Blake’s Segway Tours

Based near the Alabama River at Water Street, Blake’s Segway Tours offers a different way to cover downtown Montgomery: standing up, on a self balancing two wheeled Segway, gliding between historic markers instead of walking or driving between them. The company is locally owned and operated, running small group tours by appointment through the streets and riverfront paths of downtown Montgomery, with each tour led by a guide who narrates the city’s history along the way.

The company runs four regular tour routes, each built around a different slice of the city. The Riverwalk Tour, a forty five minute glide along Montgomery’s riverfront that passes the Montgomery Biscuits baseball stadium, runs fifty two dollars per person. The Downtown tour extends to seventy five minutes and sixty two dollars, covering a wider loop through the city’s core commercial district and historic architecture. A dedicated Civil Rights and Civil War tour, the company’s longest offering at two hours and twenty minutes for seventy two dollars, threads together markers and buildings connected to both eras, including stops near the Capitol. A newer Wetumpka route, at forty five dollars for an hour, extends the company’s reach just outside Montgomery to cover the Bibb Graves Bridge and Gold Star Park.

Because tours are run by appointment rather than on a fixed public schedule, Blake’s requires twenty four hours advance notice for booking, a policy that becomes especially important during Montgomery’s busier tourist seasons around spring and fall when demand for guided tours picks up. Riders receive a brief safety orientation and practice session before setting out, which makes the tours workable for first time Segway riders as well as returning guests, though the company does note weight and other physical requirements for safety.

Beyond the standard routes, Blake’s also books private and customized events, including birthday parties, wedding related outings, and corporate team building sessions, along with a Ride and Dine package that pairs a tour with a stop at a local restaurant. That flexibility has made the company a fixture for Montgomery bachelorette parties, out of town family reunions, and corporate visitors looking for a more active way to see the city than a bus tour.

Because the company is small and locally run rather than a franchise operation, tour content and pacing can shift somewhat based on the guide leading a given group, and repeat visitors sometimes note that the narration includes local detail that would be hard to find in a printed guidebook. For visitors who want to cover more ground than a walking tour allows without renting a car for a short downtown loop, Blake’s Segway Tours offers a middle option, fast enough to see several blocks of history in an afternoon, slow enough to actually take it in.

Reservations, current route offerings, and private event pricing are available by calling the company directly, and the twenty four hour booking window applies to all standard tours.

Guides typically draw on a mix of researched history and personal knowledge of the city, and because groups tend to be small rather than the large tour bus crowds seen at some downtown attractions, there is usually room for questions and detours if a particular stop catches a group’s interest. That flexibility is one of the clearer advantages of a small, locally run tour operation over a larger scheduled bus tour, where routes and stops are typically fixed regardless of a given group’s interests.

Segways themselves require a brief learning curve, and the pre-tour orientation covers balance, acceleration, and braking before the group heads out onto public sidewalks and paths. Most riders report feeling comfortable within the first few minutes, and guides keep a close eye on newer riders during the opening stretch of any tour before picking up the pace. Weather can affect scheduling since tours run outdoors regardless of route, and the company will work with guests to reschedule around rain or extreme heat when needed.