help us decide on walking tour

What about that walking path in the English Lake District, or someplace close by. Friends crossed England at its narrowest point going from B&B to B&B. They loved it. I've seen books on the travel shelves at the bookstore about that walk. As for weather, it's a crap shoot anywhere northwest of the Alps.

Ah, now that has thrown Scotland into the mix, I have some comments. ; ) For several years, I've gone on walking vacations in Scotland. We've not done point to point, but rather have based ourselves near Inverness and then headed north, south, east or west depending on the weather. From Inverness you can get to Torridon and walk there. You can get to Inverpoly or the Ullapool hills. You can find some nice walks up toward Dornoch. You can go to Glen Afric, you can walk in the Cairngorms. And if the weather is bad everywhere else, the sun is probably shining on Culbin Sands on the Moray Firth!! You can gear your walk to your interests and capabilities--walk around the lochs or up the hills. ; ) Check out this website. And another website. And here's the Visit Scotland info on walking. And if you don't want to go all the way north, try Perthshire. There are lots of great walks there.

Well, since Ed mentioned Scotland, I've been looking--as well as Wales. (This trip is to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, and we honeymooned in Wales, so it has wonderful memories for us). What do you think of Kintyre way or the Great Glen Way or the Ayrshire Coastal walk? I'm also looking at Austria and the Dachstein area. Any thoughts? Thanks again!

They're all so different it'd take a book to compare and contrast the four. Your turn for answers: What kind of sights? How far can you hump in a day? In a week? How much elevation change can you take? How much altitude? How long do you have? Do you want out-and-backs, or a circuit or line? Maybe it's just day strolls? How many bases do you want? Where do you need to stay? Are you going to hump your stuff or do you need it moved for you? Help!!

I am sorry but the question is so diverse. I could see a walking tour of Hadrian Wall because it is a single point but Lake Como is a large geographic area and vastly different. Why did you choice these areas? If this is the narrow down list, wonder what was on the original list.

Yes, they're different because we want to go everywhereright now! As for answers to your questions: What kind of sights? I like seeing water, but seeing cute villages is fun also. How far can you hump in a day? I think we could do 5 or 6 miles with serious elevation, and 10-12 flat. In a week? I think we could go for a few days straight and then would probably want a rest day, and then some more walking. How much elevation change can you take? I don't mind elevation as long as the paths are reasonably safe underfoot. I'm not into rock scrambling or putting myself in an unsafe situation. How much altitude? Not sure. How long do you have? I'm figuring 8 days or so, with a day at the beginning to get over jet lag, and a day at the end to chill. Do you want out-and-backs, or a circuit or line? Could go either way. Out-and-backs means you're making a mini-home out of your hotel, which can be fun, but lines means you're seeing new sights everyday, which could also be fun. Maybe it's just day strolls? But with some exertionI want to walk! How many bases do you want? I think at least 3. Where do you need to stay? What do you mean?
Are you going to hump your stuff or do you need it moved for you? I definitely want it moved for us! Hope this helps!

Frank, the main problem is that my husband and I have enormous wander-lust, and the idea of a self-guided walk is so thrilling to us that we just want to do it all. The list is diverse because we like lots of different things. So--to us, we've narrowed down the whole world to (so far) those 4 places. Any thoughts on this?

Vicky, One of your first considerations should be average temperatures in these areas in July. Lake Como and Madeira are much hotter. Second would be the type of hiking trail you want: point to point, or radiating out from a homebase.
Bets

Bets, you're right--Lake Como seems to be around 80 degrees in July, and Madeira seems to be around 70 degrees. 80 is probably too hot, right? But would it feel like that in the mountains? 70 seems okay--but the real issue can sometimes be humidity, not temp. England will be cooler, but then there's the chance of rain...See why making a decision is so hard?!

I've worked all four areas, but Lake Como only casually to kill time. Here's the elimination, with principal reasons based on your responses: Hadrian's Wall - - a boring, monotonous three or four day trudge Lake Como: crowds, uniformity Madeira: heat, grade/slope once you get off the coast, villages tend to be uniform and are scattered, Funchal is a hoot, Seixal will knock your socks off (it'd be the winner in spring or fall) Which leaves the Isle of Wight: Plenty of places to base, make as big a loop as you want each day, water along the coast as well as the Medina and the Cowes estuary, variety of terrain and villages, paths as well as narrow deserted roads, good bus system, variety of grub, the British open land policy which welcomes you to walk the field/pasture verges (read up on that). Cowes Week is the very first of August, the place gets unbearably thronged-up the last week in July - - don't do it. Now the unsolicited monkey wrench: Wales and Scotland Wales: plenty of villages, the now united Welsh Coastal Path of which the Pembrokshire Coast Path is the best, Offa's Dyke Path, either side of the Wye, the old drover trails down the middle, Snowdonia for uplands, a couple of good towns (not Cardiff). Scotland: I've only done bits and pieces on the mainland except for the damn grueling Cape Wrath Trail. If Pamela stumbles along, she's strong on the area. I've humped most of the Northern and Western Isles, but tend to disagree with Pam on the merits of the Inner Hebs (which makes both of us exactly right). For low-altitude Europe, I'd pick either of these over your four choices.

Another wrench, Try Lech in the Austrian Alps...endless walks and hikes of great beauty. Trails and hikes are moderate to difficult (all are color coded with the difficulty levels) Weather in July should be nice with possible rain at times. Take a look:
http://www.lechzuers.com/lech-in-summer/

I recently read a book about Victoria and Albert. The Isle of Wight, where they established a get-away home, sounds like a great place to spend a week. I visited the island briefly a few years ago. I may stay there my next trip to Britain. It's easy to get there by train and ferry thru Portsmouth from London. When I was there a trolly line ran a few miles down the east side of the island.

Thanks very much for all your help so far! I'm going to look further into the Isle of Wight, Wales, Scotland, and Lech. I don't (so far) see any self-guided tour doing the Lech regionit looks like you have a base and walk from there? If you know of something different, let me know. And would Madeira be too hot or hilly to walk? It looks mostly manageablebut if you know differently, please let me know. Thanks again!

Hot, humid, no wind (depending which side). The north/south central road gains fifteen hundred feet to the pass in three miles. The north face is so bad it's switchbacked. DALR is five F per thousand, so it won't give much relief. Look where I live. Ask me if I understand humidity. Ask me why I ain't here much in the summer.

Hello Vicky. I liked walking on the Isle of Wight. I was there in the month June in 2003. I was there after I had travelled in England and Scotland. After being in crowded cities and towns and crowded railway stations and crowded railroad trains, and a noisy bus (loud talking by many people in a bus), I liked walking on the quiet and peaceful Isle of Wight. I liked breathing in the fresh ocean air that gently flows across that island. But, I am reluctant to recommend going to the Isle of Wight as a traveler's only destination, as I think there is not anything spectacular or astonishing to see there. I was at a beach at the east side of that island. It was pleasant, but I think people from the state Maine would not want to travel to England for the purpose of seeing that narrow beach and the water at the English Channel.

I'm a romantic and would say enjoy your 25 year Anniversary Second Honeymoon, back where you had your first Honeymoon, Wales.

We used Pension Juliana as our base in Lech You get the free Lech Card when you stay anywhere in the village. It gives you free access to all of the lifts, gondolas, and hiking buses. We hiked all day every day as there are soooo many trails to do. We'd lay back some afternoons at the Ambrosius in Lech and enjoy some white wine G'spritz as well. After some very long hikes it was great to go to Hus Nummer 8 in Lech for some great traditional and hearty Austrian cuisine...the wines are GREAT! http://www.hus8.at/ Claudia at the Juliana is a fine hostess it is also her family's farm so you can look forward to a very good breakfast buffet spread to start your mornings off right.
http://www.juliana.at/

I beg to differ with Ed. Hadrian's Wall is not a boring, monotonous, three day trudge. Well I suppose it is if you have no interest in history - no offense. There are several tour groups that will take your luggage from one hotel/B&B to the other and you can decide how far you want to walk during the day. Or you can do the whole thing on your own and carry all your stuff on your back. To each his own.
On Hadrian's Wall, there are numerous Roman forts and museums to visit. Plus some really spectacular scenery - not to forget stopping at pubs along the way. I have been to the Isle of Wight and don't know about walking tours, but can imagine there may be some good ones. The Brits are very big into walking and there are lots of options around the country.

No offense taken. Does that mean I can quit reading at night? Or throw away a gazillion books? Or quit guest-lecturing out at the univsity - - okay so it ain't European history, but it's still history? In fairness maybe I'm a bit jaundiced on the wall. I've walked the stinker three times, trudged it actually. The last time was back and forth in the same week - - extending the last one at both ends to make it water-to-water. What's that, maybe two hundred fity miles of looking at it - - plus another fifty or so out on the tails? And I trust that we can all compare all of the spots on the list and disregard some based on the relative merits that the OP outlined - - as long as we state our opinion of why we did so?