Traveling is a right held by everyone. Seeing the world, experiencing new things, trying new foods, and making friends all over the globe are things everyone should be able to do, including those living with a disability. If we’re honest, not everywhere is easy to navigate in a wheelchair, with a cane, or if you need to move slower than the rest of the traffic. However, there are a few destinations that rise above the rest for their ultra accessibility.
Good to Go, a specialist travel insurance provider, released its findings in 2024 analyzing which of the most popular travel destinations are the best for older or disabled travelers. To find out which places are the most accessible, the team first created a seed list of the top 20 European cities based on the number of annual visitors to each. It then measured each destination across multiple points, including forms of public transport, health care, and accessible restaurants/tourist attractions. (Some data points were calculated per 100,000 people to avoid larger cities ranking higher unfairly.)
After looking at all the numbers, the team named Paris the most accessible city in Europe.
“Scoring highly across the board, Paris was revealed as the No. 1 destination,” the company said in an announcement shared with Travel + Leisure, noting that it “ranked in the top five cities across all metrics other than the number of forms of public transport, and the number of accessible attractions.”
Three Italian cities—Milan, Florence, and Venice—ranked among the top five destinations (third to fifth, respectively). Florence also snagged the top spot for both accessible attractions and accessible restaurants. However, as the findings noted, Venice is lacking in public transport options.
Perhaps rather surprisingly to anyone who has ever been, Lisbon was named the second-most accessible. Though it’s famed for its hills and its cobblestone streets, the Portuguese capital ranked highly for its number of transportation options, accessible cultural sites, and health care. (As a resident of Lisbon, I suggest hiring one of the plentiful tuk-tuk drivers to take you around the entire city, or hop on a tram to see and do it all without having to worry about its elevation gains.)
Also making an appearance in the top 10 is Athens in sixth, followed by Amsterdam, Barcelona, Prague, Munich, and Berlin.
“Understandably, for many people living with disabilities, medical conditions, or mobility issues, going abroad to an unfamiliar location can be off-putting,” Grant Winter, compliance officer at Good to Go, said. “There are often concerns about leaving an established support network, being able to get around a new city, and what might happen if you need medical attention. The good news is that travel is becoming increasingly accessible, with many world-class, must-see locations being extremely accessible and easy to navigate. Our research found that several of the world’s most iconic, cultural cities are also some of the most accessible, meaning that these destinations offer the perfect travel opportunities for everyone, regardless of age or disability.”
