It's such a cliche

I completely agree. One miserable trip, I thought I'd brought good shoes and that rotating between shoes would work. Plus, they matched my outfits! So naive... Now, I wear one pair of Eccos the entire trip and my feet are perfect. It made all the difference to have a pair of well-constructed shoes that work for me. My sister wears Merrills and is equally as happy. I think, if you are packing light, you can go with just the shoes on your feet IF they are the right shoes.

My shoe of choice is Altra: large toe box, super-cushion, plenty of room for inserts. I take two pairs because it's nice to change after a day of walking.

KEEN brand of shoes. Own numerous pairs: slip ons, lace ups and sandals. Expensive but worth every penny. Spent November in London.

Took 2 pair: slip ons and lace ups. Meandered about on rocky Thames River beaches, daily walks in Richmond Park, to theatre performances and along miles of the Thames River path.

Both pairs I packed are over 8 years old. Sturdy, dependable and most importantly, comfortable.

Taking only one pair of shoes can seem like a good idea, but what happens if something happens to that one pair? Two years ago I was in Germany visiting family and we were staying at a vacation home. The bottom of one of my aunt’s shoes totally disintegrated. Thankfully she had packed an extra pair. I have a lot of trouble finding shoes comfortable enough to walk many miles in and I certainly wouldn’t want to have to shop for shoes while I’m traveling.

Andrea, you hit on one of my anxiety points! The last few years I've wound up not even really taking my spare pair of shoes out of the suitcase. This last time I was having trouble packing (lost my skill, lol!!) and had so much Covid-related stuff I could use the extra room...but I could not make myself leave those extra shoes out!

I have pretty awful feet and also wear Altras. I'm not sure I could even find anything to fit my big wide foot in Europe!

Phred...I so agree with you on making sure you have good shoes that you've walked miles and miles in! Sorry your wife had problems. I hope she found something that worked for her! For women with nice feet Mephistos are relatively available there and can be comfortable (if expensive). They are way too narrow for me!

I was on a hiking tour one time a number of years ago and a husband and wife BOTH had boot failure - the sole separated off from the boot. We were based in Salisbury so there were a couple of good outdoor stores there so they could get outfitted. The boots were older and they had not used them in a while but on the surface they both looked fine. That made me realize you should take newish shoes as well!

Taking an extra pair of shoes is a must especially if one pair gets soaking wet as my husband’s did having to walk through a stream and huge puddles in Plitvice or going where a shoe store is not readily available such as the countryside of Iceland or the bush in Africa and you have hard to fit feet.

On a rainy day with high water in Venice, my sister talked me into buy those plastic, neon-colored knee-high boots that fit over your shoes. Ugly and ridiculous but oh, so practical. We walked all over the place without any tourists crowds around. We'd slip them off to go into restaurants and back on when it started raining again. It was a great day and we had dry feet.

Did those plastic boots look like the ones shown in the link below? Is there anything different about the colors, like the size, or are they just a matter of choice?

I've been in Venice 3 times, but never during flooding. A simple Google search will produce many pictures of people getting very wet during that time. I always wear lace-up waterproof ankle boots on my trips, but they'd be no match for heavy flooding like is shown in the link. Those plastic boots would be on my feet and legs in a heartbeat.

https://www.insider.com/photos-flooded-venice-high-water-season-11

On the other hand I have found shopping for shoes while travelling very productive.

I got as far as Luxembourg one year, driving from home in my driving shoes but then remembering that my walking shoes were left on the bottom step of the stairs at home.

I went into the little ORO shopping mall near where I was staying just south of Nuremberg in Schwabach (my usual place) and went into several of the shoe stores ending up with a very helpful, English speaking (nearly), woman who sold me the same Reebok shoe style I had left behind. On sale too. Nigel has an extra pair now. Result.

And because they were Reeboks they could be worn right away - no breaking in. Another Result.

So if you dreams look shattered (I sure couldn't do 2 weeks of walking around Germany in my driving slippers!!) look around and there will be a knight in shining (mostly) armour galloping over to save the day....

Another shoe consideration, packing appropriate shoes. I went to Barcelona, the south of France and Paris for 3 weeks with a friend. We arrived in Barcelona in late September and we had wonderful weather there and in the south of France. We wore sandals every day. We arrived in a much cooler and damp Paris. My friend pulls out her shoes. The type you just slide your feet into. That first day she kept slipping out of her shoes. I asked her why on earth she brought such impractical shoes. She replied that she wanted to make going through security at the airport easier. What?!? Instead of doing our planned activities the next day we went shoe shopping. If a place sold shoes we went there. She has a very difficult time finding shoes for her big, narrow, flat feet. A full day and she didn’t find anything. She accepted that she would have to deal with the shoes she had. The next day went went to Luxembourg Gardens and when we left, as we walked down a street we passed a shoe store. She decided to make one last attempt. She found something and paid a lot for those shoes. I’m not sure she ever wore them after returning home. She knows better now, to pack appropriate shoes and not worry about a temporary inconvenience if she has to remove them at the airport.