This section is designed to assist the disabled traveller who is travelling from the UK. As Travel Ambassadors blog their experiences, hopefully we will build up a comprehensive guide worldwide. So far I have added the following countries but with your help, we could go global!
- Singapore Airport, trains
- Sydney, Australia, ferry trips
- Tenerife Airport, Taxis
- Capetown, South Africa
- Canada, Rocky Mountaineer
- Vienna, Austria
- Geneva and Zurich airports, Switzerland
Singapore: Travel in Singapore is wonderful. Everything is very clean and well organised. Clear instructions on how to use the train system which is highly recommended as walking around in the high humidity can be exhausting. We loved being able to just get on board the train network and get to our destination very quickly indeed, also very well priced.
We went to the Botanical Gardens where you will see the most incredible display of orchids!
Sydney, Australia: The cruise ships dock right next to the Circular ferry terminal so if you are there for only one day, it is very easy to take a ferry ride around to Darling Harbour or just go on a gentle sightseeing trip. Ferries are all wheelchair accessible. There is a great walkway all around Sidney – more restaurants than you can imagine! Nightlife is vibrant and most eateries are easily accessible. However not all restaurants have accessible toilet facilities. There are very clean although somewhat old public toilets. The magnificent Opera House is just a ten minute walk away!
The airport is very well organised and I found boarding the flight very easy and comfortable. Due to the long flight home, we went business class. Whilst this is not a cheap option, if you are on a cruise the upgrade is not as expensive as booking a separate flight. We have flown with Virgin Atlantic and Emirates and both have provided exceptional services. I was particularly impressed with the toilet facilities on the Emirate flights: four toilets with different positioned grab rails. Well worth checking out before departure!!
Tenerife Airport: FlyDirect organise direct flights to Tenerife from January to April and I can highly recommend their hotel packages. We have stayed in different ones at Costa Adeje: The hotel Costa Gran Adeje had excellent accessible rooms and bathrooms were perfect. Tenerife is quite hilly so we found that the walk down to the beach front was best approached.
However we also stayed at the Hotel Jardines de Nivaria which had a lift directly down to the waterfront which was perfect. This hotel also had a heated seawater swimming pool with a gentle slope which made getting in and out of the pool very easy indeed.
Capetown, South Africa: We arrived in Capetown late January after a 17 day cruise down from Southampton. The arrivals hall was chaotic! We had asked the cruise Concierge to organise a disabled taxi to our hotel. When we finally found the driver we were dismayed at the state of the minibus – and the driver was definitely “under the influence”. The lift did work – just – and after a 20 minute drive, we arrived at our hotel which was situated just above the Waterfront.