Segway Tours in Salthill/Galway City

ourtrail

Just wondering if anyone has done either of the segway tours in the city? thinking of doing one but interested to hear feedback before I book as they are expensive enough.

biko

Us locals don't get on them yokes in case we bump into someone we know

jased10s

Are not Segways illegal unless used in private lands ?

http://www.segway.ie/?id=46

Mrs OBumble

jased10s wrote: »

Are not Segways illegal unless used in private lands ?

http://www.segway.ie/?id=46

That's just ass-covering.

No guard is going to do the paperwork involved in arresting a tourist for using one of 'em on the footpath, unless said tourist does something incredibly stupid.

tracker-man

jased10s wrote: »

Are not Segways illegal unless used in private lands ?

http://www.segway.ie/?id=46

The Segways are harmless, its them polish boyos racing up and down the streets on tricycles carrying drunken youngins at 3 in the morning that are dangerous.

squonk

I did the city tour with some friends last year. They start off at the back of Jurys and give you a whistlestop tour of the main part of the city. The tour was grand but Galway isn't really Segway friendly. You need dedicated paths for those things I think. It's a bit scarey in spots crossing at traffic lights while stuck behind a couple walking hand in hand and in no hurry. The tour takes you across the Salmon Weir Bridge and the segways took up the whole of the footpath there. We got some abuse because of that and, in fairness to those giving it, they had a point. I don't think the tour should go that way. I fell off at one point. We went by Nora Barnacle's house across from St. Nicholas's. The guide had stopped to point out the sights there and then went on chatting with one of our group, leaving two of us behind. The footpath there isn't the best and there's a small gradient upwards and the path also falls off to the left at the same time. For some reason my segway didn't keep going and stopped and because of the gradient, it keeled over.

If I was you OP I'd do the Salthill tour. It's a nice run out and there's plenty of room and far less manouvering if you haven't used a segway before. Another problem is that the guides are students on summer jobs so, while the lady doing our tour was a good guide, I wasn't particularly confident in her ability to sort things out if something went wrong. I really felt that part was lacking. For Galway City it might be good to have two guides going along front and rear to ensure riders are looked after.

My friends had done a segway tour in Washington about two years ago and they raved abut it there. The difference is that there are plenty of wide open spaces. Galway isn't that sort of city and in some parts the Segway is just a bit big for the footpaths. It requires caution and if you're a first time rider then the run out to Salthill strikes me as the best starting point. Actually, the Galway City segway tour strikes me as a bit of a fad. IMHO they'd be better off handing out bikes and letting people do it that way. It's more friendly for other people in the city and there's less chance of people falling off I'd think. Salthill and the path up along the Corrib would be ideal for Segways though.