Workouts during 16 night trip

Sorry this may be under the wrong “topic” but no suggested ones seemed to match.

Meghan, I would put it under the Rick Steves Tours forum, or possibly the General Europe one.

I do know that most of his tours give you some free time, so you could certainly use that for runs and/or workouts. You could also get up extra early. My daughter usually gets her runs in around 5 am before work.

Edit to add: Here are a couple of articles/posts about jet lag that might help:
https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/health/jet-lag
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/jet-lag-i-tried-the-timeshifter-app

Which tour? Some areas have access to sports centers, such as Murren. Have a great trip!

What a great question! I have started taking a resistance band- weighs almost nothing and takes up no room. And doing weight- bearing reps like squats or lunges, and core work on a towel . You could even take a jump rope...
I'm always surprised when traveling how much walking is happening, even if it's not hiking. (When I get frustrated is when it's very slow walking in a group.)
At least I feel I am keeping up with my strength training...I worry somewhat about running alone in an unfamiliar area but likely the guide can advise you.

I had terrible problems with jet lag in the Spring of 2023. I got myself so screwed up it took me a week to right myself. I thought I was doing everything right...got out in the sunshine on my arrival day afternoon, etc but wow, I was crumping every afternoon about 3. On my next trip I was going for a short 2-week trip in Summer 2023 and knew I could not deal with a week's recovery time so I started using TimeShifter app for jet lag. I've used it twice now and it works really well for me. Others don't report a difference. The first trip is free so I used that one and then paid for the plan for my trip in the Fall. They use notifications on my phone and watch to tell me when it's time to drink or abstain from caffeine, seek or avoid sunlight, etc which is helpful to me.

As far as working out, I optimistically took a hot yoga towel and a resistance band on my trip in October. I planned to continue my daily yoga practice and continue a resistance workout that is about 15 minutes long. Well, the floors in the hotels were just not conducive to my old knees and back kneeling or lying on them, lol, even with the towel down. In France it seems they are all hard surfaces. Plus of course I was walking so much and doing so many stairs that I was still a little tired in the AMs, lol so it was hard to muster up the energy!

I'd recommend taking a resistance band for your strength workouts or figure out body weight exercises that you can sub in. The resistance bands don't add much weight to your suitcase. My yoga towel added 1/2 a pound and I will not "spend" weight that way again. I'm a careful light packer and made a conscious decision to do it last time.

It would help to know which trip you are considering. Since you are going for a fairly short time, possibly Heart. of Italy? LOTS of walking available on that one! Plus a cool walk in Lucca around the wall!

Editing to add since I was cross posting....that for running routes, I would definitely ask the guide OR the hotel front desk staff. Some of them may be runners. Years ago in Venice we needed some green space so chatted up the gal at reception and she showed us her jogging route which got us away from the cruise ship crowds, lol!! RS bus drivers can be helpful too. Some of the ones on the longer tours have a bike in the luggage bay and ride on their off time to stay in shape.

Here's another vote for the Time Shifter app. I used it last May to guide my caffeine and sunlight intake, and felt so much better than my two travel partners, who felt like zombies their first day in England.

Responding to jet lag tends to be related to the individual. Different people respond in different ways. Over the years we have experimented with a variety of "recommended" approaches. Finally settle on the afternoon nap on arrival day. We need to deal with about nine hours of jet leg. For a couple of weeks prior to the trip we try, with so so success, to time shift two, three, fours of time shift by simply doing a lot of things earlier. We have one clock running on the time zone we will land it so we have a reference to what will be local time. Our European flights depart around 7,8 pm. We may go to the airport as early as 4pm and have dinner in one of the better restaurants. Within 30 minutes or so of wheels up we will be settled in, eye shades on, ear plugs in and ignore all plane activity. About an hour before landing we try to freshen up a bit, participate in whatever passes as breakfast. Head to our hotel and check in if we can. If too early, we will store our luggage, and hit the streets looking for additional coffee, possible lunch, etc. Just keep walking and exploring. Return to hotel around 2,3 pm, check-in, set an alarm for a max of two hours. Generally find we wake up after 90 minutes or so. Back on the street and dinner on the local time schedule and to bed around 10 or 11. The next day might still be a little droopy but by the second day we are fine.

This works very well for us but you will need to find what works for you.

You will probably have time in the very early morning typically before breakfast to get the routines done. Occasionally an early departure schedule may break that consistency. Some days there is generous free (personal) time during which an opportunity may arise.

My son in law is an elite runner and always gets up early to do his runs. He plans the routes (mostly) before arriving in Europe so he doesn't get lost, and I think dials into some kind of running support club/group to find out the best routes in European cities.

We've been on 7 RS tours and I think most of the hotels have some kind of gym. You'll get a hotel list a month out and can check to see what's available. If the hotels don't have a gym on-site, they might give guest access to a local gym.

A two week trip is unlikely to cause a major setback in your running regime unless you are training for a marathon. Taper your runs a few weeks before your trip and do more walking instead, then reverse when you come back. Hauling workout wear, including appropriate footwear, runs afoul of my light packing scheme so I don't bother. All 5 RS tours I've been on had plenty of walking and hauling of my backpack suitcase (weight bearing exercise). Plus giving my body a break is a good thing and allows me to focus on the experience of travel without the pressure of keeping up my at home workout routine.

As for jet lag, I also used the Timeshifter app on my last trip and I think it did help, especially coming home. But I am a solo traveler and I see from your other post that you will be on a Family Europe tour, which would make things much more complicated. Allowing yourself at least a day ahead of the tour to get acclimated is the best solution to getting off on the right foot. Also coffee. :)