Falkirk Wheel

Tamfourhill

4.36

11 reviews

Review this place

finnberrys

01 Sep 2024

Great day out and accessible boat ride!

Date of visit: August 2024

I am a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: dexterity or coordination and moving around.

Head on view of the wheel and one of the boats, which is docked.

People beginning to board. There are rows of plastic seats in sets of three. The walks and ceiling are all glass.

Black lab assistance dog lying on her mat by the Starboard door.

Middle entry door which is easily wide enough for a wheelchair.

Boat entering tunnel which has blue and green light effects.

Boat leaving dark tunnel and moving towards the wheel in the distance.

View of the motorhome car park from the top of the wheel.

View of the wheel from the car park, with both boats on it. It's half turned.

The wheel at night, lit up in blue and red.

Overall Rating

Excellent

We stayed overnight here in our motorhome and had a fantastic day exploring the Falkirk Wheel and the surrounding canal walks. We did the boat trip on the wheel and through Roughcastle Tunnel, which was better than I expected. The highlight though, was in the evening, watching the sun set behind the wheel and then seeing it all lit up.

Disabled Access In and Around

Excellent

The visitor centre was easily accessible by wheelchair and there was plenty of room to move around, even though it was quite busy. We booked the boat trip and were told to arrive 10 mins early and wait at the front of the queue, as we would be boarded first. Boarding was really easy. The ramp wasn't steep and I didn't need any help. There are wheelchair spaces in the middle of the boat and at the back. Once on board, there's no need to move. The boat has glass walls and ceiling so it had good visibility. It did get quite hot in the sun though!

Parking & Transport

Excellent

We arrived by motorhome and parked in the upper deck car park, which was well signposted. The motorhome spaces are properly marked out with hatchings between, which I found helpful, as it ensured access to the door where we unload my chair. It is then quite a long hill down to the visitor centre, but it's a good path, nice and wide, so on the way back up, I just stopped and took breaks when needed.

Accessible Toilets

Average

There is an accessible toilet in the visitor centre, a little small but okay for my manual chair. There was also a toilet on the boat but we were placed in the middle and the toilet was at the back, so I wouldn't have been able to get to it very easily.

Staff

Excellent

All staff were really helpful and friendly.

Additional Information

There was no problem taking my assistance dog on the boat. They allow dogs anyway. They do warn about it being noisy. I didn't notice this. There are several times though, when the boat bumps into the side of the canal and it does jolt and make quite a bang. My girl was okay with it but it might scare some dogs.

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