I have had a long time dream of taking a walking tour in Europe. Now, I have to be honest, I’m not much for camping, or carrying heavy packs, or roughing it in general. But, walking, I love! And Europe I love!
Years ago, I heard about what, for me, is the perfect walking expedition. Here’s what happens: You choose your route (mine is in Europe, we’ve established that), your hotels are pre-booked for you, and your luggage is transported each day from this morning’s hotel to this evening’s hotel. All you and I have to do is walk from Hotel A to Hotel B. In my dream world, this trip would involve about seven days of walking; though there are many different lengths of trek to choose from.
All the fun of walking without the drudgery!
Whenever it came time for hubby and I to plan our vacation, I would never put this idea forward as a possibility because walking is just not hubby’s thing. There’s lot’s of other fun outings we enjoy together, so no biggie!
But then, in early 2020, I happened to mention in casual conversation this dream I have to do a walking trek in Europe. And hubby’s unexpected response was, “I would do that with you.”
I was pleasantly shocked, and for fear of him changing his mind, I immediately set forth finding the perfect trek for us. I narrowed our selection down to a few areas that I would like to walk in: England, Germany, Italy (specifically along the Amalfi coast), and presented the selection to hubby. Together we landed on this walking tour “Castles of the Rhine”.
Here’s a blurb from the website, so you can get a sense of what I’m on about:
The Rhine Gorge is unique. Its 20 castles, perched high above the river, some visitable, bear witness to a crucial role in the history of Europe, and to its iconic “Romantic” status for painters, poets and composers.
It is busy and exciting too – the barges negotiating sharp bends and the toy trains (for that is how they look from the footpaths high above), and the river towns and villages – many very old and still wholly or partially fortified – make a pleasant variation from the rural walking. It is also a wine route – every village is proud of its own Riesling vineyards and you will have the chance to sample their produce when you sup after a walking day.
Right away, we began thinking about getting into shape for a week’s worth of walking. These treks are up to 21 km per day, so I would think you’d want to be sure that you’re up to it. I planned a practice walk here in Calgary; walking from our place, around Bowness Park, up to Market Mall and back to our place. You can see from the map below, that our trek wasn’t exactly 21 km, but we tried to make it as circuitous as we could to make up for that, going out of our way to make the trek longer. We completed the loop, without any real issues; and our takeaway was; if we’re going to do this, we need comfier walking shoes!
When we set out on the “real” trek, I imagine us getting up early-ish (not crazy early), packing our day packs and taking a leisurely amble from one pub to the next; stopping on our way to wander through the castles that we encounter. Sounds like heaven. You would find us relaxing at the end of the day (in another pub), feet sore, but we’d be feeling that satisfied feeling of accomplishment that you have when you know you’ve worked hard.
I was practically poised to click on the button to reserve this tour, when COVID happened. I’m sure you all have similar stories about plans interrupted by the dreaded virus.
I’d like to tell you that we’ve since booked it and done the walk (with record success!), but alas, that’s not the case. I hope to post about the lovely walk in a future blog. As for now, it’s not planned, and it’s not on the horizon. But it’s still a dream, and one I’m hopeful we’ll undertake at some point. (Wish me luck!)
