My wife has MS and uses a cane and walker at times. I knew Venice would be challenging, but things actually went pretty well on our recent trip. Got a private water taxi to our hotel. We stayed at Europa & Regina, and I arranged all of this through them. Paid a little more, but it definitely was worth it. Please note there is not a ramp to push wheelchair from dock onto water taxi. My wife is not in a wheelchair so this was ok. If you are in a wheelchair, I could see where this could pose a problem. Europa & Regina had a transport chair that we borrowed (but really didn't use it that much as this hotel is very centrally located). You really have access to a lot of things from this area without having to cross many bridges (one bridge to St. Marks Square). So Venice is definitely doable, albeit on a limited basis, for the handicapped.

Thanks for your trip report!

My trip to Venice with a manual chair a couple of years ago was also surprisingly do-able. We took the vaporetti, and found the crews very capable of popping the manual chair on and off quickly and safely. It was also cheap, free for me as a wheelchair user and 1 Euro for my husband as my companion.

The commune of Venice provides a set of maps showing wheelchair accessible routes in Venice that you can pick up at the tourist information office at the train station.

This is so good to know! My husband has always assumed we can't do Venice, because of my wheelchair. Looks like it may very well be on our to-do list.

The most difficult thing will be crossing bridges. Are you able to walk any? Even if you are able to walk/cross one bridge, that will be some help. We stayed at the Europa & Regina. Loved the location. There are restaurants, plenty of shops withouts crossing any bridges. If you cross one bridge, you can get to St. Marks Square and the Opera House area where more restaurants are located. We ate at Vino Vino for dinner, and it was delicious. I like the idea of taking the Vapretto to St. Marks Square. You can ask your Hotel to arrange a porter to help with the luggage from there. Europa and Regina was wonderful in helping us arrange things. Venice is not very handicapped accessible, and it's a shame, because they could make it more. But you can still have a great time here, and it is definitely doable as long as your expectations are realistic and don't expect to travel everywhere by wheelchair. We were worried about the stone streets, but they have been walked so much over hundreds of years, they are smooth, for the most part (at least the parts around where we stayed).

It's wonderful to hear some positive reports on Venice in a wheelchair.

The city isn't, on the whole, very wheelchair-conscious - they just built a new bridge over the grand canal that has no wheelchair access! For a while, they proclaimed a system of lifts to assist in getting over staired bridges - on my most recent visit, they have abandoned and removed them (they almost never worked anyway in our experience).

I think Venice is one place where careful planning is absolutely essential.

As Katya noted, the water bus (vaporetto) is excellent - so if stairs are an issue, make sure your hotel can be accessed from the vaporetto stop without any stepped bridges (almost all bridges in Venice are stepped - thankfully many hotels are close to vaporetto stops).

Some of the attractions have put in some effort to become accessible - on our most recent visit, we noticed a lift to give access to the upper level galleries in St Mark's church (well worth the visit); the Campanile at St Mark's and at San Giorgio also have lifts, but there are some stair issues with getting to the lifts.

And a general piece of advice for Italy - if steps are an issue, and your hotel advertises that it has a lift, check that there aren't steps up (or down) to the lift itself (we've found this a few times).

I'd add that you should ask for the interior dimensions of the lift as well - in many Italian hotels the lift is intended only for luggage, not for people, and certainly not for wheelchairs!

Europa & Regina (Westin) is very accomodating for people in wheelchairs. There is a ramp inside so that you do not have to walk up steps. And the elevators are large enough to easily accomodate a wheelchair.

I don't know, I would say, avoid Venice if you have severe mobility issues. I can't walk at all and found it very cumbersome. The vaporetti are fine, although it can be scary when they grab your chair and pull you onboard, and the Mark's square area is ok, but as soon as you venture further afield, you will encounter bridges and they're hard to navigate. And there are lots of them, in some areas there'll be like 3 bridges within a couple hundred feet. I can pop wheelies etc, so with some help I can get across them, but it loses it's luster pretty quickly. FWIW, I found Murano and the Lido island easier to navigate. I saw Venice a few times when I was able-bodied, and it was never much of a dream destination for me (we went back last summer mostly to see how bad it would be in the chair). I would at least avoid the hassle of staying there, and maybe choose the beautiful (and much easier to navigate) cities of Vicenza, Verona, or Padova, which are only a short drive or train ride away. Last year, we stayed in Verona and parked at Ple Roma and took the vaporetto from there ... not a big deal if you only do a daytrip.

I think it boils down to your expectations. if you are expecting to cover all of Venice in a wheelchair, then your expectations are unrealistic. If it is fine to have a hotel such as Europa & Regina as your base, and you can cross 1 bridge, you can easily see the St. Marks Square area and surrounding areas. My wife and I have been to Venice enough times (when her walking was better) that we don't feel the need to cover all of Venice.