Planning accessible days out and breaks in the UK

When looking for options for accessible holidays, multiple sclerosis (MS) friendly city breaks or inspiration for a ‘staycation’, a really good place to start looking would be on the Visit Britain, Visit England, Visit Scotland and Visit Wales websites. They all have dedicated information about accessible places, events and accommodation.

These ‘Visit’ websites are backed by the government and are responsible for marketing the United Kingdom tourism industry. They have some great pages all about accessibility across a range of destinations. In some cases, they also feature suggested itineraries, accessible city break ideas, and accessible heritage and culture breaks too.

When on holidays in England, the MS-UK helpline are big fans of visiting National Trust properties. The National Trust do well in terms of making old and historically important sites as accessible as they possibly can be, often hiring/loaning mobility aids (such as mobility scooters) so that people can get to access as much of the site as possible.

Whilst we are talking about planning days out, you might want to register for the Access Card. An Access Card (or Nimbus Card) is a UK-based photo ID that uses symbols to discreetly communicate a person’s disability and access needs (like needing a carer/companion, help with queuing, difficulty standing, limited walking ability, urgent toilet needs etc.) to venues, events, and ticketing systems. The idea is that having an Access Card removes the need for repeated explanations and helping providers offer the legally required (under The Equality Act 2010) reasonable adjustments or concessions. The Access Card is recognised by many UK venues (The O2, Wembley, theme parks, theatres) and can help with planning trips and ensuring smoother experiences.

If you are in receipt of disability and mobility welfare benefits, then the person who is accompanying and supporting you, may be able to get ‘free’ companion/carer tickets to access venues and attractions.

Each venue will have their own policy and process for enabling a free companion pass, however the Carers Card UK is a good way of giving concessions to 500+ UK attractions and venues.

The Motability Charity (the charity that enables people with mobility welfare benefits to use them on accessible lease vehicles) publishes the amazing ‘Rough Guide to Accessible Britain’ which you can view online or download as a .pdf. This breaks down the home nations into regions, makes suggestions for highlights and gives excellent travel advice.

Tourism for All (TFA) is a small independent national charity working to improve accessibility in the tourism, travel and leisure industry. They have a section on their website all about advice for travellers. This has a travel planner and links to services such as mobility equipment hire and specialist travel agencies.

If you were wanting to take the pressure off, you may want to think about tour operators or a travel agency. There are a range of organisations that you could look at to help you travel and stay all around the UK.

Limitless travel organise accessible coach holidays in the UK usually organising via area (e.g. Cotswolds, Cornwall and Devon, Canterbury and the Kent coast, etc.)

Disabled Holidays is also worth knowing about. They have wealth of accommodation available to book both in the UK and abroad. Disabled Holidays act as a broker and travel agency (members of both ABTA and ATOL).  As they are a disability specialist service, they can often offer additional services such as accessible transfers, temporary hire of mobility aids and much more.

Disabled Holidays also work with Shearings, a well-known UK-based coach holiday tour operator specialising in escorted coach holidays, and short breaks across the UK.

If you decide to plan your own ‘tour’ and need a bit of help planning for accessible transport, we suggest checking in with the disability charity ‘Transport for all’. They can help with journey planning and advice about rights when travelling.