However, it’s no ordinary hire service. The scooters are intended for visitors to Prague and come with the service of a qualified guide. Such a service is rarely to be found anywhere in the world.
“For disabled visitors to Prague this opens up an entirely new opportunity to get to know the historical centre of the city,” said Lea Skanderová, owner of Accessible Prague travel agency, who came up with this unique idea.
Not only for the disabled
Within the project “Prague by Scooter” three various fully accessible thematic tours are available for tourists on foot or by scooter. “For many visitors the classic tour, especially on Prague’s cobbled streets, can be physically exhausting, if not impossible. Scooter tours are suitable not only for disabled people, but are also ideal for pensioners and people who are not used to walking but would still like to see the sights of Prague, and not only from the window of a tour bus,” said Skanderová.
Disabled driver status
The electric scooters used in Prague are very popular in western Europe for their simplicity of handling, safety and rider comfort. They are four-wheeled vehicles with manual controls and can even be ridden on the pavement. They have a maximum speed of 12 kph, their wide wheels are suitable for even the most difficult terrain, such as the cobbled streets of Malá Strana or Staré Město. Furthermore, they have the status of vehicles for disabled drivers, so they are allowed on buses and trams.
Buses are better
First experience of using them shows that the new low-floor buses are ideal for these vehicles. “On trams, even though they are low-floored, it mainly depends on how the tram-stop island looks, they are not always ideal,” said Skanderová.
From Yasmin to Yasmin
All tours start and finish at Hotel Yasmin, which is fully accessible and is ideally located. The four-hour “Scooter tour of the most beautiful city sights” is an ideal introduction to Prague. Tourists on Charles Bridge will also visit the riverbank at Malá Strana. There is also a shorter tour of Staré Město (Old Town) and Židovské Město (Jewish quarter). Finally, a tour of Nové Město (New Town) subtitled The Road to Democracy focuses on modern history in Czechoslovakia.
Authorised guides
“The guides are not only linguistically excellent professionals with a detailed knowledge of Prague, but they also know Prague from a disabled person’s perspective. They have all been trained in handling the scooters and have ridden around all routes to put themselves in the client’s position. I have created a guidebook for the tour guides giving a detailed description of all routes, including any problem areas and slip-ways,” added Skanderová. A large part of the guidebook has been checked out by Prague Information Service, which is a guarantee of its quality. Hotel Yasmin and Prague City Hall are partners in the project.
