Craig and I are lucky to have visited several wonderful international destinations, but our wish list is long and we’re still newbies at accessible international travel ourselves! We’ve been to several cities in Mexico, Scotland and England together, and apart we’ve covered at least another ten countries on top of that. Our expertise and knowledge is mostly in the 50 United States (yes we’ve been to all of them, and love those two off-continent states dearly!), so when discussing international travel we rely on our huge network of friends in the industry that we’ve met over the years, and thankfully this number is great thanks to several expos and networking groups we’ve been a part of. Of greatest note is our friends at S.A.T.H, www.sath.org. Overall SATH is a great network for international travel, and they’ve been paving the way in the industry for us in both advocacy and access for something like 30 years. Join their membership if you’re a traveler and want news or a travel agent and want networking. Another great network is tourwatch, created by our friend Scott Rains at www.rollingrains.com to network over 600 businesses and individuals together to share information, advice and expertise.
Mexico: for Puerto Vallarta, see www.accesiblemexico.com for transportation, accomodations, and even airfare. For Cancun, see Cancun Accessible http://www.cancunaccesible.com/, please note that weblink is accessible with one S in the spanish spelling. If the website doesn’t translate for you, drop them a line at info@cancunaccesible.com, they do speak English, but in some browsers their website remains en Espanol! They’re a great recource, we love our friends down in Cancun!
Canada: start with our friends at http://www.accessibletrav.com who offer travel companions in the country as well provide a resource of information on accessibility while traveling there. We lean on the side of adventure, a must stop is Accessible Canadian Adventures, who will actually get you out of the city if you want to explore the wonderful bounty that Canada has to offer. http://www.acadventures.ca/ Also check out Waypoint Charter, who specializes in all kinds of boats in British Columbia. http://www.waypointcharter.com
UK: for the entirety of Britain check out Undiscovered Britain; a wealth of information and personal research in these four countries, and she can help you with lodging (yes including castles !), trains, ferries, rentals, dining and discounts. http://www.undiscoveredbritain.com/
European Destinations
Italy: there’s a fabulous resource in Accessible Italy, www.accessibleitaly.com.
Spain: there are three that we know if, Accessible Barcelona http://www.accessiblebarcelona.com/ for hotels, transporation and services in Barcelona, Accessible Spain, http://accessiblespain.com/ which brings access to Andalucia (Costal del Sol, from Marbella to El Ejido) and Accessible Travel Spain, http://www.accessibletravel.es/, mostly specializing in mobility transport.
Sweden: http://www.accessible-sweden.com/, who’s motto is “creating independent holidays for the mobility conscious” and a truly reliable source of information for that country.
African Destinations
Egypt: Egypt Has It All will take you to the pyramids, on the Nile River, and even for a camel ride or a desert safari. Their positivity and enthusiasm for helping people with disabities see this gorgeous country is inspiring! http://www.egypthasitall.com/
Dubai: Orient Tours in Dubai, http://www.orienttours.ae/, Specializing in the Persian Gulf Countries in tours, excursions, and safaris as well.
Safaris in South Africa and Tanzania: Endeavour Safaris http://www.endeavour-safaris.com/, Epic Enabled, http://www.epic-enabled.com/, and Flamingo Tours, http://www.flamingotours.co.za/, all wonderfully adept at handline the many specialized needs of PWD offering smooth, seamless and fully accessible “holidays” in and amongsth the plethora of wildlife and adventure that Africa has to offer.
Asian Destinations
India: Samarthyam, http://samarthyam.org, specliazes in universal design and general travel information.
Thailand, Japan, and several other destinations:
Roll On Travel http://www.rollontravel.com a wealth of knowledge in MANY languages for all sorts of tours!
When We Travel, with a huge listing of hotels and even pet friendly hotels… on the home page you do have to scroll down for the blue wheelchair symbol on the left. http://www.whenwetravel.com/ They’ve got everything from Bangladesh to Viet Nam so don’t overlook this amazing recource. In addition to WWT, Eco Adventure International has rips to Thailand, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, China, and Costa Rica. http://www.eaiadventure.com/access/
Australia/New Zealand:
Ebility: http://www.e-bility.com/travel/, a decade old agency that also has much more information than travel on their site.
OZ Mates Travel: http://www.disabilitytravel.com.au/ with DOZENS of different tours in the country including outback farm stays and Christmas in July.
Accessible N.Z. http://www.accessiblenz.com , offering fun tours for the adventurous types, under the umbrella of her parent’s company Accessible Kiwi Tours, who have been catering to pwd for over twenty years. http://www.toursnz.com/
Central and South American Destinations
Nicaragua: www.accessiblenicaragua.com
When We Travel again for all of Central America (above)
Eco-Adventure International for Costa Rica (above)
Ecuador: Ecuador for All have it dialed in for several regions including the Galapagos and the Amazon. Visit them at www.ecuadorforall.com.
And, last if you simply don’t know where to go but want to go somewhere, our friends at Accessible Journeys can get you to just about anywhere on this list as well as those coutnries not mentioned too (like Norway, Switzerland, and Israel)! They provide travel companions and eqipment rentals as well as being a full travel agency with a quertercentury of experience! See www.disabilitytravel.com, their website is wonderful.
What is your favorite international destination? Do you have any travel tips or resources to share?
Could you please provide any info. you might have pertaining to Chile, in South America? Thanks a million!
Hi Gerry, I would look at our network on TourWatch, http://tournet.ning.com, and also look up our acquaintance Nelida there, her blog is http://nelidabarbeito.blogspot.com/, she’s in Argentina, but versed on the nearby countries as well. Good luck! :)
Thanks a lot for this! My friends are planning to give the children in wheelchairs a trip they would never forget.