Low Mobility travel

Although RS and other tour operators rate the activity level of their tours and may say that some days include 3-4 miles of walking, you are not required to be that active. I have been on 9 RS tours and on every one some tour members opted out of some more strenuous activities. Just talk with your guide about alternate plans and be as active or relaxed as you want.

Have you thought about a river cruise? At least you are not having to pack and unpack, and the excursions tend to be on the less strenuous side.

How are you with stairs? They seem to be more troublesome than flat walking for many. Just about any city in Europe is going to require a lot of walking.

Agree with considering a river cruise option. Our Viking cruise always had a "slow walkers" bus on every shore excursion.

You might want to consider a Rick Steves “My Way” tour. These tours provide you with hotels and transportation between cities, but let you decide what you want to do/see each day and what your pace will be. There is also a tour manager who accompanies the group to give advice and answer questions as you plan your day.

Road Scholar tours are aimed at older travelers and indicate the activity level. Some tours are quite active, but others are easy.

I’ve been on quite a few Rick Steves, OAT, Gate 1 and other tours. While the tours may indicate 3-5 miles on a given day, these are not forced marches where you cover that many miles all at once. The group walks for a while, then stops to listen to the guide or see a particular sight, then walks some more, repeat, repeat. Sometimes the walks are broken up with bus rides or coffee breaks. Only you can decide what you are up to, but I am 72 and not particularly “fit,” yet I’ve never had trouble keeping up. (It is true that Europe seems full of stairs and hills.)

On all tours it’s been okay to skip something and it’s not unusual for someone to do this. As Rick is fond of saying, “It’s your vacation!”

Renee mentioned Road Scholar tours. I’ve done 13 of them (8 European, 5 US activity-based) along with 12 Rick Steves’ tours. Road Scholar does have a number of tours that are “At a slower pace”. These might work for you depending on your mobility level. I find the Road Scholar ratings to be pretty accurate although there is often a tour member who has overestimated their physical ability.

I have never done a slower pace itinerary but on the regular Keep the Pace or higher I usually wind up going 5 miles a day. Sometimes Ive added on walks before or after the group activities, sometimes not.

My wife is mobility challenged, and we travel with a folding portable travel scooter. With it, she rides thru airports and to the door of the airplane with no assistance from anyone. She can walk, but just not very far.

I tow our carry on luggage and fold up her scooter for placement at "gate check." They bring the scooter back to the door of the plane when we depart at the next airport.

We have learned to adapt to our surroundings. We no longer stay in bed and breakfasts or accommodations with steps--staying in more modern hotels with elevators. We also try to visit cities with terrain that's not to difficult to walk--avoiding cities like Venice or the Amalfi Coast. We take more taxi's than when she could climb steps into the underground. We're also taking cruises in the middle of our trips. Another option is to rent a car instead of taking trains from city to city.

We've been to Europe with the travel scooter 3 times, Las Vegas, 3 national parks and we're getting ready to take a cruise to Alaska. There will be a point that she has no ability to travel, but in the meantime we're getting around without too much trouble. After 20+ cruises and 20+ trips to Europe, we have seen just about all of the world we desire to see. Only major European city we've missed is Lisbon, and it's on the list to see.