I’m trying to decide which walking shoes to bring on this tour. I plan on doing walking and moderate hiking. Do you think a standard pair of sneakers would work or should I have something closer to a hiking boot with tread on the bottom? Thoughts?
Thank you.
When we did this tour years ago, we used hiking boots with some tread for our hikes. And we hiked at each location. I had tennis shoes as my "other" shoe and probably wore them when walking to dinner etc.
You will love this tour! I did it in early June last year and also asked the same Forum question, since packing light is always an issue. That early in the season could see some of the higher trails closed due to snow- that happened to our group in Wengen and Chamonix.
Regular sneakers would've been fine for the paved and gently sloping walk down to Gimmelwald (a highlight!) and also along the valley. But I was really glad to have my grippy lightweight and water- resistant ankle high hikers most days and, if memory serves, I think most of the group had hiking boots, too.
So yes, for the good traction!
Hello kcstarseeker,
Our family of 5 adults did the amazing RS Alps My Way tour last June ('24) and also did a lot of walking and moderate hiking. As I've stated in some of my other posts, I regretted taking up valuable packing space with my athletic sandals because several of the towns had cobblestones and I nearly twisted an ankle when wearing such footwear. I ended up loving (and wearing most every day) my Vionic brand walking shoes (think 'tennis shoe' for those of us born before 1970) which definitely had more arch support than what I'd refer to as a sneaker but not an outright ankle boot. However, I simply don't like heaviness when it comes to footwear and finding a lightweight boot has always been a challenge for me. If I find one, I will take it on our next RS Alps adventure we have planned for this coming June, as well. A piece of advice from one who has done this tour: don't overpack. I only needed 1 pair of shoes to be completely honest. However, I will most-likely have 2 on this next adventure.
~ Prost,
Mitzi
