Suitable holidays abroad with limited mobility?

[julieca]

I love going holidays to places with amazing scenery and wildlife. But I am disabled and things have got worse over the last year. I walk with a stick and really can't manage longer than 15 to 20 mins without sitting down.
I and DP are looking at holidays for next year. But the type of trips that appeal is really not possible for me anymore. So I am looking for ideas of amazing places to go that don't require lots of walking.
To make this harder we have been to all the obvious places like Galapagos, Iceland, National Parks in Utah and Arizona, New Zealand, Costa Rica, China where you can see amazing things without too much walking. And I would be in a lot of pain jiggled in a 4x4 on a safari, so that is out.
Any inspiration anyone?

Boats seem like a good solution. Small ship sailing cruises for example? I know some of the stop offs might be too much walking but many wouldn’t and you’d see a huge amount from the boat.

There are also boat safaris!

I have never heard of boat safaris!

Norway is excellent for scenery in the fjords and can be done by boat. We did it by hire car and boat and there was little walking. Also Flam Railway was beautiful. We did a moose safari and a boat wildlife safari from Alesund.

Further afield, we did Australia and that can be done without much walking, does need a hire car though. We did Great Barrier Reef by boat, also stayed at Lumholtz Lodge where the lady is a vet who rescues tree kangaroos and possum, bettong etc which were in the house, platypus were nearby and you could just stop the car and walk a few minutes. Driving along we saw cassowary. Also stayed at Canopy Treehouses and that had lots of wildlife on site like cassowary, wallabies etc. In Port Stephens we went on a boat trip and saw about 150 whales and dolphins. Blue Mountains could drive through a park there and see kangaroos.

In the UK maybe Isles of Scilly for puffins and dolphins and beautiful scenery, can get boats around though be careful to check location of where you book. Tresco had golf carts picking up people needing help walking and its quite small. St Marys has taxis.

We have also done Cape Town and you can hire a car and see penguins on beach, boat trips and there was a big 5 safari trip picked you up and took you round, not as authentic as some of the other ones but close to Cape Town and no malaria tablets needed.

Or a cruise to see polar bears. We saw brown bears in the wild at Arola Bears in Finland, that requires hire car and walk of around 1 mile to hut to watch though I think some of way they can take you in a car.

We have a family with very limited mobility who finds cruises very well set up for her.

@Silkieschickens thanks for that really helpful. Is Cape Town safe? I don't want a stressful holiday. And the Finland holiday sounds amazing. I could manage a mile slowly with a stop, but in a group that isn't really possible.

@ducksalive
yes everyone recommends cruises. I love the Galapagos cruise, but not really interested in it for the sake of it.

I was in Cape Town as a sole female traveller at the age of 21 and felt entirely safe. I stuck to the waterfront and did lots of group tours. The wineries were amazing, was one of the best places I've ever been. It's like nowhere else.

I don't think the family members love cruising bit particularly. They certainly don't dress for dinner etc.
But there are lots of excursions which as set up for limited mobility.
They did an Amazon one, the artic, the fiords and one around Italy.

I can see an Amazon cruise being great.

What about using a mobility scooter?
It sounds like you've been to some amazing places so I couldn't really comment/recommend anywhere.
My dh used his scooter all round Disneyland Paris though. We just made sure it was charged overnight and it lasted from early morning until quite late at night.

We were quite careful in Cape Town - we had a lovely time but were careful what we did. Its a lot safer than other South African towns.

We stayed in the Vineyard Hotel which has views over Table Mountain and can get all food on site, breakfast is included. Has swimming pool and tropical gardens with 2 large turtles wandering round. Hotel is quite disability friendly. From there you can get tours out, we got the one to the safari from there - I may have booked it direct with the safari (Aquila or something like that) but that required no walking at all. We did another trip up Table Mountain and botanical gardens and another around wineries. Then we hired a car once we knew what was safe and what wasn't, it was mainly don't leave anything of value on show.

The Arola Bears in Finland the group was quite small, maybe 12 or so and its all homemade cooking and Finnish fruit juices like cloudberry. The people who ran it were lovely and I think if you e-mailed them and asked they would would try to find a way to make it possible, I think they would only say no if they felt it wasn't safe - I guess the issues maybe that brown bears go around the forest but they did not come near us on the walk, you just need to stay quiet and not wear anything that smells. They also had a canoe on site and at the time were doing trips into Russia. www.arolabear.com/ We saw 8 including 2 cubs when in the hut. In the hut there are beds so that bit is easy. The cabin we stayed in there I think could pretty much drive up to. It is very remote and the bears are seasonal.

A friend of mine did a cruise with her mother who has limited mobility. I'm ashamed to say I can't remember if it was the Artic of Antarctica but she is well travelled and both described it as one of their best ever trips.

Similarly, would train travel suit? I think you can do some fantastic trips in Japan, Norway, Switzerland and Canada by train, usually start and stop in places with either taxis or other public transport available so well served for limited mobility. The trans-siberian railway always sounded an adventure too.

That should say OR Antarctica, my geography, although terrible, isn't that bad!

Actually I'd forgotten this relative had also taken a train journey across a large part of Canada.
They went of special scenic trains and saw bears and similar.

@Silkieschickens thanks for that, that is helpful.

I have been on an Antarctica cruise, Rockies, and Switzerland by train. It is why I am running out of ideas. Everything I keep seeing that looks great requires a lot of walking. I really wish I could do it, but can't.

I am keen on Japan by train though, but DP isn't. Have to try and convince him on that one.

We also had Borneo planned for 2020 if you haven't been there, obviously didn't go ahead and don't know when that would be viable. Its two flights to get there. After that when I went on the Tripadviser forum for Sandakan there was a taxi driver on there would did tours round. Or get a taxi from airport to Sepilok, 15 mins away and stay there.

We were planning it as part of a bigger trip to Thailand and Perhentians so didn't plan that much in Borneo but there was a few things at Sepilok - the orangutan sanctuary, the sun bears, rainforest discovery centre and then a bit further out the Kinabatagan river cruise where there are things like pygymy elephants and orangutans and the monkeys with the giant noses. There are a couple of places you can stay in Sepilok - Sepilok Nature Resort or Jungle Resort which are pretty, Nature Resort looks nicer but Jungle Resort were much friendlier to deal with. Where we were going to stay by the river cruise I don't think would work for you as it was up about 300 stairs (The Last Frontier Resort) but I think there were some places lower down, some where on Booking.com and they include the river cruises.

I am wondering about India OP - great rail network and easy and cheap to get taxis or tuk tuks to take you round in the towns.

Cape Town is safe and the Winelands and surrounding areas would make a great scenic trip if you are with someone who is happy to drive. Imagine you could hire a driver if funds allow. The roads are decent iirc.

European river cruise?
My friend with limited mobility tends to stay onboard but enjoy the changing scenery from there.

@Silkieschickens I thought Borneo tended to involve walks in the jungle? If I could manage that, I would be very interested.

@Scarby9 I am saving European river cruises for when I am properly old and need SAGA to collect me in a taxi and look after me the whole way. Hopefully not till 80 plus.

@minipie I think India would work, but I am not sure I could enjoy myself seeing the level of poverty. Although if I could afford it, I would do the Maharajas Express, but that really is a lot of money. I have looked at the cheap version of the Trans Siberian railway as train journeys with organised excursions booked at the train station would be fairly easy.

I am surprised there don't seem to be more companies catering for people who don't need the specialist assistance disabled holiday companies offer, but have low mobility and don't want to do a Caribbean cruise or sitting in a villa by a pool either. Its as if they think anyone with low mobility is not interested in anything adventurous.

Have a look here OP quite a long list of relevant tour operators, although who knows how many are still in business post covid.

Also have a look here

I think there are companies that offer this but they are probably more set up for small guided group tours rather than individual travellers. Is that something you would consider? If so then google “small group tour mobility” and you’ll find the links I’ve posted plus quite a few more.

We would consider small guided tour groups. Most are aimed at wheelchair users which is very different as you can go a long way using a wheelchair. And some have staff carrying people about on a raised chair for more adventurous holidays. Not sure I feel comfortable with that. There is one company there though in Chile that caters for slow walkers. Thanks for that. That is all I really need. I can carry a portable stool. So when I went to Galapagos it was fine.
Tour groups though understandably want to go at a certain pace to see things.

I only researched things that were reachable from Sandakan airport in Borneo but for those the walking did not seem too bad, I also am not great with walking. I was also booking things ourselves and that way you can control the pace move, you might need longer in the places than the tours normally take.

We were planning on staying in Sepilok which is a 15 min tax ride to the airport. There you can stay at the Nature Resort which is next to the orangutan sanctuary and sun bears is across the road. The Nature Resort is surrounded with beautiful gardens. The orangutan sanctuary I think there are feeding stations and different walks from 250 metres to 5kms. Then the sun bear place across the road I also don't think the distances were that great. You could always do them over 2 days. I think the rainforest discovery centre there was maybe more walking but you could still go in walk what you can then leave and get an idea.

Kinabatangan is more river based trips than rainforest walks - the place we were booked into included I think 3 river trips a day and 1 walk. You can see lots of wildlife from the river. A lot of the rainforest has been cut down there for palm oil so I don't think the walk there is that long but I thought if I couldn't manage it the river cruises alone would be great.

Not sure about rest of Borneo as we were going on to Perhentians as I am fine with swimming and snorkelling and there were baby sharks and turtles there.

I think quite a few people fly onto Kota Kinabulu and there are places like Gaya Island there though I believe its pricey. I have not looked at that much, it looks lovely www.gayaislandresort.com/our-story.html#wonder but scared to look at price for that.

Yes, agree you would need to filter out the wheelchair aimed companies.

To be honest I would expect most of the “bespoke” travel companies to be able to put something together for you. They may not advertise as mobility specific but they will be used to dealing with all sorts of requirements. They do tend to be aimed at the more expensive end of things but it sounds like you have a healthy budget.