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Disabled people going on holiday sometimes face discrimination over travel arrangements and problems with room access in holiday accommodation. Natalie Valios looks at services that take the stress out of holidays.

How many times a year do you dream of soaking up the sun on a beach or skiing down the slopes? Whatever your ideal holiday destination, travelling there by planes, trains or automobiles is something that most people take for granted. Disabled people have a far harder time as Bert Massie, chairperson of the Disability Rights Commission, found a couple of years ago (News, 26 October 2000). He was forced to cancel a conference address after Scot Airways denied him access to the plane, describing his disabilities as a "safety risk". The airline was within its rights because, although the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 covers air travel in relation to booking services and airport facilities, aircraft are exempt.

A few months later, disability organisations were consulted on a UK code of practice for air travel from the then Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions. The code is expected later this year and Massie is on the drafting committee.

Although he believes it will improve the situation for disabled people, Massie is disappointed that the code, which applies only to UK-based airlines, will be a voluntary document rather than a statutory one.

Transport is the single biggest obstacle to disabled people enjoying holidays, says Graham Smithers, head of contracts and marketing at the Winged Fellowship Trust. It provides holidays for physically disabled people in five purpose-built centres with swimming pools and evening entertainment.

So while holiday options at home and abroad are increasing, getting there is fraught with difficulties for disabled people. Under the Disability Discrimination Act, transport accessibility is being phased in but it is a slow process. All new trains have to be accessible, but even if it has wheelchair space it may be where there is no window, the traveller might not be able to use the toilet or get a coffee, says Smithers. And crossing platforms to change trains can be hazardous.

For disabled Londoners or those taking in the sights of the capital, the underground is difficult to negotiate, so disability organisation Scope has published a tube access guide available from all London Underground and Docklands Light Railway stations. It highlights stations with alternatives to stairs or escalators.

All new licensed taxis had to be wheelchair-accessible by January 2002 and all new buses with more than 15 seats have to be accessible by 2017. Most coaches are still inaccessible and, while there are many disabled motorists, hiring an adapted car is almost impossible.

Eurostar provides a good link to mainland Europe with facilities for disabled customers and people with visual and hearing impairments both in the terminal and on trains.

But it is the US that has excelled. Most hire car companies offer adapted cars; and Greyhound Lines coaches, one of the most popular ways to get round the country, has a comprehensive policy for disabled customers. This includes a dedicated phone line for information, priority seating, consent for service animals on board and free travel for personal care assistants.

It is not just transport shortcomings that make it difficult for a disabled person to spontaneously book a holiday. Whatever a person's disability, be it mobility problems, wheelchair use, severe learning difficulties, visual or hearing impairments, they will have specific accommodation needs that must be checked out before making a booking.

One option is to go on an organised break. The charity Holidays for Disabled People has organised an annual week's break since 1959 when it took 12 people to Weston-super-Mare. This year it is taking 100 disabled people to a holiday camp at Hemsby, Great Yarmouth, with helpers on hand. For those wanting to go further afield, other organisations, such as Access Travel, have suitable hotels and villas in destinations ranging from France to Florida, Cyprus to the Canaries.

Disabled people wishing to travel more independently can refer to Holiday Care Service. It provides information about accessibility in mainstream accommodation in hotels, farmhouses, guesthouses, self-catering facilities, activity hotels and holidays for children in the UK.

Set up 21 years ago by the Trades Union Congress and the English Tourist Board, the charity is a well-respected resource. It takes about four hours on site to vet accommodation, says Brian Seaman, head of inspection and consultancy services. The checklist includes car parking, entrance, public areas, bathrooms and bedrooms, facilities for people with visual and hearing impairments, policies on welcoming disabled guests, whether guide dogs are welcome and staff training.

Seaman has instigated a national accessible standard comprising four levels of mobility criteria for hotel accommodation, with input from disability organisations and the tourist board. It has been approved by the DRC and hotels can voluntarily sign up to it. Now in force in England, it is due to be adopted in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland later this year.

Disabled travellers need to make sure that they receive information about appropriate accommodation from a reputable source, says Seaman. If in doubt, the Centre for Accessible Environments has compiled a national register of access consultants. Seaman says: "I have come across people thinking it would be a good wheeze to make money as an access consultant, but they have no experience. It is worrying because you don't know what sort of advice they are giving."

It is the more independent disabled travellers who are financially penalised the most. About 30 per cent of breaks provided by the Winged Fellowship Trust are funded by social services through traditional respite care funding routes, but that is because care is included. Although some disabled people use direct payments for a holiday with care package, it becomes more difficult when disabled people are looking for a holiday without support.

On top of expensive transport costs, they can find they are charged more for specialist accommodation or hotels may try to charge a disabled person for two rooms if they have nothing suitable for a guest and their carer.

This policy backfired on one hotel chain recently. Last month, the DRC helped disability consultant Carl Ford negotiate a settlement. Ford was on a business trip when he tried to book a twin room for himself and his personal assistant at an Express by Holiday Inn hotel. The hotel chain's rooms for disabled guests have adapted bathrooms and double beds. They do not have twin rooms for wheelchair users and Ford was told he would have to pay for two adjoining rooms.

After the dispute was referred to the Disability Conciliation Service, the chain introduced a policy allowing personal assistants to take a second room at no extra cost if one is available.

As Massie says: "If society was designed for our needs we wouldn't have these extra charges anyway."

Many disabled people are on low incomes and holidays just aren't within their budget without some financial assistance, but there is little about. Many rely on grants from charities. The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 has a provision for holiday funding, but is seldom used, says Smithers, either because disabled people or social workers or both are not aware of it, or because it is ambiguous enough for local authorities to get out of it.

It is rare to find a disabled person who has accessed funds from social services for an independent holiday, says Smithers. "Local authorities don't tend to like the term 'holiday'. They have a narrow view of what a break should be. A break for a carer or a disabled person could be many things, it doesn't necessarily mean a week in respite care."

- Contact Holidays for Disabled People on 01252 332452; Holiday Care Service on 01293 774535; and the Centre for Accessible Environments on www.cae.org.uk