Travel Books for Wheelchair Users & Disabled Adventurers

Available from the City of Seville Tourist Board, this access guide to Seville includes access information on accommodations, restaurants, parks, gardens and more. To view the Spanish or English version, visit
www.turismo.sevilla.org or write for your print copy:

Consorcio de Turismo de Sevilla
Edificio Laredo
Pza. San Francisco, 19- 4ª planta
41004 Sevilla
Tel: +34 954 592 915 / Fax: +34 954 590 919
Email: turismo@sevilla.org

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Ah, Paris! The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, the food, the wine…. Of course, everyone dreams of going there, but what about the access? For those of us with mobility issues, our first concerns are: Will there be curb cuts? How about accessible bathrooms? Are there accessible buses and taxis? Can I easily visit the famous sites and cafes, cruise the Seine and shop like other tourists? Relax. Paris is possible to enjoy whether on foot or in a wheelchair, but planning is the key. Gordon Couch and Ben Roberts’ "Access in Paris” is here to help with your planning. The research and survey work was conducted by the Pauline Hephaistos Survey Projects, which included both able-bodied and disabled survey team members. The team stormed hotels, hostels, churches, museums, transportation and accessible bathrooms and more then condensed their findings into commentaries on each venue with coded access symbols that easily tune readers into the level of access (or lack there of ) of each venue. This guide is free, but a £10 donation is requested to help defray the cost of research, printing and postage. If your order is coming from outside Britain, please send cash in your local currency or use the www.paypal.com account Do not send local checks as the cost of cashing them in Britain is prohibitive.

If you have questions, contact Gordon Couch at gordon.couch@virgin.net
or write:

Access Project,
39 Bradley Gardens,
West Ealing,
London W13 8HE, UK

Whether you’re renting a wheelchair, needing bus schedules, seeking hotel accommodation with a roll-in shower, or searching for museum access information, the new Accessible Florence Guide by Cornelia Danielson will prove helpful. Visit http://www.bftservices.it/ for additional details.
Read an excerpt here:
http://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=23692

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Even an able-bodied traveler can find London (population seven million) to be a complex city to navigate. Many of its buildings are hundreds of years old, and we know very well that ancient rarely = access. Still, London remains one of the most popular travel destinations in the world, and Global Access frequently receives queries from readers seeking information to simplify a trip there. Thankfully, the producers of Access in London have done just that, and they deserve a big round of applause for the tremendous accomplishment of squeezing an incredible amount of access information into this 320-page book.

Want to figure out transportation alternatives in a city with an antiquated subway system? Access in London shows you the options. Seeking budget (or luxury) accommodations? This book provides a full range of hotels, hostels and camping. Wondering what museums, theaters, restaurants, and historical sites are accessible? Wonder no more. It's all here from the British Museum to the Tower of London, and everything in between.

The 2003 guide is free but a £10 donation is requested to help defray the cost of research, printing and postage. If your order is coming outside Britain, please send cash in your local currency or use their www.paypal.com account (Access Project (Gordon Couch). Do not send local checks as the cost of cashing them in Britain is prohibitive.

The 2003 guides are free, but donations are requested to cover printing and shipping costs. In the UK, please send 10 pounds. If you're ordering this book outside the UK (where postage cab be considerably more expensive), please send the cash equivalent of $25 U.S. in your local currency or use the www.paypal.com account Do not send local checks as the cost of cashing them in Britain is prohibitive.

Access Project
Pauline Hephaistos Survey Project
39 Bradley Gardens
West Ealing W13 8HE
United Kingdom

The great outdoors is for everyone! And thanks to the well-documented research of Wendy Roth and Michael Tompane, disabled campers will be more aware of the access available in the U.S. National Parks. Whether you're longing to visit Yellowstone or Haleakala, the Grand Canyon or the Everglades, Easy Access to National Parks will simplify your trip planning. Traveling across the U.S., Roth, who has M.S. and uses a power chair, and Tompane, who is able-bodied, visited forty-five national parks, two national historical parks, four monuments, two national parkways, and dozens of state parks and national forest campgrounds. The fruit of their extensive efforts is now available in this informative, entertaining guide. Available for $16.00 from Sierra Club Books. 404 pages.

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This soft cover 424-page book covers Florida from the Panhandle to the Florida Keys. Access to tourist attractions, beaches, state and localparks, theaters, sports stadiums, fishing piers, boat rentals, resorts, campgrounds, houseboats and more are featured. $24.95. Order on line at www.wheelchairsonthego.com
Or call (727) 573-0434 or 1-888-245-7300 with your credit card information Or send a check, money order or credit card information to:
Wheelchairs on the Go
14074 Egret Lane
Clearwater, FL 33762

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This new guidebook by Megan Harper details accessible venues in Sydney and lists accessible accommodation, restaurants, tourist attractions, car parks, shopping centres and outdoor venues. The book is designed for wheelchair users, the elderly, and parents pushing strollers.
Harper surveyed the major tourist areas of Sydney, including the city, Bondi Beach, Manly Beach, North Sydney, Chatswood and Newtown.

Harper, who has wheelchair using friends, was surprised at the lack of information available on access in Sydney. She started to research the access issue while completing her Master's degree at the University of NSW in 1999. Her thesis focused on access to the city's hotels.

Harper donates 10 percent of the proceeds from sales of the guidebook to the Spinal Unit at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney, in the hope that the funds will increase the great research work currently being carried out there.

Price: $19.95 (+$2.50 P&H) (within Australia) Orders from outside Australia: AUD$32/US$21 (includes P&H). Contact Megan Harper at fleaharper@yahoo.com.au
Mobile 0417 217 393, Fax 02-9427 8820 Cheques are made payable to:

Megan Harper
P.O. Box 1755
Lane Cove 2066, Australia

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In the early 1980s, a disabled friend of mine carefully planned his first trip to Australia. At that time, access information for the land of Oz was nil. So not knowing if he could count on accessible accommodations, transportation and attractions, my friend reluctantly decided to leave his power chair at home and settle for his attendant pushing his manual chair.

Thankfully, wheelchair users planning to visit Australia in the millennium need not sacrifice their mobility independence any longer because excellent writers such as Colin James continue to broadcast Australia’s excellent access progress. James, a well-known entertainer, traveled the continent with his wife Diane to compile “The Wheelie’s Handbook of Australia,” which includes over 500 accessible accommodations in over 300 towns and 400 accessible tourist attractions. This wonderfully comprehensive book is thoughtfully cone-bound, enabling readers to easily turn pages rather than wrestle with traditional stiff binding.

Ever wonder if you could catch an accessible taxi in Sydney, wheel on an accessible beach or cuddle a real live koala? If so, this is the book for you. This handbook is also a continuing work in progress because James continually updates his web site with newly discovered accessible venues.
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~wheelies/ Now available from:

Colin James
3 Furner Avenue
Bell Park, Victoria 3215
Australia

Cost per book is AU$22.95 (within Australia), or AU$32.25 (Asia and New Zealand) or $AU35:25 (for orders from Europe, the U.S.A. and other countries). Or charge to your VISA or MasterCard.

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Bruce Cameron takes another bite out of his homeland with his second edition of Easy Access Australia. First published in 1995, Cameron updates this 2000 edition with the latest access info from each of Australia's territories regarding everything from accommodation to transportation, equipment hire, helpful organizations, popular attractions, attendant care and toilets. Cameron so thoroughly researched available accommodations that he even provides floor plans of the recommended lodgings. Simply outstanding. Thoroughly researched and beautifully presented, this guide will help facilitate a G'Day in Australia whether you're visiting Ayers Rock, Sydney or the Great Barrier Reef.
506 pages. Illustrated.
To order Easy Access Australia, contact the author at his e-mail: bruceeaa@vicnet.net.au or visit the website at http://home.vicnet.net.au/~bruceeaa/Learnmor.html

In Australia, the cost per book is 27.45 Australian Dollars. In the United Kingdom, it is 20 pounds and in the US, $25.

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EasyWalks in Israel: Sites and Stories by Aviva Bar-Am is a unique user-friendly volume of non-strenuous strolls, easy walks and super-easy hikes throughout Israel. It also includes sixteen wheelchair accessible sites! Chapters begin with a description of the attractions offered, give a degree of difficulty and tell the reader how long it will take him to visit the site. The book was written by Aviva Bar-Am, a former correspondent for Israel's English-language newspaper, "The Jerusalem Post". Based on her acclaimed weekly column, "Landscapes," EasyWalks is written in a conversational, journalistic style. It contains history, legends, anecdotes ,and occasional Biblical references. Included are nature walks, historic sites, roadside stops and scenic drives accessible to wheelchairs. Many of the other trips are are considered super-easy (level ground) and even more are paved walks. New and old Jerusalem neighborhoods are included, as is Old Tel Aviv, Old Jaffa, Old Haifa, and other historic cities. The book can be ordered from http://www.israeltravels.com/ Price: $US 21.00 includes shipping anywhere in the world. 206 pages; 45 half-page and full-page color photos.

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Far from an easy place to research access, Gordon Couch did a top-notch job covering accommodation and getting around Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and the north coast, Galilee, Upper Gallilee, Be'er Sheva, the Negev and Eilat.

The top 20 sights are well covered and readers will receive a good grounding in what to expect whether it's the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock, and Al-Aqsa, the Church oof the Nativity, Masada, The Jewish Quarter and the Arab Souk in the Old City, Gaza and more.

This 2000 guide is free, but a £10 donation is requested to help defray the cost of research, printing and postage. If your order is coming from outside Britain, please send cash in your local currency or use the www.paypal.com account (Access Project (Gordon Couch). Do not send local checks as the cost of cashing them in Britain is prohibitive.
To learn more visit www.accessinisrael.org

If you have questions, contact Gordon Couch at gordon.couch@virgin.net or write:

Access Project,
39 Bradley Gardens,
West Ealing,
London W13 8HE, UK

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Would you like to travel, work or volunteer overseas? This comprehensive two-volume set provides a look at the many opportunities now available to disabled people. Its 600-plus pages are packed with personal travel accounts detailing trips to such global destinations as: Africa, China, Europe, and more. It not only provides a helpful commentary on what ADA means to a disabled traveler, it also offers in-depth access critiques on various airlines, rental cars, hotel/motel accommodations, cruise ships, and buses worldwide, as well as adventure travel and volunteer opportunities. All in all, A World of Options provides the essential information a disabled traveler needs to plan an accessible journey and/or work abroad. The resource listings are particularly interesting; they provide valuable input on everything from camping in Britain to exploring Costa Rica. Now available for $45 U.S. (including shipping and handling) from:
Mobility International USA
PO Box 10767
Eugene, OR 97440 U.S.A.
541-343-1284 (voice/TDD)
Fax: 541-343-6812
email: info@miusa.org

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Inscrutable Asia can prove even more inscrutable when it comes to access. This handy hotel guide may help minimize the challenge. The guide covers Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Tawian & Thailand. It is published by Full Data Limited of San Francisco and is available for $14.95 from Bookmasters 800-247-6553.

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Jeanne May’s childhood fantasy was to visit Mongolia, but in reality she had limited strength and was wheelchair dependent with significant breathing problems because of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Her book, “Outer Mongolia... no longer a fantasy" details how she turned her dream trip into reality. To experience her dream trip, she and four friends flew eight times, travelled on the Trans Mongolian Railway, drove through and over the Gobi Desert in a bus, slept in tents on the steppes of Mongolia, touched the Great Wall of China, slept in a yurt, and saw a yak. They visited countries, saw places, met people, and experienced things they never thought possible. According to May, if you truly believe in doing something, and if it is meant to be, then anything is possible, whether you are disabled or not. Jeanne May is currently living in Australia.

“Outer Mongolia... no longer a fantasy" is now available from Synergebooks as an eBook: for $5.98 US or a CD-ROM for $8.50 US. Those living outside the US, add $3.00 for S&H on CD-ROMs All proceeds will go to the people of Mongolia. For more information, see http://www.synergebooks.com/ebook_outermongolia.html or contact Jeanne May via e-mail at jmay247@gmail.com or visit her website at www.aspirationsplus.com
Jeanne May
P.O. Box 257
Subiaco WA 6904

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Wheels & Waves
Cruise, Ferry, River & Canal Barge Guide for the Physically Challenged

Wheels and water are usually an unlikely duo, but Genie and George Aroyan researched what works and what doesn't. Available from:

Wheels Aweigh Publishing Company
17105 San Carols Boulevard, Suite A-6107
Fort Myers Beach, FL 33931 U.S.A.
and from Bookmasters (800) 637-2256.

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Access Anything Colorado: Adventuring with Disabilities

Colorado is an adventure state, and it leads the country in accessible outdoor activities. Access Anything: Colorado will guide people with disabilities and their travel partners to some of the best places Colorado has to offer. Includes general travel tips and addresses the needs of travelers young to old, paraplegic to quadriplegic, in both manual and power chairs. From the most mobile to the least active person, this book will help readers decide where they can go and what they can do once they get there. It includes all 55 national and state parks, all 10 Colorado adaptive sports programs, as well as lodging, dining, scenic drives, travel tips, and more.

Today there are 55 million people living with disabilities, 10 million people with motion-challenged disabilities in wheelchairs, and 11,000 spinal chord injuries per year; 20 million disabled travelers book vacations in Colorado • All of the places mentioned in this book have been road-tested by the author, an avid wheelchair traveler, and his partner • Resources provided Fulcrum Press 2005 $15.95

Access Anything: I Can Do That (Outskirts Press 2007) $11.95

Go Anywhere, Do Anything. An inspirational guide to traveling, adventuring, and sporting with a disability, Access Anything: I Can Do That! dives into the incredible world of adaptive sports and recreation by showcasing 45 different sports that have been adapted for people with disabilities. This one-of-a-kind guide also features essential disability travel information and tips for traveling by airplane, car/rental car, charter bus, cruise ship, and train. As an added bonus, I Can Do That! includes six inspirational interviews with world-class adaptive athletes who have helped to change the face of adaptive sports. Outskirts Press 2007) $11.95

To order either of these books, visit http://www.accessanything.net

If you’re planning a visit to British Columbia’s Lower Sunshine Coast, Ellen Frank’s “Sticks and Wheels” 120-page guidebook covers accessibility features in that region, including accessible parking to various sites, festivals and venues, and which restaurants provide ramps. Ellen Frank is a disabled travel agent with a good sense of humor that any wheelchair user can appreciate. One of her chapters is titled “The Best and Worst Toilets of the Sunshine Coast.” Learn more at: her web site http://www.sticksandwheels.net/portal/

EUROPE
Access in Paris 2008	Guide Rousseau H (in French)	The Accessible Guide to Florence	Seville, Spain
Access in London

AUSTRALIA
Easy Access Australia	The Wheelie's Handbook of Australia	A Wheely Good Guide to Sydney, Australia

US & CANADA
Colorado: Access Anything Colorado	Access Anything: I Can Do Anything	Wheels and Waves	Easy Access to National Parks
Accessible Fun in Florida	Sticks and Wheels
GLOBAL TRAVEL
Access Israel and Palestine	Easy Walks Israel	Outer Mongolia ... no longer a fantasy	World of Options
Exotic Destinations for Wheelchair Users