Rome v Athens v Cruise with minimal disability
 

This is a bit of a "shotgun" post which I think I will also pop into the "disability travellers" forum as well ((hope the duplication isn't bad form))

I am just in the initial planning phase of a trip to Europe with my parents who are in their mid 70s and good physical health ...except for my mom's 9 hip and knee replacements. They remain highly active snowmobiling, taking long trail walks , ice fishing, splitting wood etc ..so maybe I am being overly nervous..... she does get achy after a long time and has some trouble when more than 5 stairs consecutively are involved.

My father is in perfect health and could probably out run me (( curse you cigarettes!! ))

I would very much like to take them for a trip of a life time. They have never been abroad but both love history and archeology. My father has talked about Athens and Rome to see the ancient sites.

Can I do a week or so in Rome and find acceible eating/ lodging/ and tourism?

Same for Athens?

Which would be easier from a "getting around" standpoint for my mother?

Should I just bite the bullet and do a Med. cruise (problably easier for them but my gut says less of an "event" and certainly less enjoyable for me and dergon_gf ))?

Please feel free to post both general and specific recommendations. I am tabula rase having never been to either city myself.

Thanks!

Good luck with Rome.

Completely defeated me as a disabled traveller on a budget, even with some language ability.

Apparently I was too stupid to work out the procedures I was meant to follow. Even with the IQ busting benefits of hindsight, I still don't know how it's possible to actually follow those procedures.

If you have the budget to factor in taxis you'll probably fare better than I did.

London and Tokyo were a complete breeze in comparison.

Remembering how insurmountable the challenges of Rome were (or seemed to be, which is the same) still makes me feel incredibly upset.

I've only been to Athens (twice) in perfect health. After having been to Rome as a disabled visitor, any illusions I might have harboured that I could enjoy Athens under the same conditions have been shattered.
I feel very differently about most Northern European countries, which I remain confident about.

I'm sorry this isn't the response you probably wanted to see.