Why Slower Paced Walking Holidays Are Having a Moment

Something is shifting in the way people want to travel. 

After years of bucket-list ticking and Instagram-worthy itineraries crammed with must-sees, there's a growing appetite for holidays that feel less like a race and more like a deep breath. Holidays where you might spend an entire morning in one village rather than three cities in a day. Where the point isn't how much ground you cover, but how much you notice along the way. 

Gentle walking holidays sit right at the heart of this shift. And after 75 years of creating walking holidays at Ramble Worldwide, we've watched this trend gather real momentum.

There's a particular pleasure in waking up on holiday and knowing the day stretches ahead without pressure. No early alarm, no coach to catch, no race to beat the crowds. Just the gentle anticipation of a morning walk, a long lunch somewhere lovely, and an afternoon to spend however you please. 

This is what draws so many people to slower paced walking holidays. The gift of time. Time to linger over coffee in a village square. Time to follow a conversation wherever it leads. Time to notice the details that make a place special: the way light falls on ancient stone, the scent of wild rosemary on a hillside path, the sound of church bells drifting across a valley. 

Our guests often tell us they come home feeling genuinely restored. Not just rested but reconnected with themselves and the people they travelled with. That's what happens when you stop rushing and start savouring.

There's something about travelling on foot that changes how you experience a place. 

From a car or coach, landscapes blur past. You see a lot but absorb very little. Walking forces you to slow down to human pace. You notice the scent of wild herbs on a hillside, hear church bells echoing across a valley, feel the texture of ancient cobblestones beneath your feet. Your senses engage in ways they simply can't at speed. 

Easy walking holidays take this further by removing the pressure to cover distance. When you're not worried about reaching a particular point by a particular time, you're free to follow your curiosity. Stop to photograph a crumbling doorway. Chat to a farmer selling tomatoes by the roadside. Accept a second coffee because why not? 

These unplanned moments often become the stories you tell when you get home. Not "we visited this famous site" but "we stumbled upon this tiny restaurant where the owner insisted we try his grandmother's recipe." That's the difference between seeing a place and experiencing it.

The slow travel movement has been building for years, but it's moved firmly into the mainstream. What started as a niche reaction against overtourism has become a genuine shift in how many people think about holidays. 

The principles are straightforward: stay longer in fewer places, prioritise depth over breadth, travel in ways that allow real connection with local culture and communities. Leisurely walking holidays embody all of this naturally. 

When you're walking through a region rather than driving past it, you interact with it differently. You stop at local cafes because you need to. You meet people because the pace allows for conversation. You eat where locals eat because you're moving through their daily landscape rather than bypassing it on a motorway. 

There's also growing awareness of the environmental impact of travel. Walking is about as low-impact as tourism gets. Small groups, slow pace, local businesses, no transport emissions during the trip itself. For travellers who care about these things, gentle walking holidays tick boxes that other types of travel simply can't.

The interesting thing is how broad the appeal has become.

Yes, there are the guests you might expect: people in their 60s and 70s who've done the active hiking trips and now want something gentler on the knees. Retirees with time to travel properly rather than cramming everything into a fortnight's annual leave.

But we're also seeing younger travellers who've rejected the "see everything" mentality entirely. Couples in their 40s who'd rather spend a week really getting to know Umbria than racing through five Italian cities. Solo travellers who've realised that slower trips make it much easier to connect with fellow guests.

There's also a post-pandemic element. The enforced stillness of lockdowns made many people reassess what they want from their limited holiday time. Rushing around suddenly seemed less appealing when the previous year had been spent yearning for any kind of travel at all. The result? A genuine appetite for holidays that feel restorative rather than exhausting. .

Not all gentle walking holidays are created equal. The best ones share certain characteristics. 

The walking should be rewarding, not just easy. Nobody wants to plod along dull paths simply because they're flat. Good easy walking holidays choose routes that offer interest at every turn: coastal views, vineyard trails, historic paths connecting medieval villages. The pace is relaxed, but the scenery shouldn't be. 

Cultural depth matters. Slower paced walking naturally creates space for cultural experiences. The best trips weave in visits to local artisans, wine tastings at family vineyards, guided tours of historic sites, and meals at restaurants where locals eat. Walking becomes the thread connecting these experiences rather than the entire point. 

Quality accommodation makes a difference. When you're not exhausted from ten-hour hiking days, you have energy to enjoy your hotel in the evening. Charming, locally-run properties with character add enormously to the experience. You're not just sleeping somewhere; you're staying somewhere. 

Flexibility is built in. The point of travelling slowly is having time for spontaneity. Good itineraries include free afternoons, rest days, and the flexibility to adapt when the group discovers somewhere worth lingering.

In music, "adagio" means slowly, leisurely, at ease. It's why we named our collection of gentle walking holidays after it. 

The idea behind our Adagio trips is simple: what if the walking was just one part of a richer experience? What if we designed holidays where cultural discovery, great food, and genuine relaxation mattered as much as the trails themselves? 

The result is a collection of trips that typically involve two to four hours of easy walking each day, combined with guided city tours, market visits, cooking classes, wine tastings, and plenty of free time. The accommodation is handpicked for character. The restaurants are chosen because they're genuinely good, not because they can handle tour groups. 

It's travel designed around quality time rather than quantity of experiences. And it seems to resonate with how many people now want to spend their holidays.

Some destinations suit this style of travel better than others. 

Tuscany was practically designed for leisurely exploration. The rolling landscapes, the hilltop villages, the food and wine culture that rewards long lunches. Walking here means moving through Renaissance paintings come to life, with time to visit Florence or Siena without feeling rushed.

 Andalucia offers Moorish architecture, whitewashed villages, and a pace of life that already runs several beats slower than northern Europe. The tapas culture alone is worth slowing down for. 

Northern Portugal and Galicia remain wonderfully undiscovered, with dramatic coastlines, terraced vineyards, and seafood that makes every meal memorable. The walking is gentle, the wine is excellent, and the welcome is genuinely warm. 

The Cotswolds proves you don't need to fly anywhere for a proper slow travel experience. Honey-coloured villages, country pubs, afternoon tea. Sometimes the best way to see somewhere familiar is simply to walk through it more slowly than usual.

It's a fair question. Travel trends come and go. Remember glamping? Voluntourism? The obsession with "authentic" experiences that somehow required visiting increasingly obscure destinations? 

But slower paced travel feels different because it's not really about novelty. It's about rediscovering something fundamental: that the point of a holiday is to feel restored, connected, and genuinely glad you went. That's not a trend. That's what travel was supposed to be all along. 

The overcrowded attractions, the exhausting itineraries, the pressure to document everything for social media... these are relatively recent additions to how we travel. Gentle walking holidays represent a return to something simpler.

If any of this resonates, a leisurely walking holiday might be worth considering. 

Start by thinking about what you want from your next trip. Do you want to come home with stories of connections made and flavours discovered? Do you want to feel rested rather than in need of recovery time? Do you want to really know one place rather than vaguely recall several? 

If yes, then slowing down might suit you. The walks are gentle enough that fitness isn't a major concern. The groups are small enough that solo travellers feel welcome. The pace is relaxed enough that even the most recovering workaholics can eventually exhale. 

The world isn't going anywhere. You don't have to see all of it this year. Sometimes the best trip is the one where you see less but notice more.

Ready to slow down? Browse our gentle walking holidays or call us on 01707 524770 to talk through which trip might suit you.