Overview

We went to visit the Botanical Gardens in Dundee today. The group consisted of my mother-in-law who was being pushed in an outdoor large wheeled wheelchair; myself and my husband and my adult daughter. We had a lovely few hours, we were very lucky with the weather and after walking around most of the gardens had our picnic lunch at one of their picnic tables in the grounds. There was a wide variety of plants and trees from all over the world. We were pleasantly surprised by how peaceful and quiet it felt considering the nearby road traffic. We even managed to see into the airport which was a nice surprise. There was a 'fairy trail' for any children to encourage them to look for fairy doors in amongst the plants. The main thing that let the place down was height of the toilet seat in the accessible toilet.

Transport & Parking

We drove there. There was plenty of parking spaces including 3 Disabled parking spaces and 2 electric charging points. The car park was fully tarmacked with a slight slope. Where the tarmac finished there was a paved path taking you either to the gardens (on the left) or the cafe (on the right).

Access

We visited the gardens. We picked up a free map on entry; there was a simple circular route to take and the different areas were well designated and signposted. We did find an accessible gravel path to go to a viewing area where we could look out towards Dundee airport and watch the airplanes take off and land. The paths were well maintained, mainly a mixture of paving and tarmac, with no steps. The grass was short and easy to push the wheelchair; there were some areas that you could wander about across grass. There were plenty of benches to stop and sit and there were picnic tables in the gardens. We did not see any alternative formats for the signs such as braille, large print, easy read or BSL.

Toilets

There was accessible toilet near the entrance. The toilet area was clean and well stocked. It was big enough for MiL to use. She needs 2 helpers and a gutter rollator to transfer from her wheelchair to the toilet. Our biggest problem was the toilet was relatively LOW so she really STRUGGLED to stand up again even with 2 helpers. A toilet raised seat would have made all the difference.

Staff

All the staff I met were very helpful. I recced the place 2 days earlier to check the facilities for a wheelchair user and I had been allowed to have a quick look around.

Photos