A mobile app tells wheelchair users which Bratislava sights are barrier-free
The vertiginous UFO restaurant is accessible to wheelchair travellers.
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This article was published in the latest edition of our Bratislava City Guide, which can be obtained from our online shop with Spectacular Slovakia travel guides.
Every tourist has a list of sights to see on their trip to Bratislava: the Castle, St Martin’s Cathedral, Mirbach Palace, and Devín, among others. While many people only check the location and opening hours of these sights, others have to deal with accessibility, because for people on a wheelchair, a high curb may be an invincible barrier. Likewise, visually impaired visitors appreciate having an audio guide or Braille descriptions.
CASTLES, MUSEUMS AND GALLERIES
Entrances to the most important historical monuments, theatres, museums and galleries in Bratislava are adapted for wheelchair users. They are equipped with ramps and the individual floors are connected by elevators. On the contrary, the towers, such as the coronation tower at Bratislava Castle and the tower in the Old Town Hall, are not accessible for them, although the rest of both monuments are barrier-free after recent reconstructions.
Primate’s Palace, the Slovak National Gallery and Nedbalka Gallery are wheelchair-friendly, too. The modern Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum in Čunovo, now part of Bratislava, was even designed as barrier-free.
Wheelchair users can enjoy a view of the city from the UFO restaurant on the SNP Bridge or from the terrace of Bratislava Castle.
ACCESSIBLE SITES FOR disabled people (wheelchair)
- Slovak National Museum
- Slovak National Gallery
- Reduta Slovak Philharmonic
- Blaváčik & Prešporáčik (Bratislava tourist trains)
- Slovak National Theatre - Historical building
- Old Town Hall (museum); (Tower not accessible)
- Primate’s Palace (gallery)
- Gallery and chapel
- Nedbalka Gallery
- Ursuline Church and Convent
- Franciscan Church of Lord’s Annunciation
- St Catherine’s Chapel
- Red Crayfish Pharmacy (museum)
- Church of St Stephen
- Zichy Palace Gallery
- St Martin’s Cathedral
- Church of the Clarisses
- Museum of Jewish Culture
- Bratislava Castle
- Accessible upon request, excluding Tower and Treasury
- UFO restaurant (Accessible upon request; access only to the Restaurant/Bar)
- Slovak National Theatre - New building
- Tržnica
- Market place
- Museum of Transport
- Botanical Garden
- ZOO
- Devín Castle
- Hřbitov
- Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum
Visitors can find out if a museum, gallery or other sight is barrier-free very easily by using the VozickarMAP mobile app. In addition, the guides are successfully taught how to best communicate the experience of the place to people with various disabilities.
EXPLORING BY TOUCH
Several museums and galleries have begun to add various interactive elements to their exhibitions, making them accessible to a wider range of visitors, including those with disabilities.
An interesting tactile experience is the “talking touch book” in the Mestská Knižnica library. It consists of relief plates depicting the most important architectural gems of the Old Town, such as Michalská Gate or the Old Town Hall, supplemented by short descriptions in Braille. The audio commentary accompanies the hands of the ‘readers’ and helps them to imagine the appearance of the individual buildings.
Exhibits with a tactile line and a sound guide are part of another exhibition, The Oldest History of Slovakia in the Archaeological Museum.
The bronze model of Bratislava on the Vajanského Nábrežie embankment with captions in Braille, in turn, allows the blind to get an idea of what Bratislava looked like at the end of the 18th century during the reign of Maria Theresa.
This article was prepared in cooperation with the Bratislava tourist board.
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