Assistive technology, and Attitude - accessible video platform for people with disabilities, inclusive documentaries - Altogether Travel

 

October 2022 Newsletter

Assistive tech, Moon World Resorts and much more 😊 our newsletter best bits - with travel tips, inspiration and giveaways. All you need to plan your next supported holiday or travel with the UK's number 1 company for all things care and accessible tourism.

Highlights:

• October dates for your diary
• Edinburgh Castle's Light Show
• Best European Cities - Winter
• Top UK Pumpkin Patches 2022
• Autumn in Europe - Condé Nast Traveller
• Travel Tip: Our community shares...
• Travel News
• Our Recommendations: shows, blogs and more
• Destination of the Month: Brittany - France
• Where will you go? Our September Holidays
• Altogether Travel News - bag tracking tags
• October Giveaway
• Accessibility Feature: Attitude - award-winning documentaries, video content and good reads collection

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October dates for your diary

Dyslexia Awareness Week 3-9th

This year’s theme is ‘Breaking Through Barriers’ click here to check out and for more information about Dyslexia click here. Understanding and kindness is key – so if someone is unsure about spelling, take the time to go through any words 😊 It’s best not to assume people interpret information the same way as you.

International Stuttering Awareness Day – Sat 22

You can click here to check out more and for Stamma click here the British Stammering Association, with tips for how to make things comfortable when speaking with a person who stammers.

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Edinburgh Castle’s Light Show

Brighten up your winter nights with a kaleidoscope of colour – want to see Edinburgh Castle in a different light? Click here to get your Edinburgh trip sorted. With an all-new look and spectacular show – Castle of Light: A Kingdom of Colours click here for more info, with dates in November and December – quieter access night Thursday 8 December 😊 You could check out the city too!

Best European Cities to visit in Winter

With cosy nooks and festive cheer, check out the Top 16 destinations from The Times click here to read on.

Top UK Pumpkin Patches 2022

Pumpkins bring the autumn feel – whether you go for the spiced lattes, pumpkin picking for a creative Halloween display or to use with soup season arriving. BBC Good Food shares their favourite pumpkin patches click here to check out, along with tips and recipes (packed with vitamin A)

Autumn in Europe

Condé Nast Traveller has announced the very best places to go in autumn in Europe click here to check out.

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Travel Tip – How to choose where to go in 3 steps

Step 1 – your favourite things and activities you enjoy. What might you like to do on holiday? From there you can decide if these interests overlap, and attractions could narrow down a few locations.

Step 2 – how are you feeling? If you were to go tomorrow, would you want to relax and recharge or be busy exploring fun and new things? You then might know if you’d prefer a city location with lots to do, or be away from the hustle and bustle. You could also choose to visit a city outside of peak season with less visitors, or have some chill time between attractions.

Step 3 – time and money. You may decide on a shorter holiday closer to home, to avoid a longer journey and make the most of a weekend or Monday to Friday trip. Or perhaps a week or so away with flights if you have more to spend – you may also want to check out possible travel insurance costs and work out a daily spending budget. However you decide to balance time and money, you should now have arrived at your destination decision or have a ‘where to go next’ list.

Click here to get in touch with us, whatever step you’re at 😊 and for a travel insurance quote click here.

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Travel News

Plans revealed for Moon World Resorts – want to set foot on the moon without being an astronaut?

That’s the vision behind Moon, a multi-billion dollar project to build moon-shaped holiday resorts right here on planet earth click here to find out more, with the first to be built in Dubai.

Which? announces Europe's best-rated scenic railway journeys click here for more details, with the UK's best scenic railway journey in Wales rated 91% journey score.

The Moffat walking festival in Scotland’s southern uplands reviewed click here to read on. Moffat was the first Dark Sky Town in Europe and the new Moffat Community Observatory – a fantastic astronomical resource, two cabins with a dome – houses a state-of-the-art telescope, which will start welcoming visitors on set evenings from November.

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Our Recommendations

Assistive Technology Blog

Posting all things tech and things to check out such as Dementia Management Tool ‘Vera’ launches on Apple’s App Store with the world’s largest music catalogue. Click here to explore many topics and categories are highlighted.

Kate Humble’s Coastal Britain

Hidden fossils, secret landmarks, friendly townsfolk. To explore England’s shoreline check out the 6 episodes on Netflix.

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Destination of the month: Brittany - France

Many of Brittany's sites and beaches are accessible to wheelchair users, with ramped access, disabled toilets, and beach wheelchairs available for hire.

Sail by ferry from the UK – 5 hours 30 min from Plymouth to Roscoff (1 sailing daytime / 9 hours overnight), or 11 hours overnight from Portsmouth to St Malo (1 sailing per day).

Visit historical Brest (just an hour’s drive from Roscoff) as the second-largest military port in France, with the Musée National de la Marine (National Marine Museum) inside Brest Castle.

For a detailed review of St Malo with lots of photos click here to check out from Little Miss Turtle, how St Malo is worth visiting even with the cobblestones.

For examples of Handiplage accessible beaches in France click here to check out more.

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Where will you go?

In September our supported holidays continue to explore all over 😊 including Fife, Aberdeen with Fleeting Rumours show (Tribute band to Fleetwood Mac) at the Arts Centre and a fish tea by the coast. Plus Blackpool, Milan with La Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II nearby Milan Cathedral and trips to check out Lake Garda and Camogli – a seaside town. We’ve also had two breaks in Dublin with sightseeing bus tour.

Where will you go? Click here we look forward to hearing from you 😊

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Altogether Travel News

As requested, you can now use one of our tracking tags for your suitcase on holiday – this is now available for a small fee, instead of buying your own.

Please let us know and we can sort this, with your Holiday Companion bringing the tag and returning it to us at the end of your holiday. 

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October Giveaway

We hope to brighten up your October with Letterbox flowers – carefully hand-packed and sent in bud (so they last longer) in boxes that fit through the letterbox. They'll also come with styling tips to make flower arranging part of the fun!

Click here to show your interest or nominate someone 😊

Why not follow us?

• Facebook - @holidaycompanions
• Twitter - @altogethertrav
• Instagram - altogether_travel

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Accessibility Feature - Attitude

Looking for something new to watch? Click here to check out Attitude – the world's leading producer of award-winning documentaries and video content showcasing possibilities for people living with disabilities and chronic health, shaping attitudes and changing lives.

Make sure you check out their good reads collection plus a huge variety of videos 😊

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Thank you for staying connected with us and we would love to hear from you! Any ideas, questions or travel tips then click here to get in touch.

Take care,

Altogether Travel

Website click here - Twitter click here - Facebook click here

Accessible wildlife safaris, Free things to do UK, and Wheelchair accessible Ferris wheels - Altogether Travel

 

September 2022 Newsletter

Accessible wildlife safaris, Wheelchair accessible Ferris wheels and much more 😊 our newsletter best bits - with travel tips, inspiration and giveaways. All you need to plan your next supported holiday or travel with the UK's number 1 company for all things care and accessible tourism.

Highlights:

• September dates for your diary
• Free things to do UK
• Travel Insurance
• Ireland train journeys with a view
• Wheelchair Accessible Ferris Wheels
• Travel Tip: Our commnity shares...
• Travel News
• Our Recommendations: shows, blogs and more
• Destination of the Month: Med Cruise
• Where will you go? Our August Holidays
• Altogether Travel News
• September Giveaway
• Accessibility Feature: Accessible Wildlife Safaris

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September dates for your diary

World Alzheimer's Month

A global opportunity to raise awareness around and encourage support to help people live well with dementia - with World Alzheimer’s Day on Wed 21st click here to find out more from Alzheimer’s Society with people’s stories.

European Day of Languages – Mon 26th

Celebrated to help connect people and encouraging anyone to discover more languages at any age click here to read on and find out what’s happening. To check out 6 Best Free Language Learning Apps of 2022 click here.

UK Things to do

Did you know about the UK seaside village that you pay to enter? click here to read on from BBC. Plus top free things to do around the UK click here from Visit Britain or click here to read more from National Geographic.

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Travel Insurance

It’s more important than ever to have travel insurance when going away click here for advice and info from UK Gov, and to find out a quote can click here - suitable for pre-existing conditions and no upper age limit.

Ireland train journeys with a view

Click here for 6 epic rail trips, from the Atlantic coast to the sunny south-east – as far as Northern Ireland’s dramatic shore.

Wheelchair Accessible Ferris Wheels

The Ferris wheel was invented in 1893, but this popular attraction has only recently been made wheelchair accessible - click here for the Top 9 worldwide from Wheelchair Travel.

We of course need to complete this list with Scotland’s Falkirk Wheel - the world’s only rotating boat lift connecting the canal network, and it’s wheelchair friendly.

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Travel Tip – Cabin bag only

Hand luggage only tips click here to save time at airports and bag costs from airlines.

For video on ‘personal item’ cabin bag only packing click here and could give it a try.

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Travel News

Visit Britain has been nominated for 2 awards following their Welcome to Another Side of Britain campaign click here to read more and explore their website.

The world’s best cities to live in – announced by the Economist Intelligence Unit click here to check out the top 10 of 172 researched.

Which will you visit next?

Tech aiming to prevent lost airline luggage, from tracking tags in your bag to see where it is on a map, to new scanning and bag transport offered click here from the BBC.

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Our Recommendations

Griff’s Canadian Adventure

Welsh Comedian and Travel Enthusiast Griff Rhys’ new show on Channel 4 click here to catch up.

Plus on Netflix you can find Griff’s Great Kiwi Road Trip 😊

Alex Lowery is a public speaker and trainer, using his personal experience of having autism he is a wealth of information click here for his online resources.

To check out his blog click here for posts including – 12 things to know about allistics (non autistic people), Autism and ageing, and Thinking differently.

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Destination of the month: Med Cruise

We love receiving postcards from people on holiday 😊 Scott and Companion Agnes sent theirs from Malta as part of his Med Cruise. Other stops were Croatia, Italy, Monaco and France. On board there was plenty to enjoy with entertaining shows, live bands and comedians plus many other areas to explore like art galleries. The food was delicious with pool-side snacks and a 5-course Gala Dinner by Marco Pierre White.

Cruises can get booked up well in advance, particularly for accessible cabins so the earlier the better if you might like a cruise yourself – some cruises have even been announced for 2025. Did you know we have ‘Cruising with a Wheelchair – Our customers top tips’ on our Blog? Click here to read more. 

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Where will you go?

As well as Scott’s cruise, in August we’ve also supported London trips with visits to top attractions such as London Zoo, Sea Life Aquarium and Tina: The Musical at Aldwych Theatre. Blackpool with model village, wax works, ride on horse-drawn carriage, tram plus fish and chips with ice cream by the seaside. Other destinations have been relaxing Ayr and exploring the shops, Leeds for Emmerdale tour, Dublin’s Guinness tour, zoo and sightseeing cruise on the River Liffey, and also Dundee to check out museums and enjoy nearby St Andrews.

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Altogether Travel News

As requested, we have created an online version of our holiday request and support forms – these are automatically sent to us and saves you completing an attached document via email (still available if preferred and also happy to post out for you). We hope this makes it easier 😊 to check these out and complete online can click here for request form, and click here for support form.

We also have more people booking their 2023 supported holidays. Getting sorted in advance means you can look forward to a trip and secure Companion availability – we look forward to hearing from you 😊

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September Giveaway

This month we’re giving away Gousto meals! A regular box delivered to your door with 3 recipes – taste your way around the world with 75 to choose from.

The ice and insulation help your ingredients keep their cool, and you can use the recipes cards again and again.

Click here to get in touch or nominate someone.

Why not follow us?

• Facebook - @holidaycompanions
• Twitter - @altogethertrav
• Instagram - altogether_travel

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Accessibility Feature - Accessible Wildlife Safaris

Altogether Travel are always looking to add to our accessible holiday offerings – we are excited to partner with an operator in Africa offering Accessible Wildlife Safaris within the great Serengeti National Park, one of the most famous wildlife sanctuaries in the world. Travellers can have an amazing experience to spot elephants, zebra, lions, cheetahs, buffalo and many more.

If you are looking for a holiday to remember, then click here to get in touch.

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Thank you for staying connected with us and we would love to hear from you!  Any ideas, questions or travel tips then click here to get in touch.

Take care,

Altogether Travel

Website click here - Twitter click here - Facebook click here