A review of a holiday with a wheelchair and four kids in Stein am Rhein

My fam­i­ly, con­sist­ing of myself, my wife and our four daugh­ters, were able to spend three won­der­ful days in Stein am Rhein. As a per­son with tetraple­gia in a man­u­al wheel­chair, it is not always easy for me to find suit­able accom­mo­da­tion that is wheel­chair-acces­si­ble and also child-friend­ly and big enough for six peo­ple. But with the Youth Hos­tel in Stein am Rhein we had the per­fect match!

We start our three-day adven­ture with a vis­it to the Rhine Falls in Neuhausen. On the south bank of Laufen Cas­tle, we buy tick­ets to get to the view­ing plat­form. A short path leads through Laufen Cas­tle tak­ing us from the car park up to the plat­form. The lift takes you down to the plat­form where you have the chance to expe­ri­ence the pow­er­ful tor­rents of water up close. After a short dri­ve from the south to the north river­bank, we treat our­selves to a deli­cious meal in the restau­rant with a view of the Rhine Falls.

Relief after a brief moment of panic

We are warm­ly wel­comed when we arrive at the Youth Hos­tel. Hos­tel Man­ag­er Patrick shows us the room and all the wheel­chair-acces­si­ble toi­lets and show­ers. We sleep in a room with three bunk beds, which pleas­es our chil­dren very much. But at first I think, “Oh God­ness, I hope I can get in and out of the nar­row bed.” But with a lit­tle help from my wife, I man­aged with­out any prob­lem at all.

Delicious food, plus an abundance of fun and games

The chef pro­vides us with a deli­cious din­ner on the ter­race in the evening sun. After­wards, the chil­dren let off steam on the large play­ing field and play­ground.

The next day, we take the train for a trip to Sea Life in Con­stance. We stroll around the har­bour and the colour­ful old town. Then it’s time to head back to Stein am Rhein by boat. All activ­i­ties are very wheel­chair-friend­ly.

Back at the Youth Hos­tel, my wife and I spend the evening on the ter­race while the chil­dren have fun in the play­ground.

On the day of depar­ture, we spend the morn­ing in the play­ground next to the Stadt­garten. This is not the most ide­al loca­tion for wheel­chair users, but it’s a par­adise for chil­dren with its swings, climb­ing frame and slides.

Our overall impression:

We nev­er con­sid­ered youth hos­tels before because we assumed that they were less suit­able for me as a per­son with tetraple­gia, if at all. But now we have gained a dif­fer­ent per­spec­tive and know that there are wheel­chair-acces­si­ble youth hos­tels. There are even those with a dou­ble bed and own toilet/shower in the room, plus space for a cot. If you ensure you clar­i­fy all the details and pre­pare well, it can turn out to be a great trip for every­one. We will cer­tain­ly be plan­ning trips with overnight stays in youth hos­tels again.

This trip was sup­port­ed by Schaffhauser­land Tourism.

A severe blow of fate 15 years ago com­plete­ly changed Peter Roos’ life from one sec­ond to the next. When he was 25 years old, the ground was bru­tal­ly pulled from under his feet. After a swim­ming acci­dent, Peter Roos could only move his eyes.

Today, Peter has firm­ly reclaimed the life he loves despite the lim­i­ta­tions of his tetraple­gia. Hav­ing retrained and com­plet­ed var­i­ous fur­ther train­ing cours­es, he now works at the Swiss Para­plegic Cen­tre in Not­twil. He lives near Lucerne with his wife and four chil­dren and loves going on trips.

No mountain too high

Simon talks about his adven­tures in a wheel­chair sur­round­ed by the idyl­lic nat­ur­al beau­ty of Saas-Fee.