Walking holidays are an ideal way to explore scenic landscapes while enjoying the benefits of physical activity. These vacations cater to a range of fitness levels, offering everything from gentle strolls to challenging hikes. Walking holidays allow travellers to immerse themselves in nature and experience destinations at a leisurely pace.
If you’re looking for an outdoor holiday that’s low-cost and high-reward, then it’s difficult to beat a walking holiday. These come in many different forms to appeal to a broad range of people, and it’s worth fully exploring your options before you get started.
Why Choose a Walking Holiday?
There are a number of great reasons to choose a walking holiday. First, walking is a form of exercise that’s low-impact, and that will help you to lose weight and reduce your risk of developing a whole range of different health problems. Second, walking holidays will allow you to explore parts of the world that might otherwise be denied to you whether you’re looking for a leisurely stroll or a gruelling scramble.
Let’s assess some of the different types of walking holidays available.
Guided Walking Tours
If you’re looking to go for a walking holiday as a group, and you’d like some supervision and guidance through an unfamiliar part of the world, then a guided walking tour might be for you. A guide will be able to provide you with insight that you might otherwise have missed out on, and show you the best routes through a given location.
Self-guided
If you’d prefer to economise, then you might elect to guide your own walk. This is an option that might appeal to walkers who’ve got a little bit more experience and are comfortable planning their own routes.
Point to Point
This is a holiday where you’ll walk from one place to another over the course of the entire trip, with a different stop-off point every night. It’s something that works if you’re carrying a tent with you, or if you’ve booked your accommodation at a different stop, according to your planned itinerary. You’ll need to put in a bit of planning to make this kind of trip work, and you might lose some flexibility, but there’s a sense of larger achievement that’s difficult to replicate with many disparate, shorter hikes.
Centre Based Walking
This is a kind of walking holiday that involves staying in just one place and going through all of the walks in the immediate vicinity. Not every location is suitable for this kind of trip: after all, you don’t want to be travelling long distances before you can reach the trails you’re interested in. On the other hand, you do get a degree of flexibility. If you decide that you’re not up to a longer walk on any given day, then you can take a shorter one instead.
What would you need to take?
Certain items of equipment stand out as essential. You’ll need a backpack, a supply of socks, and windproof clothing that’s suitable for the expected weather. If you want to save your knees, then you might take some sticks, too. By far the most important item of equipment, however, are the boots you’ll be wearing.
