Disabled and physically-challenged tourists are well catered for in South Africa with easy access for wheelchairs in most public places and accommodation. Make sure to ask the following from your South African holiday accommodation and make notes of these travel hot-spots, including game reserves, touch farms and tea gardens, cultural and botanical gardens, boat cruises and gambling excursions, craft markets and art galleries.

An establishment is wheelchair-friendly when it has

• rooms on the ground floor or a lift to the relevant floor;

• ramp entrances to the building;

• entrances and doors that are wheelchair-wide;

• access to dining rooms and other public areas;

• interior space allowing for wheelchairs to move around easily;

• equipped bathrooms with ample space, handles and bars;

• appliances and facilities at reachable heights.

Confirm with your establishment of choice that all above requirements are met – before booking!

South Africa has aimed to make this country a friendly-to-all destination and mostly all of its top attractions can easily be visited by any-abled person. Some of these unforgettable tourist attractions include (by province):

South Africa’s Limpopo in a Wheelchair

• Arend Dieperink Museum – Mokopane

• Daktari Wildlife Orphanage – Hoedspruit

• Mangela Animal Touch Farm and Tea Garden – Tzaneen

• Geluksfontein Dairy Goat Farm – Melkrivier

• Polokwane Game Reserve – Polokwane

South Africa’s Mpumalanga in a Wheelchair

• Chimpanzee Eden – Nelspruit

• Perry’s Bridge Reptile Park – Hazyview

• Lowveld Botanical Garden – Nelspruit

South Africa’s North West in a Wheelchair

• Gambling at Sun City – Sun City

• Hartbeespoort Dam Aquarium – Hartbeespoort Dam

• Klerksdorp Museum – Klerksdorp

• Motseng Cultural Village – Sun City

South Africa’s Northern Cape in a Wheelchair

• McGregor Museum – in Kimberley

• Big Hole and Kimberley Mine Museum – in Kimberley

• Colesberg-Kemper Museum – Colesberg

• Breakfast at Arabesque Coffee Shop – in Upington

South Africa’s Free State in a Wheelchair

• Art Workshops in Ficksburg

• Orchid green house – Bloemfontein

• Free State Botanical Garden – Bloemfontein

• Oliewenhuis Art Museum and teahouse – Bloemfontein

South Africa’s Western Cape in a Wheelchair

• ‘Behind the Scenes’ at SANCCOB – Bloubergrant

• Appreciate the arts – Artscape Theatre, Foreshore

• Boat Cruise from Simon’s Bay – Simons Town

• Blue Train from Pretoria to Cape Town

• ‘Art Jamming’ – Gardens, Cape TownEagle Encounters at Spier – Stellenbosch

• Green Point Flea Market – Green Point

• Green Point Stadium Visitor Centre – Green Point

• Fish at the harbour – Hout Bay Beach

• High Tea at The Mount Nelson – Gardens, Cape Town

• Iziko Planetarium – Cape Town Central

• Kalk Bay Fresh Etc Market – Kalk Bay

• Kalk Bay Theatre – Kalk Bay

• Old Biscuit Mill Market – in Woodstock, Cape Town

• Beer Tasting & Tour at Mitchells Brewer – Knysna

• Brewery Tour at Birkenhead Brewery – Stanford

• Gambling at the Garden Route Casino – Mossel Bay

• Jukani Wildlife Ranch & Care Centre – Mossel Bay

• Greyton Market – Greyton

South Africa’s Eastern Cape in a Wheelchair

• Addo Raptor Reptile Centre – in Addo

• African Dawn Wildlife Sanctuary in Jeffreys Bay

• Michaela’s – in Cintsa

• Yellow House Cocktail Bar – Grahamstown

• Daniell Cheetah Breeding Project – in Kirkwood

• Kwantu Game Reserve – Sidbury

• Jeffreys Bay Shell Museum – Jeffreys Bay

• Nelson Mandela Art Museum – in Port Elizabeth

• No 7 Castle Hill – in Central Hill, Port Elizabeth

• Port Elizabeth Museum at Bayworld – Humewood, Port Elizabeth

South Africa’s Garden Route in a Wheelchair

• Beer Tasting & Tour at Mitchells Brewery – Knysna

• Gambling at the Garden Route Casino – in Mossel Bay

• Jukani Wildlife Ranch & Care Centre – in Mossel Bay

• Picnic with the elephants – Little Brak

• Sedgefield Classic Cars – in Sedgefield

• Shopping at Langeberg Mall

• Tenikwa Wildlife Awareness Centre – in Plettenberg Bay

• Birds of Eden – in Plettenberg Bay

• Feathers Gallery – in Knysna

South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal in a Wheelchair

• Delux Burger Bar – Glenwood, Burger

• Bierfassl Restaurant & Pub – Nottingham Road, Durban

• Butterflies for Africa – Pietermaritzburg

• Chatsworth Centre – Chatsworth, Durban

• Cragsview Wildcare Centre – Port Edward

• Fantasy Forest – Umhlanga, Durban

• Geology Education Museum – Durban

• Crocodile farm – Hluhluwe

• KwaMuhle Museum – Durban

• Mitchell Park & Jameson Park – Morningside, Durban

South Africa’s Gauteng in a Wheelchair

• Johannesburg Zoo – Johannesburg

• Jozi Food Market – in Parktown North

• Hatfield Market – Pretoria

• The Lion Park – Randburg

• Gold Reef City – Johannesburg

• Johannesburg Botanic Gardens – Johannesburg

• Everard Read Gallery – Rosebank, Sandton

• Afronova Art Gallery – Newtown

• Bensusan Museum of Photography – Johannesburg

• Blue Train – from Pretoria to Cape Town

• Drive-In at Menlyn Park – in Pretoria

• Department of Historical Papers – Johannesburg

• Dinner Theatre at The Performer – Menlo Park, Pretoria