Drive to All the Sights On Your Next Vacay and Have a Blast Doing It: Meet GoCar
Becky Fixel
|
Get Out of That Cab and Experience the City in a GoCar
Whenever I’m traveling I love to try to get out and find a fun way to experience my destination. I don’t like sitting in the hotel room and staring at a city from the window. I want to see all the city has to offer and head off to places that locals love and tourists don’t often know about. When I was in San Francisco a friend mentioned we should do a tour of the city in a GoCar. One look at their website and I was sold. A GoCar is a two seat car with GPS system that shows you tourist locations but also, teaches things you don’t find in the tour guide books.
GoCars are perfect for families even though only two people can fit in the car. You need to able to legally drive a car in order to drive a GoCar, so kids will have to ride along as a passenger. And because GoCar is an open air vehicle you have to wear a helmet, so small children (usually under four) cannot ride in a GoCar since the helmets won’t fit safely.
Destinations Worth Visiting Aren’t Always on a Tourist List
Did we mention how small the Go Car is? Next to the hybrid Toyota Prius it’s still tiny. Photo: Becky Fixel
GoCars Are … Motorcycles? Don’t worry It’s Not Scary!
Before you can drive a GoCar they make you watch a safety video. This ten minute video will explain everything you need to know about the car including how to start it, the trunk space and how to actually drive the GoCar. While the GoCar is advertised as a three wheel car, it actually functions like a motorcycle. You have handle bars, a throttle and hand brake. It doesn’t drive or handle like any car you’ve ever driven before, and driving it is an experience on it’s own! Don’t forget to turn your blinker off after each turn – your ride partner may end up laughing at you the whole time if you don’t!
Due to the small size of the GoCar there isn’t a lot of storage space in the front of the car, and because it’s open air, when you get out of the car you need to take your things with you. However, there is a very small trunk in the back that you can access with a key if you need to store your purse or camera gear.
Like driving a motorcycle there are things you need to keep in mind. You won’t be using a steering wheel, so you’ll have to come to terms with your arms up on the handles throughout the whole ride. You can also feel the vibrations while driving, which isn’t a problem but your arms may get tired after a long drive. Also like a motorcycle, the GoCar doesn’t reverse. You will have to push the GoCar backwards to change positions if you pull into a space. This is only a problem if you get stuck on an incline, but don’t worry, nice strangers will help you out!
Navigating is Easy When You’re behind the Handles
You can take the Go Car on all residential streets including some of the most famous like San Francisco’s Lombard Street! Photo: Becky Fixel
Any time you’re in a new city finding your way around can be hard to do. GPS makes the world easier to navigate in general, but behind the handles of a GoCar, you don’t just have GPS, you have a fully guided tour of the city with lessons on the history of the area, too. Don’t think that the GPS in the GoCar will simply tell you to go right or left, she (yes it’s a girl!) will tell you which hills the car can’t go on, bad jokes along the way and even play racing music as you go down steep hills.
Exciting New Technology is Leading Your Car and Safety
Visit the Hottest Tourist Locations and Head off on Roads that Bus Tours Wont Take You
The GoCar isn’t allowed bridges or highways, but you can get up and personal with the Golden Gate Bridge. Photo: Becky Fixel
Have you ever wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge? How about Ghirardelli Square? When you first get into San Francisco you may have no idea how to get there. GoCar not only has a map, but the car that is smart enough to get you there. The small size of the car means you can’t go over the bridges or on highways, but it is completely road legal with a top speed of 35 miles per hour. Because the GoCar is considered a standard car, you can head into neighborhoods where tour buses aren’t allowed. GoCar will tell you to keep the engine noise to a minimum, especially in the ritzy areas, but our car had a bit of a noisy engine that was hard to keep quiet.
Autonomous Cars Are Driving You and the Future
We hit the road in San Francisco in a GoCar – the talking car with personality. Photo: Becky Fixel
Grab Your Friends and Hop In for A Fun Ride
GoCar tours start at 1 hour tours but can be booked for the whole day. Don’t worry about gassing up unless you have it out for more than four hours. We drove our GoCar for four hours and didn’t have to stop once for gas.
Driving the GoCar was a lot of fun and we happily checked off the top tourist locations off our “to visit” list, laughing the whole way. I had never driven a motorcycle before, but would tour in a GoCar again in a heart beat. You can find GoCar in San Francisco, San Diego, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon and Porto.
We had such a great time in the GoCar I put together a video of our adventure. We haven’t laughed that much or that hard in a long time, and can’t wait to get back behind the handles of a GoCar again!
