We have adventures for people no matter their ability level and try hard to accommodate everyone’s individual needs. At the same time, it is the job of our travelers to be aware of the difficulty of each of our tours and make sure they are choosing an appropriate tour. Here is what you need to know.
Our Tour Structure
First and perhaps most importantly, everything is always optional on our tours. If you want to take an afternoon off, you are free to do so. Second, most tours have multiple routes of varying difficulties, so you can choose to skate, bike, or hike a short, medium, or long route option. Third, we don’t stay in one big group, in which you feel pressured to either keep up with the fast people or slow down to accommodate those not as quick as you. Instead, you are free to find others in the group who like to go at your speed. Fourth, you often have our guides there to pick you up in the support van if you need a lift.
In short, most of our trips are suitable for people of varied ability and activity levels. Some adventures are definitely a bit more difficult than others, however, and we rate each tour based on the difficulty level.
Difficulty Level
- For All Abilities: Most of our adventures are designed to accommodate people of varied ability and fitness. No special skills are required. Having said that, on a hiking tour you should be comfortable hiking on a trail and on a biking tour you should be comfortable biking in the countryside. Plus, on all our trips, a basic fitness level will make your trip more enjoyable and you should consider preparing in advance.
- Moderate: Trips rated Moderate have slightly harder routes or have other aspects that are more difficult, such as not having a support van or requiring you to hike or bike a minimum distance from one hotel to another.
- Difficult: Trips rated Difficult are our most difficult adventures. Although we do not expect you to be a strong athlete or in outstanding shape, we do expect you to be physically active on a regular basis and, perhaps more importantly, have the mental attitude that allows you to
persevere.
Specific Trips To Note
Each trip will have different characteristics and you should read trip descriptions carefully for the following:
- Skating Tours: You need to be able to skate, stop when required, and negotiate basics like curbs and gravel on a path.
- Biking and E-Biking Tours: Biking tours vary tremendously, even within the same tour, based on which route you choose. If you choose to rent an e-bike on a biking tour, it can make almost any tour manageable for most participants.
- Biking on Skating Tours: These tend to be easier than any other biking tours due to us seeking out flat, smooth, car-free paths.
- Trekking: We define trekking as point-to-point hiking where you are not carrying your own gear. On these trips (such as Liechtenstein, Hadrian’s Wall, Inca Trail, Kilimanjaro, etc) you do need to be able to hike the minimum daily distance to reach our next lodging.
- Support Van: Many of our hiking trips do not have a support van, for obvious reasons. Some of our biking trips also do not have a support van. On these trips (Liechtenstein, Hadrian’s Wall, etc) you need to be able to hike or bicycle the entire distance to our next destination or be willing to take public transportation such as buses or trains, which we of course explain to you.
- Other Sports: We run trips such as kayaking in Baja or snowshoeing in Yellowstone. In general, you need no experience with these activities.
How to Prepare for a Zephyr Adventure
People of all fitness levels have meaningful, joyful experiences on our tours. We’ve created a practical fitness guide for how to prepare for a Zephyr Adventure, for active travelers of all ages but primarily for those in their late 40s to early 70s. It’s about helping you prepare to arrive fitness-ready, so the trip feels like a pleasure rather than an effort. A little preparation goes a long way!
If you are looking to leave the physical activity at home, our sister company Taste Vacations offers food, wine, beer, and spirits tours around the world without the active component.