In Travel Features

Booking a holiday and getting to your destination are two incredibly stressful things regardless of whether or not you need additional accessible facilities. With 2020 now here and the dark, cold nights not changing for another couple of months, you might be thinking ahead to your holiday this year, so we thought we’d put together some tips to help make your planning and travelling as simple and stress free as possible.

Think about what kind of holiday you want to have

Do you want adventure? Relaxation? A little bit of both? Once you’ve settled on what kind of holiday you want to have, you can then start thinking about what accommodation and attractions can offer those services. It’s important to do your research, especially if you have additional needs, for instance, are you travelling with someone with autism and do the activities you want to do offer quiet times? Perhaps you’re a wheelchair user and need a hotel room with plenty of space – you can easily narrow these things down with our search bar or by selecting the options from the menu. Accommodation providers and attractions want to make sure you have the best possible time when visiting them and are happy to speak to you about their facilities, so give them a call if you want to double check anything.

Take advantage of accessibility schemes

There has been a huge surge in rising awareness of all kinds of disabilities, from hidden ones to the more obvious and a number of schemes have come out of this which helps make things a little easier. Make sure to take advantage of these where they are available – they’re there to help! Grab yourself a sunflower lanyard for your journey or grab a JAM card especially if you’re using public transport to get to your destination. These can easily be used at the UK’s top attractions too.

Speak to your doctor beforehand

If you’re someone with an ongoing medical condition, you’ll likely already be preparing to speak to your GP before heading off on your holidays. Whatever you’re planning, if it involves travelling and you need to take medication/equipment, make sure to get the go ahead from your doctor first. Not only will they be able to reassure you, but they will also be able to provide documents to make it easier to get travel insurance and to actual transport any equipment you might need.

Speaking of documents…

Make sure to have copies of everything and take it all with you – from your Blue Badge to any doctor’s notes and of course any correspondence you have with your accommodation/attractions you’re planning to visit, especially if there are mentions of the facilities they have. That way you’re prepared for every eventuality. Having these with you will also help with accessing facilities like queue skipping and quiet rooms too.

Pre-book where you can

Some hotels allow you to check in online before you arrive which will eliminate having to wait around for your room to be ready or having to queue at reception. It is also possible to do this at a range of attractions too, so you don’t have to spend so long queuing.

Those are our top five tips for having a stress free holiday in 2020 – do you have any suggestions? You can join in the conversation on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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