Trips Fit for Power Wheelchairs

By: Peter Greenberg | 2008-06-04

What are some sources for finding trips that are suitable for a person using a power wheelchair?
-Dave, Sequim, Wash.  

Hi Dave,  
This Web site offers a list of wheelchair travel planning sites that could help you travel:  http://www.makoa.org/travel.htm.   

One site you should definitely check out is Disability Travel, http://www.disabilitytravel.com/. It can help you plan a wheelchair-accessible trip. If you don’t want the hassle of traveling with your power wheelchair (some airlines require that you remove the battery, and this can mean some disassembly) they even help you find places where you can rent wheelchairs. On top of group tours, they offer cruises and independent travel.   

Access-able Travel (http://access-able.com/graphical_index.html) has lists of the major cruise ships, their levels of accessibility, and what amenities they offer for people in wheelchairs. They also post user reviews, which can give you good ideas and actual anecdotes about where you want to travel.   

Another site, Disabled Travelers.com (http://www.disabledtravelers.com/) will help you find travel agents, tour operators, and adventure travels that fit your specific needs. Just choose your location: the Web site features companies that can offer travel to places that people might not have thought were wheelchair accessible.  

And last but not least, the Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality is a great resource: http://www.sath.org.