Adventuring together.
We were very impressed with the accessibility at Jugendherberge Leipzig (International Youth Hostel Association), so I wanted to write a blog specifically about the features we found here.
The first thing to note is that the youth hostel is within the low emissions zone of Leipzig, however by emailing the City Council a few weeks before we travelled, as Blue Badge holders, we were given an exemption. The youth hostel does charge for parking, but again as Blue Badge holders parking was free. The car park is about 100 m from the youth hostel, but we were able to unload immediately outside the door and move the car to the car park afterwards.
A short ramp gives access to the main entrance, reception and small common area. As with many European and youth hostels there is no self catering kitchen, but breakfast is included in the price and other meals are available for a fee. Due to Racheal being on blended diet, we do find it more difficult when there is no members kitchen. However, as our stay here was towards the end of our four week trip we had managed to prepare enough meals at previous places which we stored in our portable freezer.
From the reception there was a lift to access all floors, with the accessible rooms being located on the second floor. Here we found a wide corridor to a number of accessible rooms. The door to the corridor was quite heavy which might be difficult for some. We had chosen a room without ensuite, partly to keep the cost down and also to have a larger room. As you can see from the floor plan, six bedrooms share two large accessible bathrooms on one side of the landing, and there are accessible room rooms with ensuite the other side of the landing.
Our room (201) was very spacious with two sets of bunkbeds, with the top bunk folding up against the wall out of the way to make space to use a mobile hoist. This arrangement suited us well, as Summer and I were able to use one set of bunkbeds and Racheal effectively had a single bed. There was also a pull-out bed in the room meaning that four people can still share even when one of the bunks is folded up. There was also a table, four stools, and wardrobes/cupboards. There was plenty of space for Racheal‘s changing table in the room and of course our trusty trolley!
The bathrooms were huge with an accessible sink, toilet and shower area. As well as the wall mounted shower seat, there was a free standing shower seat in each bathroom. There were plenty of grab rails and the bathrooms were always warm.
In the dining room, on the first floor, a continental buffet breakfast was served every morning. There were tables of varying sizes with plenty of space between and staff who were happy to move furniture if needed. We met a young man who is a full time wheelchair user who travels independently, and he was very impressed with the facilities at the youth hostel too.
There is also a washing machine and dryer available for guests’ use, a supermarket across the road and a tram stop about 5 minutes walk away. Most tram stops in Leipzig are fully accessible, including this one, but there are no concessions for people with disabilities or their carers, from outside Germany. We found Leipzig an easy city from an access point of view. See our Leipzig blog for more information. https://www.wheelyamazinggapyear.com/post/weihnachtsm%C3%A4rkte-and-bach
