opting out of some walking

I did the Best of Europe tour in 2016. What days are you looking at missing or that have 8 miles listed. I know in Rome we walked a lot but that is because we walked from the Vatican back to our hotel and that was like 3 miles. You could have easily skipped that for a taxi or metro ride back. There are plenty of breaks or chances to take a moment.

Your tour doesn't have too many days with strenuous walking. All the walking is broken up throughout the day with sitting in between. But you might have hills or stairs more so than actual distance that make it strenuous. Talk to the guide on day one about your needs. He or she should be able to help meet your needs.

We’ve done 7 RS tours (not the BOE tour you are looking at). We are active folks in our late 60’s. On many tours folks opted out when there were hills or unsure footing so you can always do that, just confer with the guide. Don’t do what one older couple did on our recent Portugal tour-halfway to somewhere they just decided to crash in a cafe, told no one, either buddies or guide. Guide had to frantically find them. Keep in mind much of the walking is broken up by stopping to see a sight, lunch, etc. No Bataan death marches on RS tours!

I would look at the total bus time on that tour, that may give you greater pause than the walking part.

The walking is spread out through out the day.. many stops and starts.. you arent walking 8 miles in a row.. I think you will be surprised at how easy it is..

The mileage estimates are throughout the course of an entire day. Here's another part of the tour description that better reflects most city walking tours: Be on your feet, walking and standing, for up to three hours, indoors and outdoors, in all weather conditions.

The longest walking day I have had on an RS tour was in Rome ~6 miles spread over 12-14 hours. Would have been a mile less but there was a city bus driver strike that day so had to walk to the start of the days' activities.

As other have said, its not a non stop 8 mile march, like the army would do.

When traveling I might walk 15 miles per day...but in no way would I want "a 15 mile walk". It's all spread out - a mile here, sit at lunch for an hour, 2 miles over the course of a walking tour, sit for coffee, half a mile here, visit a sight for half-mile walking inside the museum, and so on. I think "moderately active" people will be surprised at how little 8 miles is when broken up over a full day with lots to see along the way. My parents are almost 70 and moderately active but had no trouble on tours with this type of walking.

If you are still concerned then I would listen to others who have taken this tour. I would bet there are plenty of opt-out chances.

The two longest walking days we had on the RS 21 were Amsterdam and Venice. While it wasn't all at once in Amsterdam, it was a long, long day of about twelve hours of constant walking or standing except for the lunch break and canal cruise. We logged about 10 miles that day. You could arrange to take a tram and meet the group at the Rijks museum, and then tram back into the center afterward if you wished. You would be missing a good part of the walking tour by doing this though. If it were me I would hang as long as I could and then catch a tram only if I had to.
Venice - we did that to ourselves, except for the first night and that God awful bridge that has something like 52 steps to get up... and it was get over that bridge or miss group dinner. I'm not known for missing a meal tehehe, so I did make it.

My 21BOE was somewhat like Nance's. We did 10-12 miles in Amsterdam spread thru the day, then our other longest day was in Rome. In Rome someone mentioned to the guide they were pooped and he immediately said, I can get you a taxi any time you need it.

The bus time was not onerous on this tour. To be honest, it was nice to have a day where you had more bus time and less walk time!

I'm always afraid I'll miss something, lol, so I do everything the guide offers. DO go on any additional meals the guide might offer, gondola ride, ride up the Schilthorn in Switzerland, etc.

You've also got got 5-6 months to bump up your mileage if you want. I usually have base miles of about 4 miles 3-4 times a week. When I am training for a tour, ONE day a week I bump up mileage or time by 10%. It's easier for me to go up by time, so if it normally takes me 80 minutes to walk the 4 miles, I'll go up 8-10 minutes one day a week. Each week I'll add 8-10 minutes to the longest time. This is based on a running program I did AGES ago and it works really well to extend your time. Every 2 weeks I'm adding 1 mile to my long day total. I keep the other days at 4 miles.

What I should have included in my walks for the 21BOE is hills or stairs. Rome has LOTS of steps!

You don't have to train to take an RS tour but I, personally, like to be in the best shape this old body can be in because as indicated, I don't want to miss anything, lol. It also gives you a chance to test out your shoes and make sure they will work for long days.

This is a great tour. One Rick Steves guide for another country told me he did this trip as an assistant guide and he thought it was excellent - what he liked best were, as he said, blockbuster sights every day.

Oh yes, I forgot about Rome. We did take a taxi back to the hotel from group dinner that night rather than walking any further and it was a marvelous, amusement park like ride. Loved it, and it was cheap at 15 euros for five of us.
And like Pam, we had no complaints whatsoever about bus time. The bus stops every two hours for a break and you get to stop at some really neat rest stops and little towns for lunch.
This is the only tour I have taken with RS but I'd love to do it again.

On a RS tour you can opt out of any of the day's activities you want. I did for several walking activities on my last tour due to an arthritis flare up. How much you miss depends on the day and where you are. Lots of times there will be options such as taxis or other public transit that will get you to or from the focal point of the days activities to meet the group when the group would walk there, so you miss little. Of course you are responsible for the cost of that transit option if it is not covered as part of the tour.

A lot of the days marked as "strenuous" for walking are those where you choose how much walking you want to do as the day is one listed as free time, and even then you have options to do the full 8 miles or simply a short stroll. I find the days where you have lots of up and down stairs feel much more strenuous than those where the walk is more linear over mostly level ground.

The key here is to have fun. If you do not feel the walk is fun, then tell the guide and skip it.