Holiday information for people with easy access needs
Welcome to the home page for D.H.I. (Disabled Holiday Information - Registered Charity No. 1119972) we hope that you find that it is useful when you are planning holidays, a short break away or a day out.
The website is designed to give travellers with disabilities (whether they are wheelchair users or have other mobility issues) appropriate information on accessible holiday accommodation, attractions, activities to enable them to choose suitable accessible holidays bearing in mind their disability and special needs.
For a wide variety of Accommodation and Attractions throughout the UK please use the searches on our left hand menu.
As well as using our UK searches, if you click on the regions on the left hand menu there is more in depth information for the areas that have been visited by our researchers that includes detailed descriptions of both attractions and accommodation. Within the regions the following towns or areas are included Aberystwyth, Anglesey, Bath, Birmingham, Black Country, Blackpool, Bristol, Bude, Cardiff, Carmarthen, Chester, Cheshire East, Cheshire West, Gloucester, Hereford, Ironbridge, Liverpool, Llandudno, Ludlow, Manchester, Nottingham, Oswestry, Pembroke, Peterborough, Pwllheli, Redruth, Rutland, Shrewsbury, Stafford, Strathspey, Taunton, Warrington, Welshpool, Whitchurch, Worcester, Wrexham and York.
For information about some of the latest additions to our website including new properties on our accessible accommodation search please check out the News pages. One of the latest news items is about a newly listed property on our website located in Fife and which is offering an introductory discount on all the remaining holiday weeks available in 2011.
We are pleased to announce we have just launched the fifth edition of of our quarterly newsletter which gives a round up of our latest research for trails, accommodation, activities and attractions as well as a selection of other new accessiblity information. To download a pdf of this latest newsletter please click here
For information about the Charity's Enablise Project based in and around Shropshire and which enables our volunteers to provide accessibility training and advice please click here.
Phillip, water skiing in North Wales |
If you have limited mobility it need not limit your ideas for days out or holidays. For further information about waterskiing please click here.
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There is a excellent range of places to visit that are accessible for wheelchair users. More information about the Cairngorm Railway can be found on our Strathspey Pages. |
Trevor at the top of the Cairngorm Mountains
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Frank, Kite Buggying on Perranporth Beach in Cornwall |
Throughout the UK there are a wide range of exciting accessible activities. For more info about this sport check out our Redruth pages. |
Most of the accommodation featured on the website's regional pages has been assessed by one of our wheelchair user researchers. This is a 2 bedroomed lodge with a ceiling hoist and profiling bed situated in Shropshire. For more info about the lodge please click here |
Roy accessing the lodge's verandah at Astbury Falls |
Each week we are highlighting one of the many excellent accessible properties included on our UK search
Featured accommodation for the last week in January 2012
BOD
A view of the entrance
This weeks featured accommodation is a recently renovated accessible cliff top flat in Bournemouth, which overlooks the sea and the Purbecks. The property (affectionally named by the owners BOD) is conveniently located only yards from the tarmac path that leads down to the local sandy Blue Flag beach.
The flat has 3 double bedrooms (2 with en-suite shower rooms) sleeping up to 6 people and benefits from a profiling bed on site. A beach hut is also available for part of your stay at no additional cost.
For more detailed accessibility information about the property, contact details and a link to the owners website please click here.
NB Last weeks featured accommodation was Penn Peel B&B, which is located in an attractive rural setting within the village of Bomere Heath approximately 4 miles north of Shrewsbury. The owners have taken great care to ensure that the property is suitable for guests with easy access needs. There are two self contained guest rooms accessed of the driveway at the rear of the property. The Merrington which is a twin bedded room with en-suite wet-room is wheelchair accessible via a portable ramp. The adjacent Bomere has an en-suite shower room and would be ideal for carers/companions, family and friends or guests with more ambulant disabilities.
The original cottage dates back to 1860 and an attractive guest lounge with a log burner (ideal for winter breaks) has been created in the oldest part of the property. This is a family run enterprise and a great deal of thought has been given to ensuring guests a warm welcome and a comfortable stay.
For more detailed accessibility information about the property, contact details and a link to the owners website please click here.
For suggestions of places to visit whilst in the area please click here.
This feature has proved so popular we now feature a place to visit from our UK attractions search for each week as well.
Featured attraction for the last week in January 2012
Merseyside Maritime Museum
Our researcher trying out one of the many interactive exhibits
This week's featured attraction is the extremely interesting Merseyside Maritime Museum that is located on the Albert Dock in Liverpool. The museum explores the city's major role in Britain's seafaring history. There is good access to the galleries that are spread over 4 floors of the building and which cover a wide range of maritime themes including life at sea during the two world wars.
The International Slavery Museum is also housed within the building and is devoted to the history and issues that surround the transatlantic slave trade and what has happened in the modern world for people with African origins whose descent can be traced back to this period.
For more detailed accessibility information about this attraction, a link to their own website and suggestions of places to stay in the area please click here.
Liverpool makes a great destination for a city break whatever the weather as it has a wealth of indoor and outdoor attractions.
For suggestions of other places to visit in the area please click here.
N.B. Last weeks featured attraction was Jodrell Bank Visitor Centre an all weather family attraction, which recently played host to the 'Star Gazing Live' programme on BBC 2.
Visitors to this fascinating site can find out all about the workings of Jodrell Bank, get up close to the world famous Lovell telescope (which has been a striking feature of this part of the Cheshire landscape since 1957) or find answers to the wonders of the Universe in the interactive exhibition area.
There are also 35 acres of gardens to explore. A fully accessible pathway winds around specimens of rare species of trees and as well as a picnic and playground area, the arboretum also offers great views of the Lovell telescope.
For more detailed accessibility information about this attraction, a link to their own website and suggestions of places to stay in the area please click here.
More information about this website
Our regional web pages are not designed to give a comprehensive guide to each area but to give a taste of what can be seen and done, it is important to note that there may be other accessible places within the area that we did not visit.
N.B. All accommodation included in the regions has been assessed by one of our wheelchair user researchers for accessibility (unless otherwise stated). For accommodation inspection gradings e.g. Diamond ratings, follow the links to each providers own website.
Our website pages are updated on a weekly basis please check regularly for the latest additions.
We now have four 'Wheelchair Users' guides (one on accessible attractions, one on accessible walks and trails, one on accessible activities and one for accessible transport ) to accompany the Shropshire webpages. We also have one combined 'Wheelchair Users' guide for Cheshire which includes a selection of accessible attractions, accommodation and countryside trails.
Please click on our Publications page to download these in PDF or if you would like a physical copies sent in the post send an A5 SAE (1 x 1st class stamp per guide required) to the address in contact us. .
As a result of many enquiries we have also compiled a series of factsheets of UK wheelchair accessible holiday accommodation with additional requirements e.g. (one with ceiling hoists , one with wheel in showers and one where both accommodation and care can be provided).
Other fact sheet titles include ' wheelchair accessible accommodation with on-site fishing', 'holiday information for children with disabilities' and 'accessible accommodation where pets are accepted'.
Following many e-mail requests on behalf of people with no direct access to our UK wide accommodation search we also have a series of fact sheets with a selection of accessible accommodation available in different areas throughout the UK. These are available to be printed off by members of staff from service providers or carers/family members supporting them.
You can download each of them in pdf from our Publications page.
Our main pages are UK based, for information on accessible holiday destinations in the rest of Europe or worldwide check out our links page. There is also a factsheet of accessible overseas accommodation either owned by a wheelchair user or recommended by one. We have recently added a fact sheet for travel insurance for those with pre-existing medical conditions You can download them in pdf from our Publications page.
If you prefer we can e-mail or post any of the factsheets above please e-mail us or send A5 SAE (1 x 1st class stamp per fact sheet required) to the address in contact us.