibility map in PDF format, a selection of barrier-free itineraries that are mostly up to date, lists of businesses that rent wheelchairs and accessible motorboats, and other useful information. also pick up a printed Accessible Venice kit in Venice or Mestre. site that provides information on disability travel in 40+ European cities, has Accessibility on Venice's Vaporetto" page with photos. Another handy resource is the Venice page of Accessible Europe (see below), which--among other things--tells where to
find accessible WCs and parking. Don't miss Jon Read's Wheelchair Travel Tips for Venice, which he shared with us by e-mail in December, 2010 (and which we published in our Finally, if you'd like to take a gondola ride in a wheelchair, book ahead with Gondolas4all (which has a custom-built pier with a wheelchair lift near Please note that information in guidebooks or on Web sites isn't always up to date. (For example, many guidebooks and sites still mention bridge lifts that are no longer in service.) Mike and Karen Henderson of The Venice Experience offer guided sightseeing tours, including itineraries for Rebekah Serin of Regency San Marino SRL's Accessible Italy "I am originally from New York and now live and work in Florence, Italy. I am with the specialized tour operator Regency San Marino SRL. group and individual travel in Italy for individuals with disabilities. We also can organize personalized itineraries