Famous tourist cars no longer allowed in Bratislava's historic centre

Prešporáčik tourist cars will no longer travel through the pedestrian zone as the Staré Mesto borough has banned them from there. The sightseeing vehicle resembling a vintage car on Bratislava's streets a century ago, has driven through the historic centre for 23 years, with approximately 30,000 tourists using it annually. (The name is derived from Prešporok, an old name for Bratislava - Ed. note)

The regulation will come into effect from May.

"Staré Mesto fully supports and cheers for all tourist attractions that bring visitors to the city centre," says spokeswoman of the Staré Mesto Mayor, Veronika Gubková. "However, there is only one and a small historic city centre, so we have to give preference to pedestrian movement."

Part of the public was outraged. An online petition has been launched, garnering almost 1,000 signatures so far; the family business Tour4U, operating the sightseeing tours in the city, has been inundated with letters of support.

Travel agencies, kindergartens and primary schools, as well as the embassies of South Korea, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Germany and the United Kingdom have stood up for the preservation of the Prešporáčik's original route.

"We have designed the routes to avoid places frequented by tourists such as Michalská Street or Hviezdoslavovo Námestie square," says company manager Katarína Nošková. "We cooperated with Staré Mesto on the project from the beginning."

With this regulation the borough wants to stop excessive traffic in the pedestrian zone, which, among other things, destroys the paving and burdens its budget. In addition, the introduction of a so-called digital gate is in the pipeline, which will help Staré Mesto to mitigate driving to the centre.

They repaired the pavement themselves

Staré Mesto Town Hall has been receiving complaints about the traffic in the pedestrian zone for a long time, in the form of supply trucks, official vehicles with diplomatic license plates, and garbage trucks. The situation should become clearer in summer, once the digital gateway has been launched.

"These surfaces were not built with the current traffic and weight of vehicles in mind. This has cost the borough high expenses associated with repairs," explains Gubková. Compared to regular cars, the family business pays Staré Mesto a rate ten times higher to enter the centre for this reason.