Tips for Travelers with Disabilities

Canada has made tremendous efforts toward eliminating barriers to mobility for its citizens and, by extension, its tourist visitors. City pavements feature curb cuts for wheelchair travel, and larger hotels and airports sport wheelchair-accessible washrooms. A growing number of restaurants and tourist attractions are now designed for wheelchair accessibility as well, although room for improvement remains.

The Access-Able Travel Source (www.access-able.com) is a website featuring an online database with information about hotels, tour operators, and attractions that can accommodate travelers with disabilities in the United States and Canada. The offerings for Atlantic Canada are understandably a bit slim, but the site is easy to navigate and does provide links to such resources as service animals, equipment rentals, and access guides.

The Canadian Paraplegic Association (www.canparaplegic.org) runs a helpful website and also maintains an office in each of the three Atlantic provinces. Consult the website for the local phone numbers.

Travelers with disabilities headed for Nova Scotia may ask about transportation or recreational facilities by contacting the Nova Scotia League for Equal Opportunities, 5251 Duke St., Suite 1211, Halifax, NS B3J 1P3 (tel. 866/696-7536 or 902/455-6942; www.novascotialeo.org).

Other organizations that offer a vast range of resources and assistance to disabled travelers include MossRehab ResourceNet (tel. 800/CALL-MOSS; www.mossresourcenet.org), the American Foundation for the Blind (tel. 800/232-5463; www.afb.org), and the Society for Accessible Travel & Hospitality (SATH; tel. 212/447-7284; www.sath.org). AirAmbulanceCard.com is now partnered with SATH and allows you to preselect top-notch hospitals in case of an emergency.

Some travel agencies offer customized tours and itineraries for travelers with disabilities. Among them are Accessible Journeys (tel. 800/846-4537 or 610/521-0339; www.disabilitytravel.com), which can help you find a Royal Caribbean cruise touching Halifax and Saint John, for example.

Flying with Disability (www.flying-with-disability.org) is a comprehensive information source on airplane travel. Avis Rent a Car (tel. 888/879-4273) has an "Avis Access" program that offers services for customers with special travel needs. These include specially outfitted vehicles with swivel seats, spinner knobs, and hand controls; mobility scooter rentals; and accessible bus service. Be sure to reserve well in advance.

Also check out the quarterly magazine Emerging Horizons (www.emerginghorizons.com), available by subscription ($16.95 per year in the U.S.; $21.95 annually outside the U.S.). The "Accessible Travel" link at Mobility-Advisor.com offers a variety of travel resources to disabled persons as well.

Finally, British travelers should contact Holiday Care (tel. 0845/124-9971 in UK only; www.holidaycare.org.uk) to access a wide range of travel information and resources for disabled and elderly people.