Medical Certification

[Sheila from Oregon]

Ciao. I am coming to beautiful Italy (Naples/Sorrento, Rome, Tuscany, Le Marche, Bologna, and 1 day in Venice) for a month at the end of August. I have multiple sclerosis and use hiking poles to help me walk distances over a half mile and help with balance issues. I have a disability placard for my car here and I'm on disability from the government. I'm wondering 1. what is considered "medical certification" that allows me and my traveling companion to skip the lines? Do I just need a note from my doctor or paperwork from my government or something else? 2. Once I have that, some of the museum sites offer free entrance without reservation but does that mean I will need to stand in the regular line or do I go to the skip the line area and show medical certification card? I will have a rental car. What else do I need to know to help me be able to see and do as much as possible by limiting any unnecessary walking or standing while in your beautiful country? Thank you so much!

 

[Lourdes]

Ciao Sheila and welcome to our forum!

What a lovely itinerary, an entire month! No worries, you can most definitely take advantage of the amenities offered: just use your own car placard from home here, you will be able to park anywhere not just on the disabled areas (just be aware the placard doesn't allow you to enter into ZTL zones, the limited traffic areas in the historical centers). As far as museums, you don't have to wait in line - head to the top of any line and show any certification that shows your disability and you get to skip the line and enter for free. Any accompanying person with you can also get in free. As far as that certification is concerned, since you will need to leave the placard in the car, you can't easily carry it with you. I'd suggest making a photocopy and carrying that with you, and in addition bring anything else that shows you are disabled. Do you have any type of card or ID that shows you're disabled? That would work, but if not, a letter from your doctor should also work: the certification used in Italy is a doctor's visit that certifies the level of disability one has (measured in %) and that is a legal document that certifies "disability". So if you already have something like that, that would be the certification that would best help you out during your travels in Italy, and anywhere else for that matter. An EU "disability card" now exists in Italy for this purpose, I am not sure about in Oregon. I found this site that says some states offer some sort of ID: https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/id-card.php

Let me know if I can help in any other way! Enjoy planning your trip

 

[Sheila from Oregon]

Ciao Sheila and welcome to our forum!

What a lovely itinerary, an entire month! No worries, you can most definitely take advantage of the amenities offered: just use your own car placard from home here, you will be able to park anywhere not just on the disabled areas (just be aware the placard doesn't allow you to enter into ZTL zones, the limited traffic areas in the historical centers). As far as museums, you don't have to wait in line - head to the top of any line and show any certification that shows your disability and you get to skip the line and enter for free. Any accompanying person with you can also get in free. As far as that certification is concerned, since you will need to leave the placard in the car, you can't easily carry it with you. I'd suggest making a photocopy and carrying that with you, and in addition bring anything else that shows you are disabled. Do you have any type of card or ID that shows you're disabled? That would work, but if not, a letter from your doctor should also work: the certification used in Italy is a doctor's visit that certifies the level of disability one has (measured in %) and that is a legal documents that certifies "disability". So if you already have something like, that would be the certification that would best help you out during your travels in Italy, and anywhere else for that matter. An EU "disability card" now exists in Italy for this purpose, I am not sure about in Oregon. I found this site that says some states offer some sort of ID: https://www.disabled-world.com/disability/id-card.php

Let me know if I can help in any other way! Enjoy planning your trip

Thank you, Lourdes! We do not have "cards" here but I can get a letter on physician letterhead. Do you happen know if the same (going to the front of any line) holds true throughout Italy, specifically Rome?
I'm so excited to spend time in Italy. It's been a lifelong dream and I'm so fortunate to get to be there so long! And, I'm so happy I found this forum. There is so much great information on here.

 

[Lourdes]

I'm glad to be on help and that the info on here is helping you plan your trip!

Yes, the rules about access are national laws so they apply everywhere that is a "public" museum (most are), but you do run into a few that are private and those might not always offer the free entrance to you or to the accompanying person unless you have a disability considered 100% that requires their assistance, so that's the only place where you might find a bit of limitations. But the skipping the line+free entrance is for everyone with disability, I've never seen it be very strictly applied here in Florence.

Do let me know if I can help in any other way! In the meantime, enjoy the planning!