Accessible guide to South West England

Get to know the resident animals at Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, from keeper experiences where you can say hi to rhinos, to an elephant play zone and plenty of adventure play areas. As Gold Award winners for Accessible and Inclusive tourism in the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2023, the farm works to be accessible for all. Most areas are wheelchair accessible, but having been built on a working farm there are some terrains not suitable to all. At the Ark Arena, there’s a Hearing Induction Loop, visual aids, painted picnic tables and more. Find an accessible map, access guide, essential carer tickets, Changing Places toilet and more. Assistance Dogs are welcome if clearly identifiable by an assistance dog coat or lead.

Take a journey along the Tarka Trail, where the path from Braunton to Torrington is wheelchair accessible. You can hire a mobility scooter or inclusive handcycle, wheelchair tandem or trike from nearby bike shops. Taking in the views as you travel along the mostly tarmacked path as you head along the banks of the River Taw towards Braunton and its dune system. The Tarka Trail Guide is useful for accessible information, as is Euan’s Guide.

With varied wildlife, from dragonflies to sandpipers, canoe safaris, tours and a packed events calendar, there really is something for everyone at Slimbridge Wetland Centre. Receiving a Bronze Award for Accessible and Inclusive tourism at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2023, the centre has staff and facilities equipped to help and support during a visit. Trained assistance dogs are welcome on-site, wheelchairs and mobility scooters can be loaned if booked in advance and there are six accessible toilets, with a fully equipped Changing Places toilet, too. Around the site, find hearing loops in key locations, some hides are wheelchair accessible, and there is a network of level and hard surfaced paths to follow around the wetlands. See Euan’s Guide for more accessibility information.

These three signature geodesic glass domes each contain their own biosphere and perch dramatically on the cliffs of a former China clay mine. It’s well adapted to wheelchair users, including its rainforest tree walkway. There’s also plenty of sensory experiences and accessible routes. Staff are Type Talk trained, hearing loops are available, accessible toilets are aplenty and there’s a Changing Places facility.

Down the length of a Cornish Valley to a beach dotted with blooming flowers and a Mallard Pond, is Trebah Gardens. In summer it becomes ablaze with colour. Take a path through the scenery, seating is provided throughout the garden which becomes a subtropical paradise in the hotter weather. There’s step free access to the garden and the beach, though manual wheelchairs are not recommended due to the steep hill. Off-road mobility Trampers can be hired from 10am (booking is recommended). The Visitor Centre is accessible and keep a look out for a sensory walled garden.

Exeter is a Roman city with a fabulous cathedral and a pretty quayside, it’s also an easily accessible destination. Exeter Cathedral, The Church of St Peter, is one of the oldest in the country with impressive stain glassed windows. Accessibility is good and there’s a braille model of the cathedral. Nearby is the accessible Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery packed with interesting exhibitions and artefacts. Check out the quayside, with accessible toilets along the route, and find old warehouses with craft workshops and path along the River Exe. Here, you’ll be able to find out about Exeter’s history and enjoy local cultural arts at Custom House. Blue badge holders can park free in the city, and its flat and compact enough for mobility and wheelchairs to get around. Tip: head to Shopmobility for wheelchair or scooter hire.

Discovery Surf School in the scenic Bigbury-on-Sea provides surf lessons to people of all ages and abilities. Staff are particularly experienced for Autism and there are beach wheelchairs available, too.

Fancy riding a horse, rock-climbing, abseiling, surfing and bushcraft, canoeing, sailing, pony trekking, biking – or giving them all a go? If any of that sounds tempting, then this is the place for you. The Calvert Trust in Exmoor is a well-established charity with an accessible adventure centre offering exciting breaks for people with physical, cognitive and sensory requirements in a beautiful setting in the heart of North Devon. It also offers inclusive holidays with accessible accommodation including a restaurant and bar.

Based in Dorset’s Portland Harbour this sheltered spot is an excellent location to get to grips with sailing. Having hosted the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy has fantastic facilities, giving you the chance to take an adapted sailing experience among the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Jurassic Coast. There are six accessible buildings with everything from braille and subtitling to induction loops and spacious changing rooms, plus extra wide pontoons outside for wheelchair access.

If it’s an adrenaline rush that you’re after, Flying Frenzy has got you covered! Working closely with Flyability, you can take to the skies with an adapted buggy for a tandem paragliding experience. There is also the chance to fly solo with training. You can fly from several beautiful locations dotted along the Jurassic Coast in West Dorset.

Learn to surf at the country’s only inland surf destination, The Wave. Hosts of the English Adaptive Surf Championships, The Wave is inclusive making sure that all are welcome – it’s a great location to whet your surfing appetite. Look out for its two-day accessible camps with Access Adventures.

3,500 acres of countryside and woodland to enjoy and the Forest is Sunflower Lanyard-friendly. Try the 2,500 metre accessible Discovery Trail, complete with hidden dens en route. Look out for birds of prey and rare black deer while enjoying the views across Exeter, the Exe Estuary and Dartmoor. Thanks to the Countryside Mobility Scheme, you can hire an off-road mobility scooter called a Tramper for tougher terrain perfect for more demanding routes.

Whether it’s grassy hills or boggy valleys, explore off the beaten track in Dartmoor. Pony Axes offers just that with trekking breaks for wheelchair users to almost anywhere. Using a fully-licensed accessible cart, pulled by a pony, those with limited mobility will be able to explore what might have been previously off limits.

Calling all budding sailors! Enter the world of inclusive sailing with Mylor Sailing and Powerboat School. Located in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Falmouth, anyone from beginners to those born to be on the water can participate. Named Accessible and Inclusive Tourism Award Gold winner at the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence in June 2022, children and adults can have a go at powerboating or sailing. Boats have ramps, hoists and a support seat if required. 

Visit Bath, a Georgian showstopper of honey-hued and historic Roman buildings. A visit here wouldn’t be complete if you didn’t see its centrepiece: The Roman Bathhouse, one of best examples of its kind in Europe. Visit the Sacred Spring, Roman Temple and see original artefacts dotted around its mineral waters. At least 90 per cent of the venue is accessible to wheelchairs, autistic visitors can bypass queues, there are braille panels and induction loops. Book a BSL audio tour and enjoy the designated quiet spaces.

For lovers of all things fast and furious, this museum is packed with 400 sports cars and memorabilia. You’ll find anything from vintage to sports cars to diggers. There’s a room packed full of red cars – once the ubiquitous colour of the super car – and there are regular exhibitions and events. Accessibility is good, with a tour of vintage cars available. A personal volunteer guide can be booked.

Learn about the weird and wonderful lives of former Bristol residents. From historical disabled rights to the transatlantic slave trade and the surreal theft of a stuffed gorilla from the city museum, there’s plenty to discover. The venue is accessible to wheelchairs, has hearing loops and little bags of calm can be picked up from reception. There are a number of “working exhibits” as well, including a crane, trains and boats.

Once home to lots of Benedictine monks (a handful remain) this 1000-year-old monastery celebrated its millennium year in 2018. The Abbey, like many others, stood here until King Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries. Later, the monks – who were also gifted stone masons – came back to rebuild it. Enjoy the stained-glass windows, an exhibition, a physic garden and sensory garden all suitable for wheelchairs. Braille guides are available while stewards can help people who are blind or partially sighted.

Stourhead has been the fascination of many artists because of its English landscaped gardens and replica Roman and Venetian buildings. Inside the mansion is a Regency library and Chippendale furniture – access is via a stair. But outside is where it sings the most, with lakes, temples, grottos and exotic trees all with an accessible route around. Trampers (off-road mobility scooters) and golf buggies are available to hire, there are accessible toilets, disabled parking bays, hearing loops in the reception and access dogs are welcome.