None of that ”If it`s Tuesday, it must be Belgium,” routine for Fred Robbins, of Concord, Mass. For Fred, if it`s Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, it`s still England. Fred prefers the slow lane and footpower is his traveling mode.
He has walked throughout England, from Scotland to the south coast, he has trod in Switzerland, through Tuscany and the Dordogne River Valley. Fred declares, ”I love new places, new things, new people. But I don`t like buses. I like the outdoors, views, walking hill and dale, seeing things up close.”
For travelers like Fred, walking tours are the ideal vacation.
Along the way, walkers experience every day life in areas off the beaten tourist track, seeing things the average traveler misses, exploring places not in the guidebooks. Chatting with the locals in a pub, discussing the flowers with an avid English gardener, waving to a Swiss farmer, foot-powered travelers become participants instead of observers of a local culture.
Of course, there`s the obvious advantage of steady exercise. After walking all day, one experienced walker says she feels the same exhilaration and pleasant exhaustion as she does after a day of skiing. Elayne Techentin, of Pasadena, Calif., who has walked Tuscany and the Dordogne Valley, loves
”being able to eat all I want and not gain weight.”
You can walk through France, traipsing through Burgundy`s vineyards, through the rural Dordogne River Valley, through Alsace or Provence. Italy offers the Dolomites, Tuscany, Italian Lakes, the French/Italian border area of Piemonte. There are walking tours in Austria, Spain, Germany, Corsica and Majorca. But Britain and Switzerland attract the most walkers.
Perry Taylor, owner of British Coastal Trails, attributes Britain`s popularity to its ”wonderful footpath system”-more than 120,000 miles of public footpaths.
”Some of the paths are thousands of years old,” Taylor says. ”There`s a well maintained walking pattern-you can go around the whole island.”
The Yorkshire Dales, with the contrasts of dramatic, desolate moorlands and deep green valleys, and the 880-square mile Lake District, the land of Wordsworth, Coleridge and Beatrix Potter, are among the most popular areas.
Walkers flock to Switzerland for its grandeur, picturesque hamlets and farmlands and its European lifestyle. A variety of expertly constructed and well-maintained trails, some of the world`s finest, give hikers of all abilities access to high meadows and spectacular mountain terrain. Use of the extensive system of trains, cog-wheel railways, cable cars and chair lifts eliminates many difficult uphill or downhill climbs.
Routes can be easy, such as Wander Tours Heart of Switzerland trip from Zurich to Bern, or strenuous, such as Mountain Travel`s Across the Alps trek. All you need to do is decide where you want to go, how far and how hard you want to walk. The walking tour season is generally May through October.
Fred Robbins describes a typical walking day. ”We walk for a few hours in the morning, explore towns, take a break for some obligatory sightseeing. We stop at a pub for lunch and a rest, walk in the afternoon, or take the support bus, to the next inn. We clean up, rest, have a marvelous dinner, compare notes on what we`ve seen and done, how many times we`ve gotten lost. During the day, there`s always a leisurely time to poke around, plenty of flexibility and opportunity.”
Evenings are usually quiet and early-time is spent lingering over dinner or at the bar or pub. But some intrepid walkers manage another mile or two before turning in.
For avid sightseers, there is a certain level of frustration, the challenge of gearing down. Tom Techentin was frustrated in Tuscany. He told his wife, Elayne, ”We could have done this whole day in 45 minutes in a car!” Elayne, who admits that ”you spend so much time putting one foot in front of the other,” says that they were more attuned to this slower pace in the Dordogne Valley, a rural area with fewer sights. Most walking tours are conducted in groups, generally with a maximum of 18 members, usually with one or two leaders.
Variations on a theme
There are variations on this general routine. Butterfield & Robinson participants don`t walk in a group. The guide reviews the day`s route in the morning, gives walkers a map and written directions, detailed information on sights, detours and viewing points. Walkers depart at their leisure, setting their own pace and doing their own thing along the way. The firm offers many special activities along the way-cheese tasting, visiting a tiny walnut oil mill, sampling fruit liqueurs-which walkers are free to do or not do.
Wander Tours has a free day in each of its Swiss trips-a break from walking, time to visit museums, to shop, to sightsee.
British Coastal Trails stays two to three nights in one place. Because of the time needed to acclimate to higher altitudes, Swiss walks are sometimes longer.
English Lakeland Ramblers has inn-to-inn walks and walks based at a single hotel, and trips on a narrow-gauge steam railway and a Victorian lake yacht break up the walking routine.
For the non-purists
Great British Vacations Walk `n` Tour program are designed for non-purists. One day is spent touring by bus, the next walking. Leaders are frequently local residents, well-versed in the area`s history and natural environment.
Some of the smaller operators lead their own walks. Give folks such as Laurie and Bob Zubritsky at Wander Tours, Cecil Dobbins at Alpine Adventure Trails Tour, or Phil Scheidt at Wanderweg a call during the off-season, and you`ll get not only first-hand information on the tours, but a feel for your prospective leader.
All ages take walking tours. Participants range from Wayfarers`s young, stressed professional women from New York to a 70-year-old who took up walking just six months before his Wander Tour in Switzerland.
Most of British Coastal Trails` walkers are in their 50s and 60s. A 2-year-old ”hiked” in his mother`s backpack on an Alpine Adventure Trails Tour last summer. Some companies encourage families, others set a minimum age, such as 18, for participants.
You can dine at Michelin-starred restaurants on a Progressive Travels walk in Burgundy (eight days, $2,495) or stay at modest inns on Majorca on a nine-day Sherpa Expedition ($602). Butterfield & Robinson designs its tours for the top 1 percent of the market. Ryder-Walker Alpine Adventures specializes in luxury Swiss hikes (7 days, $1,400 to $1,600).
Pick your ambience
British Coastal Trails uses first class accommodations in historic inns and hotels (eight days in the Cotswolds, $1,595), Wander Tours uses three-star hotels in major cities, goes for charm and atmosphere in the country side.
(One week Swiss trips, $955-$994.)
Wayfarers is a mid-priced firm (six nights, $1,313), and English Wanderer is more economically priced (English Lakes, 6 nights, $815 to $909). Footpath, an English-based firm, has Daypack Hikes, $129 for six days. The firm provides transportation to and from each day`s walk and a guide. You make your own hotel and dining arrangements.
Those who disdain any form of group travel can still take walking tours. English Lakeland Ramblers offers privately guided tours. Ryder-Walker Alpine Adventures designs individual itineraries, providing route descriptions, maps, hotel reservations, dining and sightseeing suggestions, and rail passes.
Hill or dale, mountain or valley, the paths beckon to those who want to be footloose and bus-free.
