ABD Italy – Walking and Pacing questions

[Disney Fan-tasmic]

Hi all,

We’re considering our first ABD (yay!) for our trip to Italy. We’re really excited about the itinerary but we’re wondering about how “senior-friendly” the adults only tours are? In our group of all adults, we have two older adults and we’re a bit worried that the walking tours may be a bit too much. While they have done the parks in recent years, it’s at our own pace and not with a group. Is this something we should be worried about or are the tours at a reasonable pace?

To clarify, we’re more concerned about keeping up with others, not really the amount of walking.

Our other idea is to possibly do a cruise, but as of right now we are really leaning towards the Italy ABD. Any insight would be great!

 

[JRM815]

One thing about the main ABD tours is that they have two adventure guides on each trip. Whenever the tour group needs to move from one place to another on foot, one guide is at the front to lead the way and the other stays at the back to ensure no one gets left behind. The one at the back stays with any stragglers no matter how slow. I have a bit of experience at being at the back of the pack as I often stop to take a lot of pictures, but there have also been a few occasions where I was the slowest on hikes (which at my age I probably shouldn't be attempting anymore. Note: those are optional. My problem is that my mind remembers being able to do such things, but my body sometimes has a different opinion on the matter.)

If I recall the Rome-Tuscany-Venice trip correctly, except for some uphill steps in Orvieto and going down the Spanish Steps in Rome, the majority of the walking was over flat terrain (however a good portion of it was over cobblestones where taller heels or use of a walker could present a problem.)

 

[Eastridge]

If you are considering the Rome/Florence/Venice trip, I did that almost 10 years ago. I remember that the walking pace was moderate, but that was with a group where the oldest people were probably in their 60s, and there were many kids.

Depending on when you go, the temperature might be a bigger problem than the pace. My trip was in early June and it was pretty hot in Rome.

ABD offers three other Italy trips, so if you are considering one of those you could specify which one and maybe somebody who already went on that trip can comment.

 

[Disney Fan-tasmic]

Thank you both for your replies! We are looking at the Rome-Tuscany-Venice trip. I think the cobblestones should be okay, it was more a "can we keep up with everyone" kind of concern. It sounds like from your experiences, the walking pace wasn't too bad and it's a relief to know that there is a guide at the back of the pack in case.

We are hoping that maybe with the adults-only tour we'll get a few more older folks to help balance out the walking pace.

 

[jimmymc]

I'd say the tours go at a medium pace with pretty frequent stops. If they're able to get around the parks without a scooter or constantly sitting on benches, I think they'll be good on an AbD.

 

[JRM815]

From my limited experience doing adults-only trips (i.e., 2), there have been more 70+ y/o adventurers on the family tours as it is common to see three generations of a family on a trip.