Choosing a Holiday that Suits You
Summary: The type of holiday you choose will depend on your needs and interests. You can be as adventurous as you want to be. Numerous organisations provide holiday information for people with disabilities. Find our more about holiday options.
Planning and booking your holiday
It is always a good idea to plan your holiday and find out how interesting a place may be. Your local travel agent should be able to assist you. The internet is another good source of information. While not all websites are accessible to assistive technology, NCBI continues to promote internet accessibility. You could also contact tourist information centres.
Hotels and guesthouses
Hotels and guesthouses are delighted to offer a warm welcome to guests with vision impairments. Under legislation, hotels and guesthouses should make reasonable adjustments to accommodate requirements. When you are booking a hotel or guesthouse, inform them how they can assist you with getting the most out of your stay and of any requirements you may have. For example, let them know if you need an orientation tour of the hotel, or if you are unable to see the menu, ask them to enlarge it on a photocopier or read it aloud to you. Always re-confirm what has been discussed so that your expectations can be met.
Holiday centres
Below is a list of holiday centres that cater for the needs of people with vision impairments.
Cuisle Holiday Centre
Cuisle is located in the landscaped grounds of Donamon Castle, nine miles outside Roscommon town. The centre offers 36 twin-bed en-suite rooms with TVs, a bar and a large dining area. You can choose to holiday on your own or with family and friends. Cuisle offers comfortable accommodation, a great range of activities, and an optional care and support facility.
Address:
Cuisle Holiday Centre,
Donamon,
Co. Roscommon
Phone: 090 666 2277
Email: cuisle@iwa.ie
Website: Cuisle Holiday Centre
Claddagh Court Holiday Centre
Claddagh Court, in Co. Kilkenny, provides quality accommodation with an optional care and support facility. Activities on offer to guests include Jacuzzi and reflexology.
Contact the Irish Wheelchair Association:
Tel: 01 818 6400
Email: kilkenny@iwa.ie
Accessible hotels and holiday centres in Europe
The European Blind Union has listed hotels and holiday centres in Europe that are accessible to people who are blind or vision impaired.
Specialist hotels in the United Kingdom
While mainstream hotels and guesthouses are delighted to welcome people with vision impairments, a number of specialist hotels have been established within the UK to cater specifically for visually impaired people, their friends and families. A 'specialist' hotel has staff trained to offer support to guests with vision impairments. Specialist hotels often have additional features such as good use of colour contrast, talking lifts, tactile signs, talking menus and a range of useful products from liquid level indicators (to make a cup of tea in the morning) to talking alarm clocks. Days out and evening entertainment are often included.
RNIB National Leisure Services Team
The RNIB National Leisure Services Team in the UK offers advice and information on holidays for people with vision impairments and runs specialist hotels.
Tel: 0044 303 123 99 99
Email: helpline@rnib.org.uk
Website: leisure@rnib.org.uk
Action for Blind People
Action for Blind People runs four specialist hotels and two self-catering houses in the UK. One of their hotels offers an active option programme. It also organises coach holidays to selected mainstream hotels with over 300 local pickup points in the UK.
Royal Blind Society
The Royal Blind Society runs two specialist hotels in the UK: Honeywood House and Belmont Hotel.
Address:
Royal Blind Society,
RBS House,
59–61 Sea Lane,
Rustington,
West Sussex BN16 2RQ,
England
Tel: 0044 1903 857023
Email: derekrbs@aol.com
Vision Outdoor – nature and cultural tours in Germany
Vision Outdoor was founded in 2006 to develop unique tours to European countries for people with sight loss. Based in Germany, Vision Outdoor has been organising tours for Germans with vision impairments to Finland, Canada and within Germany for the last five years and is now expanding its reach to English-speaking European countries. All you need is an interest in nature and culture. The price of tours includes one assistant for every two participants who have impaired vision. Assistants are trained and speak English as a second language.
Tours are open to all age groups and participants do not require any experience in hiking or any other outdoor pursuits.
Address:
Vision Outdoor,
Sachsenstr. 11,
34131 Kassel,
Germany
Tel: 0049 5619 201 1895
Email: info@visionoutdoor.de
Contact: Claudia Vilmar
Holidaying in Spain
Polibea Turismo is a website which details interesting places to visit for people with vision impairments travelling in Spain. Some of the museums and galleries mentioned organise a guided tour for people with vision impairments, and sometimes a handling session of artifacts is available to visitors. Advance notice must be given to arrange a guided tour.
Email: turismo@polibea.com
Gran Canaria
Hotel Dunas Canteras Salud, located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria beachfront, offers, in addition to the usual services of a 4-star-hotel, an extra added value, namely accessibility by means of Universal Design. In addition, Braille menu cards and information are available to people who are Braille readers.
Tel: 0034 9021 42828
Madrid
The Madrid Tourist Board, together with ONCE (the national organisation for people with sight loss and hearing impairments in Spain), offers two guided tours specially designed for people with vision and/or hearing impairments.
"Descubre Madrid" is a programme of guided walking visits that offers two tours specially designed for people with vision and/or hearing impairments free of charge. Madrid Literario (Literature and Madrid), one of the most popular visits in the programme Discover Madrid, is the second of the tours that are now available for people with vision and/or hearing impairments. Each group is accompanied by an interpreter, and an extra guide will accompany people with vision impairments.
Holidaying in Italy
The Italian Union of the Blind and Partially Sighted Le Torri Holiday Centre is located in Tirrenia’s pine forest facing the sea. It has recently undergone refurbishing, specifically with guests with vision impairments in mind.
Weekend and package holidays are organised all year round which include cultural activities and visits to various nearby tourist destinations in the Tuscany region such as Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano, Volterra, Lucca and Florence.
Social and cultural entertainment is also offered, including poetry contests, ballroom parties, group games, wine and food tastings as well as classical music concerts and opera.
Guests are picked up upon request either at Livorno railway station (about 11 KM away) or at Pisa railway station/airport (about 20 KM away) and accompanied to the charming Le Torri Centre.
Find out more at:
Le Torri Holiday Centre,
Via delle Orchidee 44,
56018 Tirrenia (PI),
Italy
Tel: 00 39 50 32587 or 00 39 50 32270
Email: tirrenia@uiciechi.it
Other short breaks in Ireland
Barge – Day trips and short breaks
Freedom on the Water Enterprise is being promoted and managed by the Sisters of Charity, Monasterevin, Co. Kildare. It offers day trips and short breaks for people with learning disability and sensory or physical disability as well as their service providers and family members on a specially designed and built canal barge. A fully licensed crew navigates the barge. It is wheelchair-friendly throughout the entire boat, boasting a fully equipped galley kitchen and sleeps a maximum of 8 people.
Barge Booking Office,
Arts and Crafts Shop,
River House,
Main St. Monasterevin,
Co. Kildare.
Tel: 045 529410
Email: saoirse@scjms.ie
Sailing holiday
Jubilee Sailing Trust is a unique charity in the UK that aims to promote the integration of people of all abilities through the challenge and adventure of tall ship sailing. The JST owns and operates two tall ships, Lord Nelson and Tenacious. These magnificent ships are the only two vessels in the world that have been purposely built and designed to enable a crew of mixed physical abilities to sail side by side.
Jubilee Sailing Trust,
Hazel Road,
Woolston,
Southampton SO19 7GB,
England
Tel: 0044 23 8044 9108
Email: info@jst.org.uk
Further information
There are other organisations in the United Kingdom that can provide advice and information on holidays:
Tourism for All UK provides holiday and travel information to people with disabilities travelling within the UK and overseas. It has produced a guide called Holiday Ideas for People who are Blind or Partially Sighted travelling in the UK.
The Calvert Trust
The Calvert Trust offers guests with a wide range of disabilities the opportunity to take part in activities from canoeing, climbing and horse riding to coast walking, abseiling, swimming and archery. This organisation provides a safe environment in which people with vision impairments can try out activities.
The organisation has three main centres in the UK.
The Calvert Trust,
Little Crossthwaite,
Keswick,
Cumbria CA12 4QD,
England
Tel: 0044 17687 72255
Email: enquiries.calvert.keswick@dial.pipex.com
Calvert Trust Kielder,
Kielder Water,
Hexham,
Northumberland NE48 1BS,
England
Tel: 0044 1434 250232
Email: enquiries@calvert-kielder.com
Calvert Trust Exmoor,
Wistlandpound,
Kentisbury,
Barnstaple,
North Devon EX31 4SJ,
England
Tel: 0044 1598 763221
Email: exmoor@calvert-trust.org.uk
Vitalise
Vitalise is a national charity providing breaks in the UK and abroad for people with vision impairments. It caters for all interests from relaxing breaks in the sun to activity holidays. Vitalise have produced a holiday guide called Holidays for Visually Impaired People.
Vitalise Reservations,
Shap Road Industrial Estate,
Shap Road,
Kendal,
Cumbria LA9 6NZ,
England
Tel: 0044 845 345 1970
Email: bookings@vitalise.org.uk
Traveleyes
Traveleyes is a travel company that organises group holidays for both sighted people and people who are blind/vision impaired, who are journeying together, to venture to some fascinating destinations around the world. Holiday destinations include Europe, Africa, Asia, Australasia and the Americas, and vary from exploratory trips to relaxing sunshine breaks.
Traveleyes,
PO Box 511,
Leeds LS5 3JT,
England
Tel: 0044 8448 040 221
Your Rights When Travellin by Air and Rail
For people who are blind or vision impaired, air and rail travel has often been infuriating and confusing, with different rules being implemented by various airlines, airports and rail companies, leaving people unsure of their rights.
Now there is binding legislation at European level, which protects the rights of people with disabilities and people with reduced mobility when travelling by air and rail. Find out more here
Although every effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date, it is by no means exhaustive. We welcome any further comments on places that you have visited so that we can share them with other people with vision impairments.