Now that the summer holidays are coming up, you might be looking at booking a trip for yourself or someone else who has a disability. Understandably, organising a holiday can be quite stressful, and then when you factor in the need for disabled access both at your destination and when travelling, it can all become a bit too much. Fortunately, there are lots of sites and organisations that specialise in disabled access holidays; here a few that might help.
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Staying in the UK?
If you’re looking to stay in the UK, then travelling to your destination will be relatively easier than flying. With the ability for disabled users to use trains and cars, there’s reasonably less stress involved in organising this venture!
Disabled access holidays are certainly available in the many locations across the UK.
Rough Guides have put together a particularly handy booklet on Accessible Britain and the many places disabled users can visit without having to worry about inadequate facilities. The Rough Guide to Accessible Britain is divided into areas of the country, so that you can choose whereabouts you’d like to head to, and what disabled facilities will be on offer to you when you get there. We think this is great for planning days out, or when putting an itinerary together for a longer trip!
Travelling via Airports
This can be a slightly more daunting aspect for a wheelchair user or someone who requires additional assistance when travelling by plane. Unfortunately, there is no way for wheelchair users to stay in their chair throughout the duration of the flight (although a solution to this is being worked on), but there are lots of ways that the journey can be made easier for those individuals who require a wheelchair.
- Passenger Assistance: These airport assistants are there to ensure that you have a hassle-free experience when travelling through an airport. Providing their own mobility equipment, they make sure that individuals with reduced mobility are well-equipped and comfortably taken care of at all points of their journey.
- TryB4UFly: TryB4UFly is a relatively new service that aims to make travelling with mobility and care equipment easier. They can provide information about hire equipment, and you could take part in one of their cabin assessments where an OT can guide your through a replica cabin so you know exactly what to expect on the day. Our local TryB4UFly service is at the William Merritt Centre in Leeds, where we recently did an assessment.
- Checklist for disabled passengers: If you’d like to see the form you’ll need to fill out for the airline, then here’s a copy.
- Frequently Asked Questions: World on Wheelz also have some great information on the various rules and regulations when it comes to wheelchair access on cruises and planes.
Airports will help any disabled passengers wherever possible.
Accessible Accommodation
There are quite a travel agencies that specialise in providing disabled access hotels and cottages both in the UK and across the world. Accomable is one of them. A bit like Airbnb but specifically for accessible accommodation, Accomable lists properties around the world that are kitted out and designed to offer certain levels of accessibility to less able-bodied people.
Similar to this, the Accessible Hotels campaign aims to get more hotels around the country to improve their accessibility, giving disabled guests more freedom in where they can stay.
Disabled Holidays are also another great site for finding accessible lodgings. They can sort out the full package holiday from transportation to the airport, airport and flight assistance, and transfers to the accessible hotel so that you have everything you need ready for you. From Cornwall to Florida, there are lots of options depending on what you’re looking for!
Accessible accommodation is available all over the world; whether it’s a hotel room, apartment, or villa.
Although booking a holiday is a bit of a stressful thing, it doesn’t have to be so difficult for you to organise. There are lots of sites and checklists available for you to make sure that everything is taken care of — even the taxi ride to the hotel! We think this checklist is a great one to abide by when booking your disabled access holidays. With so many resources at your fingertips, booking a holiday has never been easier!
Graeme has worked alongside the public sector for much of his working life, helping departments improve efficiencies and deliver on projects. In his role at Vivid.Care, Graeme used his experience to tackle some of the most challenging issues in the healthcare sector, from falls through to winter pressures. He was also a guest speaker and a number of different conferences, including at the Falls Prevention Summit in London.
