Overview

Whilst staying in Washington DC we hired an adapted vehicle that was wheelchair accessible and drove over the Potomac river to Arlington Cemetery. The journey to the cemetery was not easy. Driving on the right side of the road and a lot of one way systems made it challenging but the main problem was the lack of signage to the cemetery. We must have crossed the Potomac several in our attempt to get to the cemetery. We did finally get there. On arrival we inquired about disabled parking. There were plenty of disabled spaces. There are other ways to travel to Arlington Cemetery including .... The metro. The Arlington National Cemetery Station is located on the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Area Metrorail's Blue Line. There is also a Metrobus stop on Memorial Avenue. Information on the hours of operation, schedules and fares for the Metrorail and Metrobus are available on the WMATA website. Both are just a short walk from Arlington gates. The welcome centre entrance can be accessed by a few stairs or a ramp which gives access to wheelchair users. Arlington Cemetery is huge (approximately 624 acres). The sites of most interest are scattered throughout its 624 acres. To make the most of the day we payed to ride the hop on hop off guided tour trolley bus. The trolley buses where wheelchair accessible with 2 spaces with clamps and seatbelts for wheelchair users. The spaces were at the front behind the driver. To access the trolley bus there was a small pullout ramp. Unfortunately not all the trolley buses had working pullout ramps which meant that on some occasions we had wait extra time for a trolley bus with a functioning ramp. It was annoying. We were lucky that our visit was on a bright and sunny day that was not disrupted by the rain. We managed to see almost everything we wanted including the JFK eternal flame (which was a little bit tricky to get to in a wheelchair). There were a few areas that were not accessible for wheelchair.

Transport & Parking

Whilst staying in Washington DC we hired an adapted vehicle that was wheelchair accessible and drove over the Potomac river to Arlington Cemetery. The journey to the cemetery was not easy. Driving on the right side of the road and a lot of one way systems made it challenging but the main problem was the lack of signage to the cemetery. We must have crossed the Potomac several in our attempt to get to the cemetery. We did finally get there. On arrival we inquired about disabled parking. There were plenty of disabled spaces. There are other ways to travel to Arlington Cemetery including .... The metro. The Arlington National Cemetery Station is located on the Metropolitan Washington D.C. Area Metrorail's Blue Line. There is also a Metrobus stop on Memorial Avenue. Information on the hours of operation, schedules and fares for the Metrorail and Metrobus are available on the WMATA website. Both are just a short walk from Arlington gates.

Access

Most of the places of interest where are accessible . I was impressed that the trolley buses had designated wheelchair spaces but was also annoyed not all of them had working pull out ramps.

Toilets

Staff

Most of the staff are extremely helpful and obliging especially those who helped get the wheelchair on and off the trolley bus. Unfortunately as usual there was one who was a little reluctant to help.

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