for those of you who have participated in this tour….how active is very active?
I have been on a couple other RS tours and kept up fine but the print says one of our most active tours…I am now 66 years with some feet problems and wonder if it will be too much?
were there a considerable number of folks my age on your tour?
Posted by
Pacific Northwest
894 posts
I took this excellent RS tour five years ago. Keep in mind - our itinerary may be different from your upcoming adventure - but, yes, we walked quite a bit. From our afternoon hotel greeting to the morning we left Barcelona, we walked everywhere we went (except for the Metro ride to Sagrada Familia). After the AVE high speed train ride to Madrid, we walked everywhere, there as well with the exception of our bus trip to Toledo. The walking was not strenuous, but it did add up.
I was about your age when I took this tour - and I was not the "elder statesman" among fellow travelers - but most were younger (one in his mid-teens - traveling with his mother).
Posted by
East Peoria, IL
801 posts
We just did this tour Oct. 2-9. Yes, it was pretty active and fast-paced, especially with our fast-walking guide, Federico. And when you're not walking, you're standing in a museum or elsewhere listening, and the standing can be just as tiring. But the group activities were generally done by 1 or 1:30 and we had several afternoons on our own, with quite a few group dinners in the evening. We mostly kept up the fast pace in our free time and ended up averaging about 7 miles a day (some days less and some more, of course). But you could just as easily head back to the hotel and take it easy. Or, as we did one day in Madrid, go the botanical gardens or park, stroll lazily and find a shady spot for a picnic lunch. As this tour was in October, the group was mostly older, ranging from 50s to 70s, I'd say. I'm 68 with two knee replacements and had no difficulty with the activity level of the tour.
Posted by
Tennessee
441 posts
I did this tour in late May 2019 with Federico as tour guide. Yes, there was alot of walking compared to other RS tour I've done. The only day I felt really tired from walking was the day in Madrid when we walked to the Palace...then all the way across the city to one of the art museums. Federico said the timing of those two activities on each tour depends on the timing of the tickets purchased. At that time, I was in my early 60s. My tour members seemed 40s-50s.
One of my friends took this tour a few years prior and said an older (maybe early 80s?) tour member took taxis a few times when other people walked.
My advice is to wear very comfortable shoes.