How difficult is it to get around Paris in a wheel chair? Can you go up Eiffel in a chair?

Question

How difficult is it to get around Paris in a wheel chair? Can you go up Eiffel in a chair?

Answer 1

Paris is virtually flat, has good pavements with inclines at intersections so easy to get across roads in wheelchairs.  There are beautiful walks along the Seine that you could do.

Many of the RER and metro stations are now disabled friendly with lifts and easier access.

Both the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay have wheelchair access, and when I was there last year I saw a disabled visitor being told to go to the head of the queue by an official.

You should be able to get into the Eiffel Tower lift OK.

Do make sure that your hotel has disabled access, many don't, but whoever you book through should be able to give you this information.

Answer 2

Difficult in old parts.  The amount of dog dirt on the pavements makes it unpleasant.  Lifts on Eiffel tower are accommodating, staircase all but impossible.

Answer 3

The antiquity of much of Paris makes it difficult to retrofit for wheelchair accessbility and there are a lot of barriers. The Metro is impossible to navigate which cuts you off from the best part of the Parisian public transport system.

As I recall the elevator to the top stage of the Eiffel tower requires navigating a short flight of stairs to enter. I haven't been up the tower in a very long time and perhaps this has been remedied.

Answer 4

I was in Paris just over a year ago.  At that time, there were still a few steps at the Eiffel Tower.  There may be a way they can accommodate wheelchairs, but if there is, it isn't obvious.  

Rilli is right about getting around Paris.  Very few metro stations have elevators.  Many of them have escalators, but even with the escalators, you usually you have to climb a few stairs somewhere in each station.  Getting around by bus would also be difficult, as there are steps up into and down out of the bus.