How much walking....really?

The distances are broken up through the activities of the day. Having been on 15 tours, I can never remember even 1 stretch over a mile in length on a day you might walk 5-8 miles in total. Parts of those walks have the conditions mentioned but not the trek’s entirety. I’m 81 and make a couch potato look like a tri-athelete and rarely felt uncomfortable with the day’s route. If you’re comfortable walking a mile at a reasonable pace, you shouldn’t have a problem.

Sam, this made me laugh. My husband and I have been on over 20 tours, and I must say that never once have we had to go down to the basement for our coal ration.

Other than that... Lol. There's some truth to the rest of it, and I remember at least a couple of days when I would gladly have cried "Enough!"

But... First, yes, there is a lot of walking, but there's also a lot of standing around, stopping to rest, breaks for meals... The hotels? Most of them, at least in the warmer countries, do have a/c, but be aware that in these same countries there may be limits on when the hotels may turn it on. Don't expect a/c in Switzerland; don't expect in in Italy in April. (Exceptions abound, of course.)

There are two things about Rick's tours that keep us coming back: the guides are fantastic. They are committed to teaching, not just showing things. They are knowledgeable and approachable, and ready to change plans on the spot should conditions warrant.

And second, there is so much free time! In general, the guides (including amazing local guides) will help you learn about the particular sights or processes - learning how to use the Metro in Paris, or how to cross the street in Rome - then much of the rest of the day is on your own. Not every day, of course, but quite often we have hours of time to rest, or explore, or go back to spend more time at that museum or church or restaurant.

And of course, there are other things we like. The folks who take the tours are congenial and interested in the particular area; "no grumps" is not just a motto. And you'll get to see and experience many things you would not have found or even thought about on your own.

I think, with your sense of humor, you'd fit right in and have a wonderful time on a Rick Steves tour.

Is the walking really that bad or are they just covering themselves?

On some tours the walking can actually be strenuous but not Everest level. For example, on my Turkey tour (rated most strenuous) we had several days with long slogs. In Istanbul I had a couple of 10 mile days (one on my own). Our tour took a pretty long hot walk through Göerme, in the sun and up and down a bunch of uneven stairs. Another day we went in an underground city that required crouching down and scooting through narrow tunnels - for some of us, that was harder than walking 10 miles.

I think the company is probably slightly over stating the physical demands, but they want to set expectations and also weed out people with significant mobility issues. Activities are spread out and if you look at each day's itinerary notes it says exactly what to expect (e.g., 2–8 miles throughout the day with lots of hills, stairs, and uneven terrain). For some activities you can skip out if you are not feeling up to it (as in the case of the underground city, several people said nope to that one). You just have to talk to the guide.

And FWIW, for myself it isn't so much the walking as the standing in one place for a long time, such as on a walking tour or in a museum. There are usually places to sit but not always. I have enjoyed my tours much more when I upped my pre-tour daily walking routine on flat land, plus a lot of trips up and down my basement stairs. That made me more comfortable with distances plus my shoes were well broken in.

I agree with Philip and Jane, do not be deterred by the description of miles of walking. All the walks are broken up with stops and information and sometimes food and drink. As a veteran of 10 RS tours, I never felt the activity level was excessive. And you can always opt out of any activities that seem too strenuous for you. You should know that RS tours are not luxurious. You must book your own flight to Europe and get yourself to the first tour hotel. You also must manage your luggage and carry it from bus to hotel room and back to the bus. Frankly, I believe this is why there are no grumps on a RS tour. Those that require constant handholding are not attracted to RS tours. Like others have said, the RS guides are great and your fellow travelers are always interesting, educated and fun travel companions. I guarantee you will enjoy yourself.

What Philip and Jane said!

I'll add that sometimes the standing-around part can be more tiresome than the actual walking. We still talk about the distillery tour at the end of a long, cold/warm/sunny/rainy/snowy day in Scotland, standing for what felt like hours (my exaggeration) on concrete floors. Everyone in the group was doing the right-leg/left-leg/shuffle/bend trying to flex any way possible. This might have also been the day we had pellet sleet walking around the Culloden battlefield.

And the tour was some of the most fun we've ever had. No exaggeration!

Jane and Philip have pretty much said it all; good information there. I will just add that you can opt out of any activity or hike/walk that you want, just tell your guide ahead of time. We were on the RS Best of England tour, staying in Keswick (The Lake District) when we went down to breakfast early one morning and decided to opt out of the ride across the lake and the hike up Cat Bells. It was a cool day, cloudy, rainy, windy; so we discussed this over breakfast with our guide and made a decision.

Normally, rain does not deter me, but this was at about the halfway point in our tour, so we needed a day of rest. I had caught a cold, so didn't need to be out in the wind and rain. One other member of our tour group opted out, too. We three sat around the breakfast room drinking coffee and talking about past travels. Then we sat in the lobby and read for a while. The tour group came back about lunchtime, just as the rain stopped and the sun came out; so we joined them and all walked into town for lunch at a pub.

I highly recommend this tour! We had a great time!

Here's what I have found hard to get across to people to whom I have tried to describe the RS tours. For most places you visit, there is not a bus that picks you up every morning and takes you to the sights of the day. You have to walk, as a group (no stragglers), sometimes a long way across the center city, to a museum, or restaurant, or sometimes to the nearest metro or tram stop. All that walking adds up, but it's not grueling. It's the standing around in a museum or public place, listening to a guide's description of something, that is exhausting to me. The good news is that you can opt out of daily activities if you need more rest or it just doesnt sound right for you.

And yes, you will find that many cities in Europe don't have curb cuts, ramps or other accommodations for people that need them.

Of my 3 Rick Steves tours, Best of Istanbul was easily the most walking, although not the highest tour activity rating, followed by Best of Turkey, which was less walking but more strenuous, much as CL describes. Best of Bulgaria was much more the way others have described their tours, walking interspersed with stops and breaks.

Best of Istanbul: urban walking, with city sized hills and much uneven pavement
Note: this includes our tour walks (using lots of public transit) and my free time walking (with limited use of public transit.)
RS Rating: moderate activity level
Minimum walking day: 6.87 miles
Maximum walking day: 12.65 miles

Best of Turkey tour, most of my walking was with the group, during tour activities, aptly described by CL.
Note: while this was less walking than Best of Istanbul, the walking was more strenuous (though less than Mt Everest)
RS Rating: most active
Minimum walking day: 4.58
Maximum walking day: 9.77 miles

One lady on our Best of Istanbul tour used a walking cane for a bad knee and, from the first day, was not able to maintain the urban pace. Our guide arranged for her to have a driver (at her expense) from location to location across the city.

I've only been on one and I'm only 60 and in good shape so I may not be qualified as others to discuss activity levels. Almost everyone else on our tour was older and most were surprised at the activity level listed, and agreed that RS may exaggerate to the lowest common denominator. The only time on the tour that I noticed someone struggling was carrying there luggage to and from the bus to the hotel which was about a 10 minute walk. The oldest in our group who I estimate to be late 70's said that it would likely be their last RS tour because they were reaching the age where they'd prefer their luggage to be handled for them. Other than that, they always seemed fine.

I do usually "train" for my RS tours or any other tour for that matter (Road Scholar and Seymour Travels). I want to be able to walk 5 miles easily and more if I have time to build up. I mostly walk on flat, paved surfaces although I hike as well.

My most strenuous tour was 21 day Best of Europe. We had 2 10-mile days with the guide - one in Amsterdam and one in Rome. I had other 10 mile days on my own and have done 10 mile days in both Paris and London. In big cities you have the option to break off from the group (after notifying the guide and your "buddy") and taking a taxi back. That is hard to do in some locations, though.

I am 75. I did the 21 day Best of Europe at age 64 and was in very good shape then... had a couple of 9-mile walks in before I traveled that year.

I'm currently "training" for a trip to Orkney and Shetland with a former RS guide. The walking there is mostly flat but there are some things that require me to have pretty good mobility. There are some chambered cairns that I want to crawl in to for this visit. I'm going about 3 miles right now and have until late June to get up to 5 or 6 which will make me comfortable.

Which tour are you looking at and how far do you walk currently?

PS: Editing to add - former FL resident here and totally understand no hills. Even here in N. Idaho where I can see mountains, I tend to walk on the flat, lol.

Thanks to you all for all the useful information. What you told me is about where I thought it was to start with but was afraid I might underestimate the difficulty. To me, holding up the group or, at minimum, causing inconvenience to others is a mortal sin. If I can't keep up, as Camborne2018 so eloquently advised, don't sign up. Which is why I needed to know from the veterans how it is. I also want to especially thank those who pointed out that standing around in a museum was worse than walking....yep I think I would be in that group as well. Didn't think of that one. Maybe one of those "port-a-stool" canes? :D

But yeah. I knew I'd have to schlep my bags to the hotel. I use a backpack so that's not a real deal breaker for me. Honestly, no AC scares me more than just about anything else. I'm from the deep South so no AC is pretty much being sentenced to Hades for life. Perhaps October will be kinder in Budapest! Thanks again to all.

I am 74 and I can walk 8 miles in the mountains. I agree with Pam previous poster. Train up to a level that you feel comfortable. I would say three miles should be sufficient. However, it is not the miles that I find hard, it is the standing around to listen to guides.
It is true that those who cannot make the days miles can opt out or cut short or rest somewhere that the group will return. But you are paying for your vacation. And if you cannot optimize it then you need to be fine with that or you need to be able to do what needs to be done.

Sam,
No A/C in Florida is a whole different circle of hell than no A/C pretty much anywhere you'll go on a RS Tour. And not having A/C is more the exception than the rule.

You can handle it!

From a south Georgia native who has also lived in Florida (you notice I don't live there anymore, lol)

I average about 17,000 steps per day on our last RS Village Italy tour. We’ve done 12. There were no forced marches just following the guides around the cities or museums at a leisurely pace. The most elevation gain was in Volterra, a short hike up a street, some took a little longer than others but nobody is criticized for taking a little longer, just more chat time for some. We always trek out on our own for our free time but others go find a place to sit and people watch or enjoy a view. It’s really up to you.

celeste - Just as a side note. I'm a native Georgian from the Atlanta area, currently exiled in Florida. But we're looking to move to the Gainesville, Georgia area within the year! Sounds like we'll be neighbors!

CWSocial’s post made me look up data on my phone for my last RS tour (Portugal in 2022). It is scary how much personal data is stored on our phones.

Least walking: Day 9, Douro Valley, 3.0 miles. We rode the bus, ate lunch in a vineyard, and relaxed by the pool. It was all very leisurely.
Most walking: Day 2, Lisbon, 9.7 miles. As I recall, we were free for the afternoon so about half of the walking was probably on my own time. There was a lot of hill climbing this day.

I think the descriptions are pretty accurate, but strenuous is a bit of an overstatement. Strenuous does not equate to mountain climbing. Strenuous usually means there are hills and flights of stairs.

My 79 yr old husband takes a cane with a folding seat attachment (last year it didn’t make it from UBER to TSA, but…). He really only needs on days where there is a lot of standing and listening. It’s a good quality one so it holds his large frame. He can stick it in the rack above his seat on the tour bus.

It's my habit from experience, home and abroad, to note the locations of restrooms and sitting places, in every new building I enter.

We have only ever done the RS My Way tours and you can choose how much you want to walk depending on your interests and energy level. European cities have great public transportation too. The locations RS tours finds are conveniently within walking distance to many of the major sights and/or in pedestrian friendly neighborhoods. However, many family owned European hotels we have stayed at don't have elevators so it requires carrying your baggage up stairs.

From the RS tour of Pest

Strenuous walking: 2–8 miles throughout the day with lots of hills,
stairs, and uneven terrain. Boat: 1 hour. No bus. Sleep in Budapest.

Pest is dead flat.

I am from Florida so I get the a/c thing. But I will tell you that some of the issue with a/c has nothing to do with Rick Steves. A/C is simply not used “off season” in Europe. We were in Portugal in October. No place had a/c turned on. But it was to us too warm to sleep with the windows closed. Windows open the sounds bothered us. Finally settled on windows open and “waves” on our phone to drown out the street noise.

We've been on 7 RS tours and the only ones that opted out were a couple that was a bit....larger....
Normally it's walk, stop, walk, stop, sit, walk, etc. If you're in reasonable shape it should be no problem.

Agree with most of the answers. Compared to other companies’ tours you will find that the pace is reasonable and lots of free time if you need recovery. Some observations: if you cannot carry your luggage up potentially narrow and uneven stairs then rethink. Make sure you have a good pair of well broken in shoes with a “grippy” sole. Consider bringing a set of lightweight , foldable hiking poles, particularly on hilly days. Don’t worry about your pace. No one will leave you on an RS trip, and you’ll often make great friends at the back of the pack.

We were in Portugal in October. No place had a/c turned on. But it was to us too warm to sleep with the windows closed. Windows open the sounds bothered us. Finally settled on windows open and “waves” on our phone to drown out the street noise.

One solution....we bought a small fan at a bargain shop in England....I think it may have been called Poundland. It provided some air movement plus a bit of "white noise" to drown out any street noise. It was inexpensive and we left it in the closet of the last hotel we stayed in. Some small hotels and B&B's have a small fan you can borrow while you're staying there.

If you're concerned about the walk up and down hills, you could choose one of Rick's city tours that's mostly flat and level walking such as the London tour.

Many museums have wheelchairs to loan. I know you don't use that (from what you've said) but a friend of mine used hers to serve as a walker while she walked through the British Museum, and when she was ready to sit and admire one of the exhibits, she parked the wheelchair in front of it and sat down for a while.

Strenuous walking: 2–8 miles throughout the day with lots of hills,
stairs, and uneven terrain. Boat: 1 hour. No bus. Sleep in Budapest.

Pest is dead flat.

Consider that we have three tiers. Light, moderate, and strenuous, and each of these three have the same description. Strenuous covers multiple types of activity. For some people with e.g. bad knees, that day may be strenuous for them because it's 2 miles and there's a lot of up and down. Or it might be 8 miles and flat. Or 6 miles with some hills. I don't think we've ever grilled our tour members with 8 miles of up and down. The takeaway is that tour members should be prepared for 2–8 miles throughout the day with lots of hills, stairs, and uneven terrain. Your mileage may vary.

Having three tiers and every stop falling into one does explain it. Didnt know about that. Cause not sure how you could walk 8 miles in 5 hours either. But lots of steps if you use the metro.

If you sign up for a tour like "Best of London in 7 Days", you stay in one hotel and don't have to drag luggage around.
Venice was tough because we had to drag luggage a long distance for transportation in and out of town. The tours are great. I hope it works out for you.

Regarding AC, we've done two trips to Italy, one in June when it was HOT and one in March (just got back). Few places in Italy air condition to the extent we prefer, especially at night. However, most do allow you to open windows which helps a lot.

With the Best of Sicily tour we averaged over five miles a day, and were going up and down hill. Our group had a lady with a cane and she managed. We did Heart of Italy in June and the group included families/college students whereas our Best of Sicily tour in March was mostly retired folks, and the youngsters were in their 50's. I had trouble keeping up the pace with Heart of Italy but had no problem in Sicily. Not sure whether it was because I was in better shape or it the crowd was mostly older than me, and therefore slower. Consider going during school term if you want an older crowd.

Hah! Like others, I think there is some truth to the descriptions. But, there is also a lot of free time on the tours, and people can opt out of activities if desired, so I would say mileage varies quite a bit! I was curious, so I looked through the data on my last tour (17-day Best of Italy) and compared the descriptions to on-the-ground data. I think the descriptions are fairly accurate - I was within the mileage range 4 times and otherwise exceeded it. I've done 5 tours and there's only one time that comes to mind where the terrain was really uneven and tough (in Greece, hiking down through Mystras).

The hotels can be amazing, a bit spartan, or anywhere in between. I've always had warm water if I wanted it, and I've never been without A/C (traveling May-June). I was once without heat in late September because the hotel couldn't turn it on early. (I might have opted to go for a coal ration that night!) The tours do stay in hotels without an elevator somewhat frequently, so it may help to budget in some extra steps for the stairs or hills. Of the 8 hotels we stayed in on the Best of Italy tour, only 3 had elevators. One of those 3 hotels was only accessible from town by climbing stairs through a garden, so the elevator basically saved us walking up/down a few flights for breakfast. I don't always love the stairs after a long day with lots of walking, but I do love that all the RS hotels are centrally located! (Plus the extra stairs are a great excuse to have another gelato!)

I think if you're in decent shape, you would be more than able to do the tour. The tours also list how active they are overall, so if you're deciding between a few, you could try out a less active tour to start with.

I've never been on a RS tour (or any group tour, for that matter) but I had to jump in with my comment about sightseeing with Europeans.

Rule #1 - Do not believe anything a European says about how long it takes to walk somewhere.

In one example, we rented an Airbnb in Amboise, France and the host told us it was an "short, easy" walk from the train station. It turned out to be a mile and half of which the last half mile was straight uphill. (AND we had our luggage AND it was pouring down rain. We were not happy campers.)

In another example I arrived at the train station in Nice (again with all my luggage) and approached a taxi. When I gave the driver the address of my hotel, he said, "But Madame, this is very close you can walk there!" He pointed at a street and told me to go until I saw a certain landmark, then turn and go to another landmark and so on ("It is not far, Madame!") I walked for FORTY FIVE MINUTES dragging my luggage behind me. The hotel was more than two miles away which is "not very far" by European standards.

Rule #2 - Make sure your Uber app is updated and ready to go when traveling with a European

Twice I've traveled with a French person and both times they walked me into the ground. With one of them we were touring London and many of the Underground stations were closed that weekend for some kind of maintenance so we walked. And walked. And walked. And walked. (Oh, and of course it was raining, right?) We walked 12 miles that day - not 12,000 steps but TWELVE MILES. We finally got back to the hotel, me with blisters, limping in my soggy boots and I said I was going to call an Uber to take us to dinner. "No, we do not need an Oo-Bear," he insisted. "It is only 2.5 kilometers to the restaurant, we can walk!"

Another time I was touring Montreal with a French friend and we walked 10+ miles in below freezing weather in March. Finally, at 7:00 pm, I convinced her to stop for dinner ("Tu as faim?" she asked me in astonishment. "OUI, j'ai une faim de loup!") When we finished dinner it was darker and colder so I said I'd call an Uber to return to our hotel and she looked at me horrified, "Why do you call an Oo-Bear? We can walk to our room in only 30 minutes!"

Both times I called the "Oo-Bear" and both times they sighed, rolled their eyes (les américains sont tellement paresseux, n'est-ce pas?) and got in the car.

Uhoh StellaB, maybe don't trust the Canadians either. Now that I'm home I've been telling everyone that we found a great hotel and it's only 1.6km (1 mile) away from the train station. An easy walk along the lake.

Is the walking really that bad or are they just covering themselves?

According to the webmaster's post above, the RS tour organization does not attempt to provide information of great accuracy. They group each stop into one of three categories with a description that is not modified for the individual stop. I suspect that they are very conservative in choosing which category to use. While I can appreciate the predicament that they are in, the method they use really doesn’t provide much useful guidance and probably only serves to drive away customers.

StellaB, thanks for your tales of differing views of what constitutes a quick, easy walk in Europe, and for the chuckles about your “Oo-Bear” stories! I would have made the exact same choices as you did.

Sam the only organised tour I have been on was not an RS tour but actually a 15 day (winter) Everest Base Camp trek. Your comments gave me a bit of a giggle.
Just so you know we had no running water, no heating in the rooms, no flushing toilets, the overnight temp at Gorak Shep was a sharpish minus 25 celsius. To warmup after the day's stroll we would huddle around the fire (fuelled by yak poo). The power went off by 7.30. Water bottles, cameras, phones etc had to be kept inside your sleeping bag overnight. Leave your water by your bed and it was an ice block by morning. Leave camera or phone out and they shut down in the cold.
I was lucky as my oxygen saturation never dropped below 83%. Others had sats as low as 75%. Under 90% on my ward and I'd be calling a MET call but at Gorak Shep anything over 80% and it's winner, winner chicken dinner!
When we arrived at our tea house/hotel in Lobuche (4950m above sea level) we were greeted with the news a fellow Aussie had died from Altitude sickness there that morning. A harsh reminder of the risks of high Altitude trekking.

Tom, that's a really good description.

Lol. You made me laugh. You do a lot of walking, but you can opt out of some if you like. Most walking is broken up into smaller chunks of distance, but over a day they do add up. It is not uncommon to walk 8 miles a day. We have trudged up 4 flights of stairs to get to our room. Never scooped coal yet. Lol. Never shared a bathroom, yet. I recommend that you start walking at home. If you can walk 2 hours a day in total you will be fine.