Tourist Office Leaflets

The main tourist office in Paris (see French Tourist Offices Overseas) has information leaflets on facilities for the disabled. Their website also has useful addresses.

• www.parisinfo.com

Useful Organizations

Both the Association des Paralysés de France (APF) and the Groupement pour l’Insertion des Personnes Handicappées Physiques (GIHP) provide information on disabled facilities in Paris.

APF

• 17 blvd Auguste Blanqui, 75013

• 01 40 78 69 00

• www.apf.asso.fr

GIHP

• 32 rue du Paradis, 75010

• 01 45 23 83 50

• www.gihpidf.asso.fr

Guided Tours

The Paris City Hall organizes numerous specialized tours of the city’s parks, gardens and cemeteries for people with disabilities, including special visits for the blind.

City Hall

• 01 43 28 47 63

Itineraries

For those with wheel-power who want to go it alone in central Paris, APF have detailed information on negotiating various quarters of the city. Paris comme sur des roulettes is also a useful guide with maps colour coding the quality of the pavements on given routes, access to public conveniences etc.

Editions Dakota

• 45 rue St-Sébastien, 75011

• (€8.99), or from FNAC and large newsagents

Travel Agents

Holiday Care, in the UK, has a useful list of specialist tour operators. APF Evasion, in Paris, can also organize your entire stay.

Holiday Care

• 0845 1249 971

• outside UK +44 0 208 760 0072

• www.holidaycare.org.uk

APF Evasion

• 17 blvd Auguste Blanqui, 75013

• 01 40 78 69 00

Metro/RER

Few stations are easily accessible for wheelchairs and most require a station member of staff to operate lifts to avoid either stairs or escalators. The new Météor line, however, is wheelchair accessible. Main metro and RER stations have a leaflet on transport facilities, called Handicaps et Déplacements en Région Ile-de-France.

Buses

Paris buses are slowly being equipped with access for wheelchairs, and all buses already have seats reserved for disabled and elderly persons, war veterans and pregnant women.

Taxis

It is a legal requirement for taxi drivers to help people with disabilities to get in and out of their vehicle, and to carry guide dogs as passengers. This does not mean that all taxis are able to carry wheelchairs, so do check when booking.

Taxi G7 has a large fleet of cars

• 01 47 39 47 39

Hotels

Many older hotels are unsuitable for people with mobility problems as they are without elevators, so it is essential that you check before booking. Newer hotels and the modern hotel chains are usually wheelchair accessible, but always ask when making a reservation.

Attractions

While some of the older museums and monuments are not accessible for people in wheelchairs, most museums and galleries are, and they also increasingly cater for those with special needs. Wheelchair uses enter the Louvre on an open lift under the pyramid. APF publishes a guide to disabled access in Paris’s museums, theatres and cinemas (see Useful Organizations).