Most Challenging Aspects of the Best of England 14 Days Tour

We took this tour before Covid so it’s been a few years now but I don’t remember anything that was strenuous. We had an optional walk in the Cotswolds as a group where we were dropped off at one point, walked maybe a mile and 1/2 along a trail through the pastures (no elevation gain) to Lower Slaughter and were picked up. Hadrians Wall was the coach stopping along the road, we walked over to the Wall and strolled on top of it a bit and then walked back to the coach. Maybe this is the tour guide’s decision on where to access it? Some of the hotels did have stairs to climb to your room and you are walking for several hours during city, castle and museum tours. But it seems it was always optional and on your own if you wanted to climb all over the castles or how far you wanted to walk in places like the garden in Wales.

I agree with Margie! My tour also was well pre-Covid. On mine we did not actually walk along the wall although the bus stopped and we got out at a site that was near the road. The walk we did in the Cotswolds sounds like the same one she did...pretty flat but so very beautiful!

I DID walk on and along the wall in 2 different areas with a different tour company in May. It was uphill to the wall but nothing particularly strenuous. One of the other group members and I walked for about 45 minutes along the wall but our guide asked us not to climb some of the steps to the highest part of the wall. It was quite easy to take a lower path around them.

I think my most strenuous day on the Best of England tour was the "free" day in Keswick. I walked up to Castlerigg stone circle and that was quite an uphill pull. I stopped a few times to uh...look at the view...lolol!! But it was totally worth it! The next most strenuous time was probably in London with stairs up/down in the Underground.

Since you are planning ahead, I'll tell you what I usually do to prepare myself for a tour. I get to a point where I am walking a base of 4 miles 3 times a week. Then one day a week I start adding on some time/mileage going up to 7 miles or so at a time, one day a week, varying from 5 to 6 to 7 miles for a long walk each week. In the past I've gone up to as much as 10 miles but that is really not needed on a RS tour in most instances.

This is a fun tour and you get a real taste of Britain so you can decide what you want to go back and see!

I do recommend you get to Bath at least 1 night before your tour start and 2 if you can manage it. I also recommend adding time on at the end in London...for as long as you have the time and money for.

We just returned from this tour on the 16th and it was our 1st tour with the Rick Steves company and we loved it. I was a little nervous about the physical expectations even though I had walked about 5 miles daily all summer. We had been together as a group about 3 days when I asked an alumni traveler when it got strenuous. The uphills were relatively short, the pace was leisurely. I think I was expecting a forced march! You mentioned Hadrian’s Wall. I believe there are different access points so this only speaks to our experience. We had to walk a bit from the coach lot, not far, on a level path (not paved). Once at the wall itself, I bet we only had about 30 yards from the bottom to the wall structure, not even a minute walk. How much the individuals climbed and poked around was at their discretion. This was true of any of the places we were exploring on our own. Stairs at overnight accommodations can be challenging if you don’t pack lightly and have to lug a heavy bag up them. I drug mine up and down several times! My husband has a bad knee right now but had no problem resting when he needed it. Hope this helps.

Most strenuous by far is the day in Keswick, The Lake District, when the group does a boat ride across the lake and then a walk up Cat Bells, a huge hill/mountain, to admire the views from the top.
We skipped this part of the tour and remained at our hotel breakfast room as the others in the group trooped out the front door that rainy, misty morning.

We had told our tour guide the night before that we might not go on this hike, but we would talk with him at breakfast after we decided for sure.
So at breakfast, we told our guide we had decided not to go.
That is the way to opt out of activities.
To communicate with your tour guide and let them know ahead of time (the day before) or at breakfast on the day of the event.

I am 70 and have trouble with one of my knees, so I knew I would hold the group back on that walk. I didn't want them to have to be waiting for me all along the way, so I opted out.

We later went for a walk around Keswick on our own (while the group was gone). This was pretty much flat and level. We walked past a lot of private homes and B&B's and went into some shops downtown. We went to a great pub for lunch--the Dog and Gun--which I highly recommend for food and drink. We weren't drinking at lunchtime--haha--but had their house specialty, goulash, which was outstanding. As we were finishing our lunch, some tour members who had finished the walk up the hill came in and we all moved to a big long table to chat.

We went on the RS Best of England tour in 2018, and had a fabulous time! This is a wonderful tour!
None of the walks were strenuous except for the one I mentioned. The walking tour of Bath has a little uphill and downhill around town, especially to the Royal Crescent, but not strenuous.
In Conwy, Wales, there was a walk around town, but not strenuous. Some chose to go into Conwy Castle on their own and walk the town walls. There are uneven pavements within Conwy Castle and well-worn stairs up to the battlements (yikes and double yikes on those stairs!) so I would skip that if you are not as nimble as a mountain goat!

The walk around Bodnant Gardens was easy, much of it flat and level. There were benches throughout so easy to stop and rest. There was a cafe near where the tour bus was parked and we found ourselves there having a hot chocolate before the rest of the group was finished with the gardens.
It had a lovely view out picture windows of the gardens below and the mountains beyond!

You will love this tour! I would love to go on the Best of England tour again!

BTW, each guide does their trip a bit differently. Mine didn't offer a hike up CatBells. Mine didn't stop where we could do more than touch a section of wall. Others might offer to walk up Glastonbury Tor on the day you do the Abbey. Your experience may differ slightly from our reports and of course weather will affect things too.

I think the most important part is to get yourself in shape by walking daily at least a month before the tour. The days can be long because you are up and almost constantly on the go. And as others have mentioned you can always opt out of something, just let your tour guide and/or buddy know. Have a great time, it’s a wonderful tour!

As mentioned you CAN opt out of anything (except on a transit day) but honestly I have such severe FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), lol, I have difficulty doing that! It's worse on a tour because...what if there is a surprise?!?

All of this is so very helpful in terms of what to expect and how to prepare myself! Thank you everyone so far for replying!!