Tips for Travelers with Disabilities

Many Scottish hotels, museums, restaurants, and sightseeing attractions have wheelchair ramps, but they are less prevalent in rural areas. Persons with disabilities are often granted special discounts at attractions and, in some cases, nightclubs. These are called "concessions" in Britain. It always pays to ask. Free information and advice are available from Holiday Care, Imperial Building, 2nd Floor, Victoria Road, Horley, Surrey RH6 7PZ (tel. 0845/124-9971; www.holidaycare.org.uk).

Flying Wheels Travel (tel. 507/451-5005; www.flyingwheelstravel.com) offers escorted tours and cruises that emphasize sports, and private tours in minivans with lifts. Access-Able Travel Source (tel. 303/232-2979; www.access-able.com) offers extensive access information and advice for traveling around the world with disabilities. Accessible Journeys (tel. 800/846-4537 or 610/521-0339; www.disabilitytravel.com) caters specifically to slow walkers and wheelchair travelers and their families and friends.

Organizations that offer assistance to travelers with disabilities include the Moss Rehab Hospital (tel. 800/CALL-MOSS [225-5667]; www.mossresourcenet.org), which provides a library of accessible-travel resources online; and SATH (Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality; tel. 212/447-7284; www.sath.org), which is now partnered with AirAmbulanceCard.com (allowing you to preselect top-notch hospitals in case of an emergency). Flying with Disability (www.flying-with-disability.org) is a comprehensive information source on airplane travel, and the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB; tel. 800/232-5463; www.afb.org) provides information on traveling with Seeing Eye dogs.

Also check out the quarterly magazine Emerging Horizons ($17 per year, $22 outside the U.S.; www.emerginghorizons.com), and Open World Magazine, published by the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality (subscription $13 per year, $21 outside the U.S.).