(Photo by Jorge Royan via Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0)
In July, I visited the Czech capital city of Prague, a stunning historic city in central Europe. In recent years, Prague has become a major tourist hotspot, attracting millions of visitors every year. In 2024 alone, 8.1 million tourists travelled to Prague, more than 5 times its population of 1.3 million inhabitants at the time.
The Prague tourist board insists that accessibility is one of the city’s priorities. Its website states that it has taken steps to make city life as accessible as possible for people with disabilities. But what is the reality for people who use wheelchairs in Prague?
(Credit: Adéla Odrihocká)
To find out, I spent a day in Prague with Adéla Odrihocká, an award-winning advocate for rare diseases and campaigner for disability rights. Adéla lives and works in Prague, and uses an electric wheelchair to get around. As we made our way through the city, Adéla took time to explain the various daily challenges she encounters.
Public Transportation
Adéla and I started our day in the city close to her apartment. At the tram stop, Adéla flagged down the driver, who brought a detachable ramp for her to roll onto the tram. In Prague, most modern trams and buses are accessible to people who use wheelchairs. However, the driver must manually attach the ramp. Adéla said drivers can sometimes be frustrated about having to get off the tram, although in this case, the driver was in good spirits and eager to help.
Luckily, there was plenty of space on the tram on the day we went out together. Adéla explained that on weekdays during rush hour, she often has to wait for some time before there is space for her to get on public transport with her wheelchair. The issue is particularly true for buses, which become easily overcrowded when there are people with young children in strollers. She told me, “I have to let multiple trams and buses pass before there is space for me to get on. That is probably the main issue I face.”
Prague also boasts a fairly extensive underground train network, the Prague Metro. According to the Prague Public Transit Company, 48 of the Prague Metro’s 61 stations are accessible to people in wheelchairs. The company attributes this fact to an “unfortunate legacy” of a time when barrier-free transit was not a priority.
Be that as it may, I asked Adéla if she ever commutes on the Metro. “I have never taken the Metro in Prague,” she replied. She added, “It is possible, but there is quite a gap between the train and the platform. My wheels could get stuck.”
Roads and Sidewalks
We got off the tram near Riegrovy Sady, a park with views across the city to the iconic Prague Castle. Just as we alighted, we encountered our next challenge. The tram stop was located on an island in the middle of the street, and there was not a single curb cut. Therefore, there was no safe way for people using wheelchairs to cross to the other side of the street.
Curb cuts refer to areas where the sidewalk is sloped to resemble a ramp, a feature that is not only useful for people using wheelchairs but also for those with strollers and cyclists, for example. Curb cuts exist in many cities around the world, and Prague is no exception. However, there are parts of the city—including certain tram and bus stops—where there are no or inadequate curb cuts.
Perplexed, I asked Adéla what people in wheelchairs can do if they can’t get down from the sidewalk. She sighed, “Some people don’t have any other option but to take another tram to get to a stop where there are curb cuts. This really prolongs your journey.”
She went on to say, “Some tram stops are very narrow, so you don’t have any space to manoeuvre [the wheelchair]. It means that once you roll down the ramp from the tram, you have nowhere to go. Prague’s lack of curb cuts and its narrow tram stops are the main issues I face on public transport.”
Adéla added that sidewalk inaccessibility is not confined to tram and bus stops: “Sometimes the pavement just ends without a curb cut and you have to do a tour of the neighbourhood to find a place where you can safely continue. In some places, there are streetlights right in the middle of the sidewalk, or people have left electric scooters lying across the path. I have to go on the road with the cars, which is dangerous but often the only option.”
In our case, as we were a trio, we managed to lift the heavy electric wheelchair down onto the road and find a curb cut to access the sidewalk on the other side of the street.
(Credit: Eri Kadlčíková Hanley)
Cafés and Restaurants
After spending some time relaxing in the park, we took a stroll downtown to grab a bite to eat. Adéla revealed that in Prague, she usually has to plan ahead to ensure that the restaurant she wants to go to has wheelchair access:
“Some restaurants have a little symbol [of a wheelchair] on Google Maps to show that they are accessible. Yet, their perception of accessibility isn’t always truly accessible. I usually go on Google Street View to check the route between the tram stop and the restaurant, and I can see whether the restaurant has a step at the entrance.”
Adéla cites restrooms as an example where a restaurant’s accessibility credentials may fall flat: “Even when restaurant entrances have ramp access, the accessible bathroom often causes problems. You can tell they haven’t spoken to the right people. The grab rails aren’t properly positioned, and the mirror is usually too high so you can’t see yourself.”
At the restaurant, the server directed us to an accessible bathroom. However, when Adéla came back to the table, she explained that there was no space in the restroom to turn the wheelchair. Therefore, she had to leave her wheelchair in the hallway. She disclosed that accessible toilets double as storage facilities in many restaurants: “You can barely see the toilet sometimes!”
Wheelchair-Accessible Cities
Adéla is very content living in Prague. However, she concedes that the City of Prague could do a lot more to improve accessibility, stating, “In Prague, accessibility is an afterthought.” Other cities have demonstrated that it is possible to make urban areas more accessible by taking small steps that could vastly improve the lives of many people who use wheelchairs.
A clear example is Vienna, the capital city of Austria, which won the Access City Award in 2025 for its commitment to accessibility. The European Commission granted the award to Vienna based on its wide variety of initiatives and projects that make it easier for everyone to fully enjoy the city and its amenities. Such initiatives include accessible public transportation and swimming pools, as well as additional support for housing and employment.
Adéla compares the situation in Prague to that in Barcelona, Spain, where she attended a conference earlier this year. Barcelona is renowned for being wheelchair-friendly, with tourist spots, public transportation and even beaches being completely wheelchair accessible. “Everything was easier,” Adéla enthused.
She went on, “There were curb cuts everywhere. You didn’t have to think about anything. Every restaurant and beach bar was accessible. If you wanted to, you could even get to the water in a wheelchair. Tourism is made accessible.”
Steps Towards Greater Accessibility
At the end of our day out in the city, I asked Adéla what changes she would like to see implemented in Prague. She thought for a moment before asserting, “Barriers aren’t always architectural, but in Prague, the main problem is the architecture. If Prague started to take care of the little things [like ramps and curb cuts], it would make a huge difference.”
Ahead of Disability Pride Month in July, award-winning influencer Sophie Butler wrote in an Instagram post on June 30, 2025, “99% of things I hate about being Disabled come from inaccessibility or ableism, not because I hate being Disabled.” Adéla agrees with Butler’s sentiment. She is certain that most issues people with disabilities face stem from a lack of diversity in decision-making circles.
Adéla pointed out that everything she does in Prague requires a lot of planning. As we ended our tour of Prague, she concluded, “Maybe someone else would tell you differently, but I can do the things I want to do [in Prague]. However, nothing can be spontaneous. It’s quite a mental burden always having to check things in advance!”
Edited by Lubaba Mahmud
