Leeds is a great city to visit with plenty of attractions and things to do for the festive season. We want everyone to have the opportunity to enjoy a Magical Leeds Christmas. Here is a guide with information and links to help plan an accessible trip.
Below you can find information on:
- Historic Homes & Museums, jump to content.
- Christmas Experiences & Activities, jump to content.
- Shopping, jump to content.
- Shows, Music & Theatre, jump to content.
- Travel Planning Tools, jump to content.
- How To Get Around, jump to content.
- Accommodation, jump to content.
Historic Homes, Museums and Galleries
Leeds is within easy distance of three stunning historic homes and country estates, which all aim to provide a friendly, accessible environment for visitors.
Harewood House is about 20 minutes from Leeds City Centre. They offer Sensory Bags, accommodations like shuttle services around the grounds (volunteer run) and all staff are trained to assist. Their Christmas experience – A Glittering Invitation: Grand Christmas Ball – will be a bright and colourful affair with maximalist decorations and twinkling lights across 2 floors. Please check their accessibility page on their website before travelling.
Lotherton House and Wildlife World is around 12 miles from Leeds City Centre. Find out about their access facilities on their website here including a Visual Story to plan your visit. The Christmas Experience at Lotherton will be mostly accessible, with one part of the woodland walk not available to wheelchair users due to the sunken rock garden. Electric scooters are available to hire for the outdoor experience. There are also Relaxed Santa Visits for children with additional needs.
Temple Newsam House is around 5 miles from Leeds City Centre. A large portion of the house is accessible with a selection of wheelchairs and scooters to help explore the outdoor areas. To find out more about their provisions click here.
The Leeds Museums and Galleries also run Abbey House Museum, Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds City Museum and the Leeds Industrial Museum. You can check out each venue here with accessible information.
Find out more about our Historic Homes & Parks at Christmas here.
experiences and activities
There are plenty of activities and experiences to get into the festive mood, and with accessible sessions and provisions it’s easier than ever to make sure Christmas is for everyone.
Ice Cube at Christmas will be hosting accessible skating sessions with help from the expert skaters, before you head off to enjoy the many food and shopping market stalls throughout Millennium Square.
Northern Lights Leeds at Temple Newsam is a 1 mile light trail experience. They will be hosting sessions for neuro-divergent customers, with reduced audience capacity and volume of music. Whilst it is an outdoor experience and potentially muddy at times, during dry days electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters should be able to handle the ground. There are stewards all throughout the trail for any additional help.
Find more things to do in Your Ultimate Guide To Leeds Christmas.
Shopping
Leeds is famous for it’s beautiful covered shopping arcades alongside state-of-the-art modern shopping centres and facilities. At Christmas, the shopping centres will be some of the busiest spots in the city, so we suggest trying to shop early mornings and during the week to avoid the crowds. Some quiet hours may be stopped during the season too, please contact individual shopping centres and shops to see what they can offer on top of their usual accessible help.
Trinity Leeds is a Sector Partner of Purple Tuesday, fully committed to improving the customer experience for disabled guests 365 days a year. This includes quiet hours, mobility hire and SignLive, where a BSL interpreter will help connect you with staff throughout the shopping centre.
Victoria Leeds and the arcades (Thorntons, Queens, Central and Grand) are one level and easy to get through, however due to their design some shops have a step to get inside and feature 2nd floors without lift use. We recommend contacting the individual businesses should you need that extra help. Victoria Leeds also offers a Guest Services experience with hands free shopping.
The Light, Merrion Centre, St Johns & the White Rose Shopping Centre has a wide variety of facilities to support your shopping with mobility hire, sensory backpacks, and more.
Find out more about Christmas Shopping here.
Shows, Music and Theatre
Leeds Playhouse is a pioneer of creating and showing accessible and inclusive theatre, and as a venue it is committed to making their spaces fully welcoming with equality, diversity, access, and inclusion considered in everything they do. Their festive show, A Christmas Carol, has many accessible performances with Audio Description, British Sign Language, Relaxed Performances, Touch Tours, Dementia Friendly and Captioned available. Find out more about their general accessible facilities on their website here.
The Carriageworks Theatre is in Leeds City Centre, overlooking Millennium Square, with several car parks nearby. The entrance consists of level access with automatic doors and lift access to all floors. Their pantomime Sleeping Beauty will be hosting several accessible performances with Dementia Friendly, Relaxed Performances and BSL available. Find out more about their accessible facilities here.
The City Varieties Music Hall is the longest running music hall in the UK, where you will find relaxed, captioned and BSL performances for their Christmas show – Aladdin: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Panto! All the details on the accessible facilities can be found here including nearby parking and a digital tour of the theatre.
Northern Ballet take over the Leeds Grand Theatre this Christmas with their production of The Nutcracker. Find out about the Leeds Grand Theatre’s accessible facilities here.
Find out more about Christmas Shows here.
Travel Planning Tools
Hubs Mobility Advice Service
For free, impartial advice for accessible travel solutions visit the Hubs Mobility Advice Service.
Blue Badge Information
For information on Blue Badge guidance visit Leeds City Council website here. You can also view an interactive map of Blue Badge parking in Leeds City Centre.
Travelling by Train
Leeds City Centre train station, is in the heart of the city centre. Its accessibility features include:
- Step-free access throughout the station, with lifts to all platforms.
- Passenger Assistance
- Accessible toilets, waiting rooms, and seating areas.
- A ramp for train access
Staff assistance is available 24 hours a day, and can be requested in advance of your journey. Full details of accessibility at Leeds City Centre Train Station can be found on the National Rail website.
Useful links for travelling to Leeds by Train
- National Rail train and station accessibility here – National Rail accessible travel and facilities information.
- National Rail passenger assist information and Passenger Assistance App
- National Rail Find a Station service
- National Rail Interactive Access Map
Train providers are Northern, Cross Country, East Midlands, LNER and Transpennine. All of these train operators provide assistance You can find details about accessibility on the individual transport providers websites.
By Car
Our accessible position on the UK motorway network makes reaching Leeds by road so simple. The M621 runs close to the city, providing direct access to the M1 and M62 and the A1 accessible to the North of the city centre. Leeds is within comfortable driving times of most regions in the UK. For details of car parking in Leeds, view our disabled parking map here.
Getting Around Leeds
Leeds is a famously walkable city, with all the buzz of the urban centre never too far away without the need for transport. There are plenty of wheelchair accessible routes to get you where you need to go, and places to stop and rest should you need to. Creating a better experience for pedestrians and cyclists goes hand in hand with making space for people to enjoy nightlife, hospitality and leisure without the cars and crossings. Greek Street in the Financial Quarter and Merrion Street in the Northern Quarter are closed to traffic, creating accessible, vibrant street level areas packed with outdoor dining, drinking and the best of Leeds’ independent food scene. City Square up to Quebecs Street at the front of the Train station, is largely pedestrianised, creating a large event space and public places to sit and take in the atmosphere. Visit Leeds City Council’s website pages on Walking in Leeds for further information and advice.
The Christmas Markets will be held in City Square, and from Millennium Square through to Victoria Gardens via Cookridge Street, with extra ones on weekends on Bond Court, Albion Place and Briggate. The stalls are laid out to allow plenty of space between them, but expect evenings and weekends to be busier so plan time to get through the crowds.
Accessible Toilets
Alongside accessible toilets, Leeds also offers a number of changing places to cater to all accessibility needs. You can find out more information and see where these are located on the Changing Places website.
Local Bus Services
Leeds’ fleet of electric buses is an accessible way to get around the city centre and beyond. As well as all the space you need, you’ll find clear audio and visual next stop announcements, wi-fi for any essential devices, and app-based tickets so you can plan in advance. There are also park and ride services and local train services connecting through Leeds Train Station. Head to WYMetro to plan your journey.
Taxi Services
An accessible taxi service is available from Veezu who can be contacted on 0113 269 1558.
A Home Away from Home
But what about your accommodation? Often, staying somewhere new can be fraught with uncertainty, especially when you need specific accessibility features or requirements that you don’t have to think about at home. In Leeds you can rest easy, literally, because the city has a wealth of accessible accommodation right in the heart of the city.
From iconic four-star hotel, The Queens, which offers accessible rooms and wheelchair access to public areas including the bar, restaurant and bedrooms, to Radisson Blu consisting of seven accessible rooms, two of which have walk-in showers, whilst loading bays and portable ramps are available for disabled access, there’s a wealth of accommodation to choose from.
We recommend also using Euan’s Guide for individual reviews of venues, restaurants etc…
For feedback or additional information on this page please contact us at info@visitleeds.co.uk.