The Grand Tour of Europe: A Deaf Traveler and Nonexistent Accommodations

Travelers in centuries past have partook in a classic tradition - the Grand Tour of Europe. In the beginning this consisted of several months trekking across the countries on the Continent. In later years, the British Isles joined the itineraries of many taking the Grand Tour.

 It serves as an educational rite of passage, exposing the traveler to the cultural riches and heritage of Europe's past and present. Art, music, food, architecture, history, all that were part of the Grand Tour.



The most common Grand Tour began with the traveler leaving from Dover, England by crossing the Channel to either Le Havre, France, or Ostend, the Netherlands. From there, the traveler would pass through France to Paris. After a lengthy stay, the traveler might head to Switzerland - either Geneva or Lausanne for some fresh air. Upon leaving Switzerland, they might find themselves eating pasta in multiple Italian cities - Florence, Venice, Rome, Pisa, Turin, Padua, Naples and the like. A detour to Greece to sun on the beaches and visit the ruins would be possible. Once the traveler had enough of the Mediterranean, they would head up north though Eastern Europe with stops in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland before making it back to the Netherlands. Once the circuit was complete, the traveler would cross the Channel back to England via the Netherlands.

In the past those journeys could take months at times. Today, relatively few have the fortitude (and the monetary resources) to have that much free time. Most advertised "Grand Tours" are now compacted three-week (or perhaps four week) journeys which consists of multiple city-hopping journeys rather than a slow and leisurely journey. Nevertheless, the allure of the Grand Tour still draws travelers to embark on a crash-course trip across the best of Europe. Including me.

So I set out on a search to see which tour operators offered the Grand Tour - and if they would provide ASL interpreters for Deaf travelers as I. Now, there are several Deaf-run tour agencies but at present time, none of them are offering a Grand Tour package. The best they offer are short runs touching one or two countries - three at most. With that in mind, I turned to the regular tour organizations in hopes that one of them would say "Yes!" to my inquiry if ASL interpreters would be provided so I could partake in the tour alongside hearing family, friends and strangers.

With my progressive vision loss from Usher Syndrome, it became vital that I see as much of Europe as possible in a short frame of time (and in one trip). A Grand Tour of Europe has been on my bucket list for going on fifteen years. My ideal itinerary consists of the following:

London: City tour, London Eye, teatime at Harrod's, British Museum, Harry Potter Studio Tour, Highclerc Castle (outside London), Buckingham Palace/Changing of the Guard, Big Ben, St. Paul Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, West End musical, Globe Theater.

Paris: City tour, Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Arc'd Triomphe, Notre Dame. Versailles

Amsterdam: City tour, canal boat ride, Anne Frank Huis, Rijksmuseum

Heidelberg: City tour, Heidelberg Castle, Bergbahn.

Munich: Marienplatz, Houfbrauhaus, Neuschwanstein Castle.

Salzburg: City tour, Sound of Music locations, Heilbrunn Castle/gardens, Mirabell Garden, dine on apfelstrudel and sachertorte. Salt mines would be interesting too!

Lucerne: City tour,  eat raclette and fondue. Mt. Pilatus - do the Golden Round Trip - boat from Lucerne to Alpnachstad, go up cog railway, come down aerial cableway/gondola, bus back to Lucerne.

Rome: City tour, Ancient Rome & Colsieum, Vatican City with Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Piazza Navrrona, Pantheon. Pasta and gelato!

Venice: City tour, Doges Palace, St Mark's Basilica, Galeria d'Accademia, canal boat ride.

Florence: City tour, Uffizi, Accademia (Pisa is nearby - day excursion to see the Leaning Tower).

Now, I've found plenty of tours similar to the one above (often substituting Innsbruck for Salzburg, or including different cities in Germany as well as a stop in Brussels, Belgium). But what I have not found is a single tour group that would accommodate the request for an ASL interpreter.

There are plenty of resources and groups that cater to other disabilities - low vision/blind; wheelchairs and slow walkers, mobility issues  and so on - but none of those "disability-related" groups or tours include the provision of sign language interpreters. Thus, those disability-friendly resources are not quite Deaf-friendly.

Cruises on the other hand, various cruise lines have stated that they would happily provide interpreters if a US port is included in the itinerary. For that, if one were to sail to Europe from New York or Fort Lauderdale, then an interpreter would be provided. But if cruises began and ended in Europe without touching a US port, they weren't required to provide interpreters.

The same went for the regular tour operators. Almost all start and end in Europe - airfare from the US does not count as a "US port", therefore it seems that tour operators are exempt from the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements. And hence my snafu. What would it take for a tour group to accommodate Deaf travelers wanting to do the Grand Tour?

An option would be going with a group from an American university - they are required to provide accommodations to students going abroad on a university-sponsored trip. If there are any colleges or universities offering the Grand Tour that are available to graduates or non-students, do let me know!

One tour group stated that they have had Deaf travelers partake in their tours in the past - but that leads to many questions. How much did the Deaf travelers mingle with their hearing tour mates? What about the spiels and lectures that tour guides give? What about safety? For me, the allure of going with a group is to meet new people, including tour mates and tour guides. I would be the one that listens to the tour guide's information sessions, drinking up the facts and figures as well as anecdotes. Without an interpreter how could I partake in that?

Are there any tour operators out there - Deaf or regular - that would form a Grand Tour group that is Deaf friendly, whether through group use of ASL or the provision of ASL interpreters? Are there resources that I have not pursued? What can I do to ensure that dream of doing the Grand Tour of Europe becomes a reality? Are there others that are also facing similar obstacles and would love to join a Deaf-friendly group to follow in the steps of the classic travelers of a bygone era?

I remain optimistic that somehow I will find myself partaking in the tradition of doing a Grand Tour of Europe.


Edit: The tour has been set up for Deaf/ASL travelers to explore seven cities in five countries - do check out the itinerary here and sign up! Link: http://thecreativepensieve.blogspot.com/2015/10/grand-european-tour-for-deaf-asl.html