London

We opted to stay at the Hilton London Paddington at Paddington Station. It is central within London, right on many bus and train lines, and most importantly the Heathrow Airport Express goes directly there so on arrival to London you have an easy landing. It was the perfect location for many reasons.

When you arrive at Paddington Station you can take the glass elevator up to the M level (one above the ground level mall/train station) and go past the Starbucks through the double set of double doors to the back entrance of the Hilton. This avoids having to use one of those stair-lifts for your wheelchair in front, and the need to go all the way around the building.

The Hilton London Paddington is a good hotel and has ADA rooms and you can get breakfast included. If you are traveling with more than two people you will need to book connecting rooms. We had our 15 year old daughter with us and officially she was in the room with me and my husband was in the other room, as under 16 years they are not allowed to be in the room by themselves. Our ADA room was good with a roll-in shower/wet-room, space next to the toilet for a wheelchair to pull up and emergency cords by the toilet, shower and side of the bed.

There are three elevators and I never had to wait long. The chair lift in the front of the building did get stuck for a moment which was scary. I advise entering trough the train station when possible. It closes at 11PM, so after that you’d have to use the front entrance. There are many restaurants within a 2 block radius.

The hotel also has a U driveway that makes getting an accessible vehicle parked for loading much easier. We rented an accessible van to get to Scotland and my husband was able to drive it into the driveway and load and unload me in the wheelchair and our luggage much more easily than we would have been able to do in the street. I don’t know how you would in the street in front of a different hotel without a U driveway in London. There was a garage down the street on the other side of the train station where we were able to park it.

Heathrow Airport
On arrival Heathrow airport was very navigable. There were signs everywhere telling you where to go. The best way to get into London is the Heathrow Express.

The Heathrow Express
After going through customs the signs for the Heathrow Express were everywhere. You can either go to a machine or to a helpful person (which we did) in the purple Heathrow Express uniform who can sell you tickets and direct you to the train. There are elevators down to the trains.

Find an attendant to help you board. This is important because they will tell the attendants on the Paddington side to meet you with a ramp to disembark. They will lead you to a car marked with the wheelchair sign. That is the one with the wheelchair space. Boarding at the Heathrow end there is a gap between the platform and the train, but it’s small enough that they don’t provide a ramp. I found it kinda scary but it turned out to be fine.

Inside the train there are two wheelchair spaces. Annoyingly they have a thing that should flip up to make a better wheelchair space but they are locked down and no one seems to know how to lift them. When you get to Paddington they should have a ramp for you to leave the train- the gap is too big without it.

Returning to Heathrow from Paddington Station arrive early. They need to fetch someone who can give you a ramp and it takes some time and you might miss a train or two (they are every 15 minutes).

Trains/Underground
Train stations aren’t all manned with people with ramps. You need to call or use the ap to pre-book assistance. See this site.

If you do want to try the Underground, Download the TFL Go ap and it will tell you which stations are accessible in real time (it identifies stations with broken lifts). A solid wheelchair symbol (blue circle) will indicate a fully accessible station with the train at wheelchair level. The blue circle with white inside and a wheelchair will indicate a station where you need to get a person with a ramp. Always board the train at the spot with the wheelchair symbol so you can call an attendant with the button if a ramp is needed.

Buses

These are very accessible. There is one wheelchair space per bus. Sometimes there is a pram or luggage in it but wheelchairs have priority. There is a sign there you can point to if given trouble. You are meant to back into it and face the rear of the bus and turn off your chair/put on your brakes.

When you are approaching your stop you need to press the blue button with the wheelchair sign on it that is either on the rail on the bus wall or on the pole that annoyingly blocks you from easily getting into the wheelchair space as easily. Sometimes if they don’t notice you might have to call out to the driver “wheelchair needs to get out” or similar. Sometimes they park with the ramp against a pole or something and have to move forward a bit.

The London Underground (their subway)
Except for the Elizabeth (purple) line, which is new and accessible, and the Heathrow Express, the Underground is very hit and miss as to accessibility and I recommend just taking the buses.

Bathrooms in the London
They almost always seem to have a separate, dedicated larger bathroom for wheelchairs rather than just a larger stall anywhere there are larger bathrooms. In places with one small bathroom it is usually a larger space that can accommodate a wheelchair, though sometimes this seems to be considered storage space.

There are some public accessible bathrooms that require an accessibility “key”. A coin will work instead. Just knock first to make sure it is unoccupied. If you are waiting a long time when one is locked you might want to knock to make sure someone is actually there.

Kensington Palace

Get tickets ahead online, but if it’s not a busy period you might be able to walk in (but don’t bet on it). This is where Queen Victoria was raised and about half of the building is dedicated towards telling that story. The accessible bathroom is fine. There is an elevator. Many of the doors between rooms were very narrow. I could just barely squeak through in my large Permobil M5 (27″ wide).

Staff need to direct you in some places but there are plenty of them and they do a great job of it. You exit through the gift shop and there is are a few stairs, but there is a built in lift that is pretty magic that turns the stairs into a mini elevator. Just let them know when you want to leave the gift shop and they will operate it for you. Expect to spend 1-3 hours.

Tea at The Orangery at Kensington Palace
Reserve ahead. This is an astoundingly beautiful, light-filled building. It was an excellent afternoon tea (and I’m a tea snob). Book ahead. Highly recommended. Book for a before or after your entry to the palace. It is a different building on the other side of a garden to the right of the palace.

Hyde Park
A nice place to walk through. Ponds, trees, gardens, and the Peter Pan statue. We went through on our way from Kensington Palace to Harrods.

Harrods

Is one of the original department stores, and even if you intend to buy nothing it’s really fascinating. Old school displays of everything- it’s like stepping back in time to a better age for the department store, and the architecture of the building is fun.

The restaurants downstairs have excellent food, well worth stopping for, even if its a bit of a wait. Through our UK trip my husband tried Espresso martinis at every restaurant, bar and hotel we went to and the fish and chips (upscale style) place at Harrods had the very best one of the trip there. They also have a great grocery section with teas and chocolates and much more.

The restrooms can be hard to find (the place is a maze!) but the staff are everywhere and are helpful so just ask. There are some in the year round Christmas section.

Bond St.
This is where the fanciest shops in London are. It’s a short walk/roll from Harrods and if you want you can walk through parts of Belgravia where many period dramas are filmed. This is where you go for that designer that only has stores in London, NYC, Paris, Dubai, etc. (and maybe LA). Best to wear nicer clothes if you don’t want to stick out. Bathrooms are hard to find. I found one in Ralph Lauren, but it was a very small elevator and it was very hard to navigate to through the tight furniture displays.

The Globe Theatre

We got to see “Much Ado About Nothing” and it was amazing. Get your tickets in advance and register online with the globe as an accessibility user. You can then have the option of a wheelchair accessible ticket and you should be able to get one and a discounted companion ticket. If you have trouble call them (remembering time zones and international calling plans on your phone).

There are wheelchair accessible tickets above, but you can’t beat the front row platform they give you if you select the Floor. Most people stand for the play in that space but you get your own raised platform with a ramp to it right front and center! It’s amazing! I got seats + cushions on the same level for my husband and daughter and it worked out fine. They weren’t right with me but we all saw the show well and enjoyed it.

They have accessibility staff to help you. I recommend arriving a little early to check in with them. There is an accessible bathroom right past the men’s room at the end of the hall.

We also got a dinner reservation for before the show at the Swan. It’s a nice restaurant attached to the theatre’s lobby and you enter through the theatre and take the theatre’s elevator up to the restaurant level. Highly recommend.

Theatre in the West End (Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre and Hadestown at The Lyric Theatre)

I was so impressed with the theaters in London. At the Globe and both West End theaters we went to they all had an accessibility person on staff. Arrive 30 min early early and check in with them. For Hadestown at the Lyric we had the box. The door was as tight squeeze (my chair is 27″ wide), but it worked. There was an accessible bathroom directly outside the box, though it was on the small side. Only one other person is allowed in the box, so if you have more than one person with you they will need seats elsewhere.

For Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre we had seats on the far right 1/3 of the way back from the stage along the side aisle. This was a big pain for letting people in and out of our row. They did offer to send people the other way but I felt like it was easier to just wait a bit away to take my place until after people were seated. There was one accessible restroom back behind us.

I suggest calling to order tickets. Seats are not obvious online. This means calling during their hours in their time zone (thankfully later for theatre) and making sure your phone plan will do that.

Hampton Court Palace

Purchase tickets ahead. This is the Palace of Henry the VIII (he of the six wives). It’s out of the way (40-60 min on the bus or 30-40 min drive from Paddington Station on the edge of London), but its really worth the trip. If you are renting a car and drive in I recommend parking at the Hampton Court Green Parking area nearby unless you are working without a wheelchair but still disabled and need to be near. There is limited parking in the building but its not guaranteed and the green isn’t far.

The whole place is gorgeous. Most of it is Tudor, but one wing was remade in the Georgian style later. There is a ton of artwork you will have seen in your history books, a grand hall, enormous kitchens, and room after room of general Palace stuff you’d expect. There is an elevator and most of the building is actually accessible!

There is a hedge maze in the garden to get lost in, and various food carts in the gardens, and gift shops. One of the gift shops is specifically for the Royal School of Needlecraft and Embroidery because the school itself is located in the building! I wanted to buy the whole store-worth of tools, books and embroidery kits. That store was very tight and I couldn’t get in the back room, but the main gift shop had a ramp and was accessible.

The accessible bathrooms are great (there are several on the ground floor).

The Tate Modern

Two huge buildings of modern and contemporary art connected by a bridge on the (3rd?) floor and on ground level, all accessible with good accessible bathrooms. Tickets for any special exhibition should be purchased ahead.

Camden Town

Camden reminded me a of a cross between the markets in Morocco and Egypt, Haight St in San Francisco but on steroids and Melrose Ave in Hollywood. It’s a long High Street with crazy alternative shops (punk, goth, steampunk, rave, metal, etc.) that feeds into a twisting set of streets (the “stables” filled with smaller versions of the same.

The Camden tube station is not accessible in a wheelchair, but you can get there by bus. Just get off at either Camden High Street (if you want to walk/roll the high street to the market), or Chalk Farm (lets you off right before the “stables” area), or Camden Market (if you want to get off the bus halfway along the high street in between).

Cyberdog (in the stables) is very noticeable and bigger and worth a look. It’s a cyberpunk/rave store with giant robots outside. You can’t get to the main store from the stables level, but if you go into the street level part of the store they will give you a map to the elevator and let you in. More importantly that elevator, if you go all the way down will take you to the bathrooms, including an accessible bathroom (which you need a coin or key for). I don’t think I could find that elevator without their map.

There are cobbles in the stables and steps to some shops sadly. There are tons of food stands and some restaurants.

Westminster Abbey

This is where the Kings and Queens are crowned.
Booking ahead is recommended. I also highly recommend booking a tour of the upstairs area (there is an elevator). It is both an amazing view and a great collection if you are interested in wooden effigies of the dead kings and queens, random treasures and books, or perhaps the actual oldest surviving corset in history (the corset Queen Elizabeth’s effigy was wearing- and I mean corset, not bodice as it was under-clothing).

There are many famous poets buried in Poet’s Corner (near the entrance to the upstairs area) and also famous scientists in their area. The accessible bathroom is just past the desk where you check in for the upstairs area. Even if you don’t have a ticket for upstairs you can ask them to go by and use it.

The souvenir shop is within sight of the church, but not directly connected.

The Tower of London

You MUST get tickets ahead it is always fully booked. The tour isn’t really very accessible, but you can ask for an accessible one. We didn’t’ bother. The only indoor building other than the gift shops that is accessible is the one with the crown jewels. There is a separate line for that (a long one), but if you speak to someone who works there your party can skip the line.

There are various food stands in and around the Tower and a Raven Bar (next to the Raven gift shop) with sausages and drinks. There are two accessible bathrooms, one by the water gate (straight ahead and to the right after the main gate) and one around the back of/to the right of the crown jewels. You may need to knock to see if someone is there and if not use a coin to open the door. Locals have a disability “key” but a coin will do.

I ended up waiting and going through the gift shops and talking to the “Beefeaters” while my husband and daughter explored the less accessible parts of the castle and took pictures for me

St Pancras Hotel

Is a magnificent building to look around and there are several incredible restaurants attached to it. We ate at The Booking Office 1869 among palm fronds. Fabulous Victorian charm. Reservations needed. If you go into the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel lobby there is a gorgeous lobby and the Booking office is to the right. To the left is a signature red staircase well worthy of some photos (down a small stair lift) and there is another great restaurant there. Book dining through the hotel website.

Renting a Wheelchair Van
We rented a van with Allied Mobility at https://www.alliedmobility.com/They were great in every way. We worked out details over email. We would not have rented it just for London (far easier to take buses!). We rented it to drive to Scotland.

The drive in front of the Paddington Station Hotel was large enough to load into the van (back loading). It could have handled side loading but you’d need someone to stand there to stop other cars while you loaded. The hotel was also very close to the freeway (a pretty straight shot) so we didn’t have to navigate London street traffic for long.

Returning to the Airport
If taking the train form Paddington to the airport allow extra time to find a person with a ramp to let you on the train. You need to find a person that works there and they need to go find the ramp person. A few trains may go by while you wait for this.