Accessible holidays

Just because someone relies on a wheelchair doesn’t lessen their urge to explore the world, and increasingly, it doesn’t limit their potential to do so either. We can ensure that you have fully wheelchair accessible hotel rooms and transport throughout your holiday, and also arrange itineraries that are completely suitable for wheelchair users. That might mean choosing restaurants with ramps, and excursions that are fully accessible. In some destinations, such as India, it’s easy and inexpensive for assistants to be hired should you require them, and this also creates employment for local people.

Do note that when we talk about wheelchair accessible holidays this normally refers to lightweight chairs that are manually operated, and often foldable. Powered wheelchairs that are larger and significantly heavier can sometimes be hired in a destination, but creating a holiday that is accessible for that kind of chair tends to be more difficult.

Travel adverts often talk about ‘seeing the world’ but we know there are many ways to experience it when you’re blind or partially sighted. And we have a growing range of holidays that have been designed purposefully for those who want to get out there and explore, but need a little extra support to do so. From London to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, Vietnam and Cambodia, our holidays provide assistance from trained guides and chaperone volunteers. These are trips created by people who are themselves often visually impaired and therefore very conscious of the needs and interests of their travellers.

For tailor made holidays we can offer you as much assistance as you require, while on small group tours, there will typically be one sighted escort to every two clients, depending on need. Our accessible holidays create jobs and tourism training for many local people. But they also financially contribute to NGOs such as Sightsavers India, and community projects including one that gives yoga lessons to visually impaired girls.

Limited mobility doesn’t translate to limited ambition, and certainly when it comes to travelling the world, with a little extra preparation there’s nothing stopping you. In the Azores, we can help with lifting wheelchairs onto large, stable catamarans so that you can join whale watching excursions that provide valuable sightings date to research scientists. Returning to port, you’ll have a fully accessible hotel with lifts to all floors and rails in bathrooms, while transfer vehicles will be large enough to accommodate foldable lightweight chairs and walking frames.

If you would like to explore Namibia by car, where excursions include the AfriCat centre that has rescued more than 900 big cats and returned most to the wild, we can provide hotels with rooms on the ground floor, and door to door transfers for privately guided trips. And in Costa Rica, which is a fantastic destination for people with limited mobility, our holidays are arranged experienced teams who have personally taken each trip and know how to make it accessible. From surf lessons to visiting the town of Sarchi, supporting artisans who have been painting oxcarts in vibrant colours for generations, you can travel with complete peace of mind.

We believe that travel should always be an adventure, and while our accessible holidays typically involve more advance planning to ensure your needs are met, they’re no less exciting for having that reassurance in place. From small ship cruises in Antarctica to gorilla watching safaris in Rwanda, wheelchair accessible surfing in Costa Rica to Thailand homestays for blind and partially sighted travellers, our range of accessible tours is always expanding. And if there’s a destination or an activity that you’ve always been interested in, but can’t find it here yet... let’s have a conversation.