Mobility News. November – December 2020

Five of the best accessible views
Mountain scenery, cityscapes and rugged coastal vistas – they might sound tricky to reach, but
thanks to accessible visitor centres, wheelchair-friendly trails and one or two well-placed car parks,
there’s no reason why you can’t feast your eyes on some ravishing views.
Whether you’re looking to take the lift to a city-centre viewpoint, or you want to blow away the
cobwebs on a clifftop walk through scenery deemed worthy of UNESCO World Heritage status,
Rough Guides writer Emma Field has found an accessible view for you.
BEST FOR CITY VIEWS:
NEWCASTLE
You may think you’re going to the BALTIC
Centre for Contemporary Art for the
blockbuster artwork, but it’s the views
of Newcastle and Gateshead that will
stick with you. Take the lift to the Level 5
indoor viewing box and walk or wheel your
way right up to the glass. You’ll see the
curving silver roof of the Sage Gateshead
music venue to the left and Newcastle’s
bustling quayside on the opposite bank
of the River Tyne, which flows between
the two. You can see four of the river’s
famous seven bridges spanning the river
from here too. BALTIC is in an old flour mill
that was renovated with accessibility in
mind, so don’t miss the diverse world-class
exhibitions while you’re here. There are
monthly descriptive tours for visitors with
visual impairments, and it’s free to enter.
BEST FOR COASTAL VIEWS:
COUNTY ANTRIM
Tumbling down the cliffs of Northern
Ireland, the 40,000-ish basalt columns of
the Giant’s Causeway are fully accessible to
visitors with disabilities. The 2-mile (3.2km)
Giant’s Causeway Green Trail is suitable
for visitors with mobility concerns and the
views extend beyond the world-famous
UNESCO World Heritage Site across
the ocean to Scotland and Ireland too.
Starting at the Causeway Hotel, the clifftop
route has an accessible picnic area and
accessible information signs, and you can
finish at the accessible visitor centre, too.
Outdoor audio guides mean you can find
out how the striking rock formations came
to be while you’re breathing in that fresh
sea air, and a shuttle bus service covers the
0.6-mile (1km) distance between the centre
and the stones.
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