Walking Tours are a Great Way to Explore a City - or the Countryside!

Walking tours - whether a short city tour or an extended tour of the countryside - are a great way to get up close and meet the locals.

Sightseeing by bus only allows you to see the outside of a building or drive by the place where an important event happened - it doesn't get you to the heart of history or culture, which is the people who live it everyday.

You can find guided tours of architecture, history, neighborhoods, and places of interest in every major city in the world.

But did you know that you can also explore the countryside on foot?

Like a bus tour, these walking vacations take you from place to place by motorcoach and allow you to get close to the locals on daily escorted walks. These country vacations offer a view of the "real" Italy, France, Morocco, or other destinations, far from the usual tourist sites.

Take a Walk While Enjoying Your Favorite Hobby

From food tasting in NYC to ghost tours in Savannah, there are excursions to suit every taste.

You can learn photography (and photograph some great sights!) in New York or in Cairo.

Hear scary stories on ghost tours in New Orleans or Savannah, or try to find the legend of Jack the Ripper in London.

Literary tours are a great way to get to know the characters in your favorite books. While in London, you can see some of the places that inspired the Harry Potter novels. In Paris, follow the trail of the Da Vinci Code.

Culinary tours are popular all over the world, from chocolate tasting tours in New York and Paris , to wine and pasta tours in Italy - or San Francisco's North Beach!

Some hiking tours are really outdoor adventure vacations - explore exotic Morocco or take a women's only safari on foot in Kenya.

Walking provides a much more intimate view of the city or country landscape than a bus tour - and although these are active vacations, you don't have to be in great shape to do it!

What about those tours in the countryside?

You don't literally walk across an entire country, but after being driven from one city or town to the next, you explore each destination on foot.

These one to two-week escorted tours cover North America, Europe, Asia and Africa and allow you to get out of the bus and get up close to the culture you're visiting. It's sightseeing at its best.

Imagine strolling through the vineyards of Tuscany, enjoying great food and wine along the way. Or experience the sights and sounds of Morocco, sleeping in desert tents or a restored palace and interacting with people of the Berber tribes. Take a women-only safari in Kenya or walk nature trails in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Don't see the world from the back of a bus - get out there and introduce yourself!

Other Sites Suggested by Readers

Here are some of the sites others have suggested:

• Photo Tours of Paris with Atelier Vagabond

• Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, Peru

• The Blue Walk, Walking Vacations along the French Riviera

• Gotham WalkingTours of NYC

Where Would You Like to Go Next?

For more city and country walking tours :

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