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The Laws: Better than the U.S.
Thanks to the U.K.’s Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995, all businesses have to be accessible, as they do in the U.S., and are monitored by The Disability Rights Commission (DRC). Access has improved so much that you’d never know the country was thousands of years older than the U.S.

Transportation: Taxis, trains, and terminals
Whether it be by taxi, train, metro, or rental car, Scotland’s cities and sweeping green slopes are accessible any way you get around. Our favorite are the globally-recognized bubble-topped black “London Cabs,” with doors that pop off their hinges, folding ramps that slide out from the floor, and roomy interiors that allow you to sit in your own chair.

All trains carry on-board ramps, have on-board facilities, provide personal food and beverage services, and offer seat spaces to sit in your own wheelchair or to park it if you wish to sit on a train seat. People with disabilities and their companions also get discounted rates with a disability rail card from www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk.

As the city-center metro systems are managed by the same national rail system, you can expect these requirements to be followed within the major and smaller cities as well, and access grids of all stations are provided online. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

The country is currently working on transportation that includes other countries, such as ferries to Ireland and Europe, but many ferries are already accessible.

Due to the enormous quantity of buses in the U.K., the access conversion must be done in phases. As of 2005, all new coaches must be fully accessible, with all double-decker buses set to be accessible by 2017.

Rental car agencies are beginning to follow the U.S. standards, and many car agencies such as Enterprise Europe and EuropeCar have been offering automatic cars with hand controls for some time. Of course driving on the correct side of the road is still a challenge.

Lodging: Take your pick
Accessibility among lodging options seems to be a take-your-pick kind of welcome. We stayed in hotels, bed and breakfasts (oh, the Scottish breaky!), resorts, and castles, and we found access options scattered but growing exponentially.

Favorites include:

• The Apex Hotel in Edinburgh, a short walk away from the very-accessible Edinburgh Castle.
• The Lodge at Deviot Mains in Inverness, bed and breakfast with accessible bathroom worthy of royalty.
• The charmingly haunted Minard Castle by Loch Fyne.

Monuments and Restaurants: No wheelchair left behind
From Edinburgh Castle to Rosslyn Chapel, from the Whisky Heritage Centre to St Andrews Links, from the Museum of Scotland’s Tower Restaurant to the Battlegrounds of Culloden, you name it, our wheelchair left tracks there.

The Edinburgh Castle was the access highlight for sure, with a ramp to the top canon-launching area and a courtesy vehicle if you don’t wish to push. The courtesy vehicle took us back down and out through the royal escape tunnel.

As for the pubs, we rarely had trouble, and often had our own restroom.

If you’re thinking of traveling Scotland, have no fear, and take British Midland there if possible, our best experience on an airline yet!