The access list
Nearly every venue in this guide operates an access register: you sign up once, and from then on companion tickets are free and accessible seats can be booked by phone or email rather than through the general sale. This is the single most useful thing to do before a trip, and it takes ten minutes per venue.
Relaxed and captioned performances
Relaxed performances keep the house lights slightly up, allow movement and noise and suit autistic visitors, people with dementia and small children. Captioned and audio-described performances are scheduled several times per run at most subsidised theatres, including the National Theatre. They are listed in the programme and they do not sell out first.
Historic buildings are the hard cases
An eighteenth-century opera house cannot be made fully step-free without destroying the thing being visited, and honest venues say so. La Fenice, the Palais Garnier and most Georgian theatres have partial access with specific routes, and the box office will tell you exactly which doors and which seats.
Quiet hours in museums
Several museums now run early opening hours with reduced sound and light, usually monthly. They are also, incidentally, the best time for anybody who dislikes crowds.
Where to find the information
Not in the main navigation. Look for a page called Access or Accessibility in the footer, or email the box office directly. Venue staff answer these questions properly and quickly, in our experience more reliably than any published page.
