summer walking shoes

Teva's and Birkenstocks (cute ones) are my favorite.

My wife really likes the Sketchers bicycle style shoe. http://www.skechers.com/style/21159/bikers-hot-ticket/chtp

My favorite is the Brooks Ariel. If I find them on sale online, my local Nordstrom's will match the price. That makes for a great deal. For very hot weather, I make sure to pack enough moisture wicking quarter socks too. Worn together, summer in Greece one year was not too bad.
Good luck!

I live in my Finn Comfort sandals in the summer. They offer great support and have a velcro closure so when your feet swell you can loosen them. I walk a mile back and forth to work in hot humid NYC. I first tried them in hot, hot Prague and Vienna. ; ) Pam

All wonderful suggestions, I'll try to find these at my local stores. One question, which kind of the Finn Comfort Sandals do you wear, there are so many types!

The shoes I brought to Europe for my recent trip weren't working out and I ended up buying a pair of Dr. Scholl's sandals in Italy. They are really cute and really comfortable. The shoes are made with some sort of memory technology. I walked in them 8+ hrs a day (even hiked in Cinque Terre), and thought they were amazing!

Mephisto shoes and sandals are handmade and great. They can be bought at Nordstrom's or Nordstrom.com, Zappos.com, or on-line. Also Nordstrom's offer Munro's. They are great walking shoes/sandals for women.

Love my Clarks Un.Keel Sandals. I walked for a week straight in them - no problems! There's material between the big & second toes which I thought might rub - NOPE! I highly recommend any Unstructured or Wave models from Clarks. They've taken my feet a lot of different places - with no blisters!

These suggestions have been great. The sketchers shoe looks almost exactly like my old saucony jazz ac, so I'll try a pair. Many of the suggestions were of sandals....but I've never been able to wear any sandals. Somehow part of them always rub into my skin. Likewise with most barefoot water shoes, though after getting rid of two expensive pairs of these, I found some cheapo chinese style mary janes in nylon and rubber that are perfectly comfortable. Anyway, thanks for the tips...I'll invest in two or three different mesh running shoes and see if any work for me.

If you have a Nordstroms available to you, you might want to look there. If you don't like the shoe you have purchased you can return them...no questions asked! It doesn't matter if you have worn them once or dozens of times. If they don't have something in stock they will order it (no shipping charge) and send it to your house. If you don't have a store to go to, you can order online.

Sadly, Nordstroms is only in the bigger cities, and none that I ever enter! We prefer backwaters so shopping is hard. That's why Sketchers was so exciting, we actually have a Sketchers store. We usually order shoes on the web, but for a brand new choice it's better to try them on.

I wore Merrell sandals every day last summer on a very intensive tour of Portugal. They were amazingly comfortable, even during a night hike to the Spanish border and back, and I felt secure on the slippery polished stone sidewalks.

Another Sketcher fan here. Have 6 pair and don't wear anything else. I even have white ones! Great for any kind of surface, whether cobblestones or hiking trails, rain and snow too. The sole is high enough that my feet never get wet, and soft and cushy enough for hours and hours of walking. Have bought my share of sandals of all sorts, and always seem to get blisters, not matter what kind they are. Have never once gotten a blister from the Sketchers, even wearing them for hours on the very first day.

To expand on Jo's comment about Sketchers, they make Shape Up sandals as well as shoes. I bought a pair that are considered 'feather weight.'. They are very light and super comfortable. Those and my Merrell shoes will be the shoes I bring on my upcoming trip.

Thanks to Brad and all the Sketchers lovers, I'm now in possession of a pair of Sketchers biker hot ticket mesh biker style shoes, and unbelievably they were comfortable on the very first walk! They seem cool and since it is easily 90F in the sun today that's saying something. I'm also going to check out the SAS shoes. They are still so comfy that I kept them on in the house! But for the broiling days, I'll get me some of the sandals you all are raving about!

I use Teva sandals and Birkenstocks. Also pack my Teva tennis shoes when hoping on and off trains. I am almost 70 and certainly do not want to fall.

Ann - My favorite walking/hiking shoe for summer is the Merrell Siren Sport. It is really lightweight, has great traction and has a lot of padded mesh.