Nobody should miss out on the holiday of a lifetime. Unfortunately for those living with disabilities or mobility impairments, as well as their families, planning disabled travel can be particularly challenging.
Factors such as finding accessible hotels, villas or cottages, sourcing the correct travel insurance, through to hiring accessible transport and mobility aids such as manual wheelchairs and mobility scooters, all need to be considered and can often make the holiday planning process particularly demanding.
Thankfully, in today’s market there are a number of specialist disabled holidays providers who can tailor bespoke holiday packages to suit individual requirements. Whether you require wheelchair access, have difficulty walking long distances or need a cool place to store medication, such companies can plan every aspect of the accessible trip from accommodation to transfers and even activities during your stay.
There are now a variety of accessible holidays available, ranging from beach holidays to cruises for the disabled, city breaks to wheelchair accessible coach holidays and much more. For those who are feeling more adventurous, some travel agents even provide more specialised holidays such as safaris and skiing trips.
Whatever your level of access needs, there is an organisation to help you tailor your disabled holiday to make for the perfect trip. Some of the leading organisations include Break, a group which support families, adults and children with special care, by providing short breaks and supported holidays. The Disability Aid Trust is another prominent charity, which provides grants to cover the cost of helpers to assist disabled people on holiday, as well as financial aid towards the cost of holidays and helpers to give carers a break.
National disability charity Scope also publishes a The Disability Holidays Guide, which provides comprehensive information on every aspect of disability holidays, whilst VisitEngland’s National Accessible Scheme (NAS) highlights accommodation providers who have improved their accessibility, for disabled holidays in the UK.
