Rome is somewhere I have always wanted to visit but I never thought would be possible with it being an 'ancient' city. Yes there are a lot of cobbles but it isn't impossible!
There is so much to see and explore in Rome so we have put together our top 6 accessible places to visit in Rome:
Bocca della Verità
This small church is home to the famous 'Mouth of Truth'. According to medieval legend it will bite the hand off any liar who puts their hand in its mouth or anyone who tells a lie whilst their hand is in the mouth. We came away with all hands intact!
There is a wheelchair accessible entrance and you can also skip the queue to enter.
Roman Forum
When we were trying to find the entrance to the Roman Forum we were told to go on the 'via Sacra' road that takes you to the Roman Forum Palentine entrance which is near the Colosseum. Don't use this entrance! It is a road of massive cobblestones and is impossible for a wheelchair! Instead head to 'L. Go Dell Salara Vecchia' which is an accessible entrance with a lift.
My first thoughts about the Roman Forum before visiting were that this would be a place impossible for us to walk round as it's a large site of Roman ruins. However we were surprised at how accessible it was. The lift took us down to below street level and we were able to walk around and see the various ruins and remains. There were some areas which weren't accessible but there is enough to see to make it worth visiting.
There are flat boardwalks around some of the area but not all however you can offroad and dodge the stones!
Victor Emanuel II Monument
This monument is unmissable when you are walking around Rome. The monument was built between 1885 and 1935 in recognition of Victor Emmanuel II who was the first king of a unified Italy.
There are steps up to the main entrance but there is an accessible entrance at 'Istituto per la Storia del Risorgimento Italiano' (see Google Maps). A member of staff will then take you up the lift to the outside of the monument.
Once you have explored this area there is also another lift up to the very top of the building which is free for disabled people and companions. You can find this lift at the back of the monument and you'll need a ticket to use it. We actually visited here twice! Once in the daytime and once at night to see the views across Rome. It's a great viewing point and you can get a 360 degree view of the city!
Pantheon
The Pantheon is a must see place in Rome as it is one of the best preserved buildings from Ancient Rome. It was built nearly 2000 years ago and it has the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.
To get here there are a lot of cobbles so you will need a third wheel attachment or a companion to help pushing your chair.
When we arrived at the Pantheon there was an opera singer singing outside, it was a really beautiful start to our visit! We then jumped the queue and entered the Pantheon. There is a ramp up to the entrance and the inside of the Pantheon is completely flat. This building is incredible and it's hard to believe that a place built so long ago still looks so perfect.
Fontana di Trevi
The Trevi Fountain is walking distance from the Pantheon. It does get very crowded here so it's best to visit early or later in the day. As we visited Rome in January it wasn't too bad and we were able to take some photographs. The fountain is huge and is stunning!
However what I most wanted to do here was to throw my 3 coins! For this you are supposed to throw them over your left shoulder into the fountain! If you throw one coin you will return to Rome one day, throw two coins you'll fall in love and three coins you will get married in Rome.
As there are steps down to the fountain we had to find another position for me to throw the coins from! We headed round to the right hand side of the fountain and by some miracle I was able to throw my coins over the wall and into the fountain! I am rubbish at throwing so this was an achievement for me!!
Colosseum
Our number one place to visit in Rome is the Colosseum. The Colosseum was built nearly 2000 years ago and is the largest amphitheatre in the world. It could seat between 50,000 and 80,000 people!
I was surprised at how accessible it was for us, they had lifts and ramps so we could see most of the Colosseum. We were even able to get a lift up to the very top however there were steps to then get outside.
I will be writing a post with a full review of our trip to the Colosseum very soon!
If you would like to find out about the other cities in Italy we have visited you can find them here.
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