Wheelchair using travel blogger
Ibis Cardiff Central
Churchill Way
Cardiff
CF10 2HA
WALES
Tel: (+44)29/20649250
Fax: (+44)1462/650528
The Ibis hotel is situated on Churchill Way, a short walk from Cardiff Central railway station, and opposite the Motorpoint Arena venue. It is part of the Accor group of hotels. It is probably best to plan your route to the hotel beforehand as locals don’t seem to know where it is, on a very wet Friday evening I was directed here there and everywhere before finally finding it!
Once again I find myself having lunch at Burger King in Liverpool John Lennon Airport at the start of a weekend break. This time I am flying to the Island of Jersey, just off the coast of northern France, for a stay based at the Premier Inn in St Helier. The flight went well and I am soon on the bus to St Helier, the capital of Jersey. This bus is a double decker and I entered at the middle doors like wheelchairs do on London buses so was unable to pay my fare. I later enquired about this in the bus terminal and was told that wheelchair users are supposed to pay the fare but if it is a bus where wheelchair users enter at the middle doors (used only on some journeys that go to the airport) it is at the discretion of the driver whether he comes to collect your fare on not; if he is busy he may not.
Premier Inn St. Helier
21-28 Charing Cross
Jersey
JE2 3RP
Tel: (+44)1582/343257
The Premier Inn St. Helier is located on Charing Cross and is just a short walk from the main bus station if you have arrived at the airport, and a short walk further from the ferry port. Right next to it is a Co-op supermarket which is handy for getting snacks and supplies, I visited several times during my two day stay. This is a new Premier Inn which only opened earlier this summer.
Today I am at Manchester Airport awaiting my flight on Lufthansa to Venice via Munich. I have never been to Italy before and until recently would have considered Venice to be a difficult place to visit for a wheelchair user, but research on the internet seemed to suggest otherwise. In the map on the right those areas marked in green are supposed to be fairly easily accessible, those in khaki less accessible, and those in red not accessible. During the next two days I will find out.
Venice has a system of waterbus (Vaporetto) routes that get you around all the islands and they are very wheelchair friendly. The biggest boats, like the one in the photo to the left, run on routes [1] and [2] and display the blue wheelchair symbol. There are smaller boats on other routes which I did not see the symbol on but I managed to use every one that I tried and the crews on them were very helpful.
Novotel Venezia Mestre Castellana
Via Ceccherini 21
30174
VENEZIA MESTRE
ITALY
Tel: (+39)041/5066511
Fax: (+39)041/940620
The Novotel Venezia Mestre Castellana is a 4**** hotel and part of the Accor Hotels group, it is located about 10 kilometres from Venice Marco Polo airport, and about 2 kilometres from Mestre railway station. A taxi there from Marco Polo airport will cost about €40. The hotel has a bar, a restaurant/breakfast room and an outdoor swimming pool. To get in to Venice ‘proper’ you have to take two buses, the number 31H (32H on the return and 34H in both directions on a Sunday) for one stop and then the number 2, they are wheelchair accessible and cost €1.50 for the whole journey. If you choose to take a taxi instead of the bus it is about €30.
Today I am off on another of my weekend trips, I am not flying this time so having just finished my Friday dialysis session I am having a sandwich in a hospital café for lunch. I am travelling to Brussels, in Belgium, on the Eurostar train through the Channel Tunnel. All morning people have been warning me of chaos this weekend on Eurostar but the problem is actually with the Eurotunnel which is the vehicle carrying service. From the hospital I crossed over the road to get a bus in to Wrecsam bus station where I got another bus to Chester railway station. I then caught a Virgin West Coast train to London Euston.
On Friday 27 July 2018, after several years of thinking about it, I finally travelled on Eurostar through the Channel Tunnel. I travelled on the 17:31 departure to Amsterdam but only as far as Brussels. I arrived in London Euston station on a Virgin West Coast departure from Chester and as it was a warm sunny day (st)rolled the short distance along the Euston Road to St Pancras. On arrival at St Pancras the signage for wheelchair access could have been a lot better, I had to ask some people for directions.
Hotel Mercure Brussels Centre Midi
Boulevard Jamar 25 29
1060
BRUSSELS
BELGIUM
Tel: (+32)2/5281890
Fax: (+32)2/5281891
The Mercure Brussels Centre Midi is a 4**** hotel and part of the Accor Hotels group, it is located about 450 metres from the Brussels Midi/Zuid station for the Eurostar services. There are metro and tram stops nearby but they are not wheelchair friendly. The hotel has a bar that opens Monday to Friday but not at weekends or Bank Holidays. It has a breakfast room but no restaurant though there are places to eat nearby.
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Today I am back at Liverpool John Lennon Airport. This time I am travelling to Berlin for a weekend visit. The last time I was in Berlin back in 1987 it was still a divided city in a divided country with the Berlin Wall separating the two. I am again travelling with EasyJet and I have a zones AB Berlin Welcome card for the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, trams, buses and tourist discounts. I am going to be staying at the Novotel Berlin Am Tiergarten for the next two nights.
The flight departed and arrived in Berlin to schedule. The assistance team that came to assist me off the ‘plane was probably the best in 40+ years of travelling, this goes for the team at my departure too. They told me that I could get a free shuttle bus to the railway station or that is was a 600m walk, as it was a pleasant evening I chose to go in my wheelchair and it didn’t take too long. At the station there are a long line of ticket machines, I was having trouble getting my ticket so a German lady tried to assist but to no avail; it didn’t want to accept my debit card for payment and wouldn’t take my €5 note saying it wanted the exact amount and having just arrived I had no coins. Fortunately the lady told me there was a ticket office and my ticket shows I bought it at 21:58, the ticket office closed at 22:00…