Travelling With Dementia: Planning a Holiday That Stays Calm

Travelling with dementia works best when the holiday is built around the person’s routine rather than around the destination: shorter trips, familiar places, quieter travel times and help booked in advance at every point where things could become confusing. Most of what I write here is about wheelchairs, but a growing share of the emails I get are from readers travelling with a parent or partner who has dementia, and the planning is strikingly similar. You are trying to remove surprises. The difference is that the surprises which matter are not steps and door widths but noise, crowds, unfamiliar rooms and tiredness.

Is a holiday still a good idea?

For many people living with dementia, especially earlier on, a holiday is still possible and worthwhile, but the right trip is usually smaller than the one you would once have planned. The Alzheimer’s Society suggests starting with honest questions: would the person become confused or distressed by a change of place, food, language or clothing, would they cope with changes in temperature or time zone, and will they need help getting on and off transport ¹. Those questions are about the person, not the diagnosis, and the answers can change from one year to the next.

If the answers point to a full holiday being too much, that is not the end of travel. Shorter trips may suit people with memory problems or poor concentration better than long ones, and day trips can carry much of the pleasure with far less risk of a bad night somewhere strange ¹. If the person cannot decide for themselves whether to go, the charity’s advice is to think carefully about whether the trip is in their best interests, which is a conversation worth having with the rest of the family before anything is booked.

Choosing where to go

A familiar destination is often the calmest choice, because every known thing is one less thing to process. The Alzheimer’s Society notes that some people with dementia prefer somewhere familiar, and that returning to a place with good memories can support reminiscence ¹. The seaside town you went to every summer, the same hotel, even the same room if you can ask for it, all lower the load.

Practical access still matters. Ask for a ground-floor room or one near a lift, and check that the area around the accommodation is easy to walk, with somewhere to sit within a short distance ¹. If the person also uses a wheelchair or walks only short distances, the usual checks on step-free entry, bathrooms and bed height apply; the questions to ask before booking covers those in full. Reviews from disabled visitors on Euan’s Guide often mention noise, lighting and how busy a venue gets, which are exactly the details that matter here ².

Self-catering can help, because it lets you keep home mealtimes and home food, but it also puts all the work on the carer. A small hotel with a quiet dining room is a reasonable middle ground for many families.

Getting there: the journey is the hardest part

The journey is usually the most disorientating part of the holiday, so keep it as short and as simple as you can, and book help at each point where the person will have to follow instructions. That means direct routes over connections, quieter days and times over peak ones, and a car or train over a flight where the distance allows. Each change of vehicle, queue or announcement is a moment where someone can become lost or upset.

If you do fly, airport special assistance is a legal right, it is free, and it is not only for wheelchair users. The UK Civil Aviation Authority’s guidance covers passengers with non-visible conditions as well as reduced mobility, and the advice is the same: book through the airline at least 48 hours before you fly, and describe the help you need ³. Be specific. Help through security, a quieter place to wait away from the gate crowds, being boarded first and someone to meet you on arrival are all reasonable to ask for. How assistance works step by step is in airport special assistance.

Security deserves particular thought. The Alzheimer’s Society points out that the person may need to understand why they must take off personal items such as jewellery or a turban ¹. Explain it before you reach the belt, stay together through the scanner if staff allow, and tell the security officer quietly that your companion has dementia. Many airports recognise the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard as a discreet sign that someone may need more time or patience ⁴. It does not guarantee anything, but in my experience of travelling with people who wear one, it changes the tone of a queue.

Keeping the routine on holiday

Routine is the single most protective thing you can take with you: the same mealtimes, medication at its usual times, the same bedtime and some familiar objects in the room. The Alzheimer’s Society describes routine as very important for people living with dementia ¹, and a holiday is, by definition, a break from it. The trick is to change the scenery and keep the timetable.

When I took an older relative with dementia to a coast she had known as a child, the thing that made the week work was not the view. It was that breakfast was at eight every day, lunch was always a sandwich at the same bench, and her own photograph of her late husband went on the bedside table the moment we arrived. On the one day we abandoned the routine for a long boat trip, the evening was difficult. We did not try it again.

Medication needs the same care as at home, with a small extra margin. Carry it in hand luggage in its original packaging with a copy of the prescription, and keep doses at home time unless the person’s doctor advises otherwise when you cross time zones; the wider rules are in travelling with medication.

Safety, getting lost and what to carry

Plan for the person becoming separated from you, because a busy terminal or an unfamiliar town is where it most often happens. A card in their pocket or wallet with your phone number and the address of where you are staying costs nothing. A recent photograph of them on your phone, showing what they are wearing that day, helps anyone looking. Some families use a simple location tracker; that is a personal decision and worth discussing with the person while they can take part in it.

Government travel advice for disabled travellers recommends researching the destination’s provision before you go, including how you would get help locally ⁵. For dementia that includes knowing where the nearest pharmacy and medical centre are, and how you would reach your usual support network at home if you needed advice, which is a question the Alzheimer’s Society specifically asks carers to think about ¹.

Insurance and paperwork

Declare the dementia diagnosis to your travel insurer, along with every other condition, because an undeclared condition can be grounds for refusing a claim. UK government guidance is direct about this: you need to tell the insurer about pre-existing medical conditions, and check the policy covers what you plan to do ⁶. Mainstream policies sometimes load the price heavily or exclude cover; specialist insurers for older and disabled travellers often do better. The questions worth asking are set out in travel insurance for disabled travellers.

If you hold a lasting power of attorney for health or finances, take a copy or keep a scan on your phone. Hotels and airlines will not usually ask for it, but a hospital or a bank abroad might.

Looking after the carer

A holiday with someone who has dementia is not a holiday from caring, so build rest for the carer into the plan rather than hoping it appears. The Alzheimer’s Society reminds carers to plan time to rest and to think through what happens if they become unwell themselves while away ¹. Travelling with a second adult changes everything here, even for part of the trip. So does choosing somewhere with a lounge, a garden or a quiet bar where the carer can sit for an hour while the person naps.

Some families use holidays designed for people with dementia and their carers, where staff and activities are set up for exactly this. Others bring a paid carer or personal assistant; the practicalities of that, including who pays for their seat and room, are in travelling with a carer or personal assistant.

Steph’s note when she reviewed this guide was simple: watch for the signs that the person is overloaded (restlessness, repeating the same question more than usual, wanting to go home) and treat them as information rather than failure. Going home early from a holiday that has stopped working is not a disaster. It is the plan doing its job.

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General information, not individual advice. Whether a particular trip is suitable, and how to manage medication, sleep or behaviour changes away from home, are questions for the person’s GP, memory service or dementia nurse, who know them. Airline, insurance and destination rules vary and change, so confirm the current position with each provider before you travel.