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Spain & Portugal land journey
I'm considering Spain & Portugal land journey for October, 2025, but, I'm concerned about the #3 Activity Level. Do you have to walk on steep San Francisco-like hills with uneven cobblestones every day of the 14 days, or just some days or parts of days? I enjoyed the Scandinavia land tour, that was a #2 Activity Level, and I can walk 4 miles a day, but I don't have the best balance if I can't hold on to a railing or a wall. Did anyone find a walking stick helpful for balance? Does the tour continue on rainy days if the cobblestone is very slippery? I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who recently took this tour.
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Beverley,
This was our favorite land tour because of the magnificent blend of art, history, culture, food and people.
I believe the activity rating might be because of the on-tour flights and subsequent early starts. I am merely guessing at that since our tour did not include flights and was classified as a '2' rating. I do not recall excessive amounts of walking at any given time and most of it is on flat surfaces. Lisbon is built on multiple hills but you will be driven about. What can pose a risk are the limestones that adorn walkways in Lisbon. Beautiful to look at but treacherous when wet. Sturdy shoes with hard rubber soles are a must. I would suggest using a cane instead of a walking stick. The sticks are cumbersome in my opinion and can pose a danger if not handled properly. My apologies if your version of a walking stick is identical to my use of the word cane.
The tour director will sometimes have two local guides; one will escort one group at a slower pace while the other guide takes the balance of the group.
I hope my comments have helped. If by chance you have Patricia H. as your director, you are in for a very special treat.
We have been to Portugal with Tauck and visited most of the other cities on this tour. For us, the most challenging city was Porto. We did have some rain there in October, and found ourselves needing to be extra careful on the slippery walkways. I doubt the group walking tour would be cancelled except for heavy rain, which we did not have. We did observe 2 young ladies wearing heels falling on the sidewalks when it was sprinkling. (Youth is wasted on the young!) If it weren't for the rain, it would have been ok, but I was still watching my feet practically the whole time there. The group walk was ok, it was mostly when we went off on our own on foot that we found ourselves needing to be more careful. Do you use the 360 images on Google maps? It won't get the inclines exactly right, and some images may be dated. I have included the starting point from the Intercontinental Hotel with the view up the hill to the church, and also the streets around the Bolsa Palace. The streets perpendicular to and meeting the river seemed the steepest. I definitely agree with kfnknfzk about shoes. Have your best non-slippery walking shoes on. Lisbon is also hilly but I recall more gentle hills and it didn't rain when we were there. Toledo is hilly. Here are the Google map links:
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1461188,-8.6114012,3a,75y,248.32h,83.64t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1skypZRbMGJIbwCCaSmHaTow!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu
https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1411393,-8.6152883,3a,90y,357.85h,97.24t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNvJvbncHc1bbbL1HC2Lnvw!2e0!7i16384!8i8192?hl=en&entry=ttu
I didn't realize Porto is now part of this tour...a very nice addition!
My TD told me an elderly woman fell and broke her wrist a few tours before mine. She ended up wearing a cast the whole trip.She got the chance to experience culture going to the emergency room.
One person fell walking out of Pena Palace in drizzy rain. She did not break anything but she was sored the whole day walking in a limp.