The 8 Best Wheelchair-Accessible Vacation Destinations Around the World
There are lots of accessible vacation destinations around the world for wheelchair users, both within the United States and abroad. Thanks to a growing awareness of special needs and increased demand for accessible tourism, many cities now offer specially designed accessible accommodations, transportation, airports, and theme parks for people with disabilities.
When traveling alone, with a travel buddy, or as a family, be sure to communicate with providers well in advance regarding your needs so that they can be ready for you when you come. It's also essential to take out travel health insurance and (translated) medical prescriptions with you so that you can continue your regular health routine while you’re away.
1. Denver, Colorado
The Mile-High City is well set up to cater to wheelchair users. People who don’t want to travel with their chairs can even rent mobility devices to use while they’re there! The RTD Light Rail, city bus routes, and Skyride airport shuttle bus are all wheelchair-accessible and there is a special fleet of accessible taxis.
While some outer-suburban sidewalks have potholes and cracks, the inner-city sidewalks are well maintained and there are curb cuts at nearly all intersections. When it's snowing, it's best to take public transportation.
When visiting Denver, some great places to visit include:
Larimer Square, which has over 40 restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and clubs
Colorado State Capitol Building
The Denver Botanic Gardens
The Denver Art Museum
City Park
Denver Zoo
The Denver Museum of Nature and Science
The Denver United States Mint
The Coors Brewery Tour
The home stadiums of Denver's professional sports teams
Rocky Mountain National Park, which has several wheelchair-accessible trails
2. Seattle, Washington
The city of Seattle in Washington State is very wheelchair-accessible—making it a great vacation destination for seniors with limited mobility as well as for younger travelers and families. All of the city's buses, taxis, airport shuttles, trains, and ferries have been designed with wheelchair accessibility in mind, and there are hotels with accessible rooms and roll-in showers.
Aside from transport and accommodation, Seattle's major attractions are wheelchair-accessible, too. Guests with mobility devices will find it easy to make their way around the waterfront, wheel around Pike Place Market, take an elevator to the top of the Space Needle, ride on the Seattle Great Wheel, and go whale watching from the boats that travel around Puget Sound.
3. Disney World, Orlando Florida
Florida is very wheelchair-accessible in general, with many of the state's major beaches offering disabled parking and beach wheelchairs for rent. But if you're going with children and want to hit the theme parks, it's Disney World that really shines.
Designed to cater to several kinds of additional needs, Disney World is not only almost completely accessible to visitors with mobility aids but also to visitors with visual, hearing, cognitive, and sensory requirements.
There are dedicated parking lots around the park for guests who use mobility devices such as transport chairs, manual wheelchairs, electric wheelchairs, and mobility scooters. To park in these lots, visitors need a valid accessible parking permit and will pay the standard parking rates.
There are more than 40 accessible rides that allow mobility-device users to remain in their wheelchairs or electric conveyance vehicles (ECVs).
Visitors can stay in a wheelchair or mobility scooter in several areas of the park:
Disney's Animal Kingdom Park
Disney's Blizzard Beach Water Park
Disney's Hollywood Studios
Epcot
Magic Kingdom Park
The Disney Boardwalk Inn has around 27 accessible rooms, some with grab bars and others with lowered amenities and roll-in showers.
4. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rio de Janeiro is Brazil's second-largest city by population and possibly the most accessible city in Latin America, thanks to improvements that were made to the public transportation network ahead of the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Visitors traveling to Rio often go in February for Carnival, year-round for the city's famous beaches—including Ipanema and Copacabana—shopping, street food, and the fully accessible cable car up to Sugarloaf Mountain. If you like palm trees, beautiful beaches, delicious food, and warm weather, this is a destination not to miss!
5. Sydney, Australia
Like many cities in Australia, Sydney is a sprawling metropolis that can take a bit of forward planning to navigate. However, thanks to excellent maintenance and accessibility upgrades, wheelchair users should have no trouble getting around.
For transportation, people with disabilities can travel comfortably on the sidewalks and in ferries, public transportation is wheelchair-accessible, and there are a lot of wheelchair-accessible taxis that can be booked using a phone app.
Favorite destinations in Sydney include:
The Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Harbour Bridge (which has an elevator you can ride to the top)
Downtown Sydney
Sydney Aquarium
Sydney's Olympic Park
Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens
Taronga Zoo
Manly Beach, accessed via ferry (this beach has beautiful boardwalks)
The Blue Mountains, which is a 90-minute drive from Sydney
6. Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong is a magnet for businesspeople, tourists, and expatriates from several western countries, leading to the city becoming one of the most wheelchair-accessible cities in Asia. The modern public transport system is fully accessible, there are well-maintained sidewalks and curb ramps, and the city has several hotels where you can book an accessible room.
In Hong Kong, favorite destinations include:
The harbor
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
The IFC Mall rooftop
Temple Street Market
Victoria Peak
Victoria Harbour
Star Ferry
Symphony of Lights
Avenue of Stars
Ngong Ping Cable Car
7. Barcelona, Spain
Spain's second-largest city is a great place to go if you're looking for an international beach vacation in the sun. This tourist hotspot is replete with tree-lined pedestrian and wheelchair-friendly boulevards and accessible metro stations. The Old City (Ciutat Vella) is flat and cobblestone free.
Year-round, tourists with disabilities can visit Casa Mila, Park Güell, and Sagrada Família, the latter of which has free entry for wheelchair users. In the summer, the city's beaches feature an assisted-bathing service free of charge, in addition to the permanently accessible changing rooms and wheelchair-accessible promenade. The most accessible hotel in Barcelona is Hotel Casa Camper, which is wheelchair-accessible in general and has two specially adapted rooms.
8. Cape Town, South Africa
Cape Town in South Africa is a terrific destination for wheelchair and mobility-scooter users who enjoy visiting natural, cultural, and historical attractions. The legislative capital of South Africa, Cape Town has invested in a modern public transportation system, which makes the city very accessible to wheelchair users.
Outside of the buzzing shopping district located at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, visitors will find a wide range of natural, rural, and historic attractions:
Table Mountain and The Cape Floral Region which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The villages, towns, and estates of the Winelands region (in particular, Stellenbosch and Franschhoek)
The Robben Island prison, where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated for 18 years
Seeing the World on Wheels Is Becoming More Accessible All the Time
As awareness and demand see accessibility increasing in cities around the world, the list of accessible vacation destinations continues to grow. The ideas we've listed here include at least one option from all six inhabited continents, but there are many, many more wheelchair-accessible cities that you can find once you start to look.
No matter where you go or what your budget is for travel, the best piece of advice when traveling with a mobility device is to research providers at your destination and call ahead. With even a few weeks of warning, hotels, tour providers, airlines, cruise ships, and theme parks are usually more than happy to accommodate wheelchairs and other special mobility needs.