The Short Version: Rent a scooter in Portsmouth. Great way to tour around, see the city, and then some. Easy to learn, don’t have to straddle them, and not expensive. Just $25 for 2 hours, $40 for 1/2 day or $75 for full day. (Seasonally open April through October.)
The longer, more personal “how it was for me” version: Okay, we did this and I’m not a dare devil. Anymore! But oh my, this was THE most fun way on the planet to buzz around Portsmouth. Omigod, FUN! You can park these little sweethearts anywhere, and you can also take them off the main streets into narrow alleyways that have super interesting shops tucked in all sorts of nooks and crannies where cars can’t go. They’re absolutely easy to learn to ride, balancing them is not difficult, there’s no gear shifting to mess with… easy peasy! Plus they’re comfortable to sit on because you don’t have to straddle the thing.
We cruised around downtown Portsmouth first, and it’s the sort of thing where if some shop catches your eye, you can just pull over, right next to a parked car or between two, and stop and look. If you decide you want to go into a place, it’s super easy to find parking for them. At the time I checked with Portsmouth PD and they said as long as there’s room, you can park them right on the sidewalk. You’d want to walk it at that point but that’s easy too, they just don’t weigh that much.
Still with more to see in Portsmouth because you can see so much more of it on one of these, we buzzed over the bridge onto Pierce Island and enjoyed a very peaceful ride around its loop, just merrily tooling along at a nice relaxed pace, then back again to cruise Portsmouth’s downtown hidden treasure alleyways again. You just want to be sure to keep your attention on the road (I really mean the part about pulling over if you want to gawk at stuff).
You can see a lot of stuff in 2 hours but if you wanted to cruise the coastline and keep your knees in the breeze for a while, 1/2 day would do it. ScootMeNow also has helmets (highly recommended) and you can learn to ride one in just about 5 minutes, right there in their scooter storage parking lot.
Just call first to check on availability and to arrange a time to pick them up. (603) 969-4294. Sooo fun!
This looks like so much fun!! I need to do this!