Hi all. My husband and I have the Alpine tour booked for late summer and we're very much looking forward to it. We consider ourselves hikers in our 60s, but one of us has had hip problems this year so we've lowered our hiking expectations. Currently, we hike everyday for an hour in our local park. That's no problem. And if we take a break, we can do 2 hours or a little more. Has anyone taken this tour and done easier shorter hikes?
Thank you!
This is a My Way tour which means you design your own activities and if you don’t want to hike, you don’t have to. Or, if you want to take it easy, you can. Your Tour Manager will be a fount of information for all your questions. Have fun, I’ve had this tour on my radar.
I've taken the tour. Everything is optional.
Salzberg - walking, all level or slight incline.
Zugspitz - stop only if weather permits, lift to top, no hiking.
Dolomites - lifts to the top. Your choice of how much and how challenging. One woman did no hiking at all on the tour (hip or knee problem) and still had a great time that day.
Fussen - if you go to the castles, there's a lot of up/down hill to get to the castles and lots of stairs inside. There's easy hiking around the lake. Or stay in Fussen, pleasant little town, and walk around. It's flat too.
Lauterbrnnen - easy hiking in the valley. Lifts up to Gimmelwald and Murren for easy hiking in the villages. My tour had literally no visibility from the peaks, so none of us took the lifts to the top.
Chamonix - mostly flat in town, lifts to Aiguille du Midi for viewing. No walking, but there's a flight of stairs or two. Seeing the glacier (not much IMHO) and walking through the ice tunnel requires a LOT of stairs down and then back up. The woman who did no hiking went paragliding!
The tour leader used the bus time to tell us what the activities were for each approaching stop. Then she went through the group and helped everybody individually to plan their day. My tourmates were a very diversified group. A couple with 3 kids, ages 9-11, 2 college kids, experienced hikers in their 40's and 50's, and some older folks with varying hiking experience. At every new place, the guide took us on an orientation walk. She organized about 3 happy hours, but the group kind of gravitated to the hotel bars every day for happy hour, after the first one.
Thank you for concise review of your tour!
Hi. I did this tour about 5 years ago. I am more of a walker/rambler than hiker. I had no difficulties filling my time walking. Tour is as Judy and Chani report. I may repeat this one. It is one of my favorite tours.
Thanks everyone! Chani, that was a great description of the tour. And, Debbie, we will be doing more walking/rambling than hiking this trip. Good to know there are options.
Im on this tour in July, thanks for all the info!
Idea-- walking sticks. Readily available on Amazon. I never considered them until we were preparing for a killer 2 mile hike in Hawaii. While on the hike, people of all ages had walking sticks. The smart ones, that is! The walking sticks really made things easier, especially if a foot hits a rock or tree root, no tripping. Plus elevation and terrain changes, the sticks made the hike easier. It was like cross country skiing without the skis. You can get ones that contract-- having them will give you more options, confidence and fun.
