Although a holiday is meant to help you relax and de-stress after spending most of your year working, more people are choosing to take active holidays. Not only does a walking tour allow you to see sites closer than you would on most tours, but it also has several benefits for your health. Whether you spend the holiday on your own or with friends or family, here are some of the physical and mental benefits walking tours offer.
Low-Impact Exercise : Walking is a low-impact exercise, so it is easier on your joints than jogging, but offers many of the same benefits. Like jogging, it is a cardiovascular exercise, which helps to strengthen and improve your lung capacity to better oxygenate your body. It also strengthens the heart, so it circulates blood more efficiently throughout your body, including to the brain and your extremities.
Boosts Mood : While walking can help lift your mood, specifically walking in a natural setting like the woods or in a meadow offers more benefits than city walks. Studies show people who walk along tree lined paths experienced slight, but more meaningful, improvements in their mental health. Walking provides a way to de-stress and relax after a hard day at the office or a disagreement at home.
Provides Stimulation : Although you may walk for your health every day, taking a walking tour will help stimulate your mind because you are visiting new places. Scotland walking holidays can take you on wildlife trials through the Scottish Highlands, or you can visit castle ruins and perhaps catch a glimpse of Nessie, the Loch Ness monster. You can learn the history of the areas you’re visiting, so you can stimulate your brain by educating yourself about the places where you’re walking.
Tones the Body : While your legs, calves and thighs will obviously benefit when you walk for fitness, the rest of the muscles in your body can be toned as well. When you pump your arms while walking, your upper body muscles will become firm and toned, too. While your muscles are becoming firmer, you will lose inches in your waist, thighs, and other areas of your body, so you will look and feel fitter.
Control Diabetes : The more you sit, the higher your risk of diabetes becomes since you lead a more sedentary lifestyle. However, you can counter that by walking, even for as little as two minutes a day. If you don’t have diabetes, regular exercise like walking can help prevent you from developing the disease and, if you already have it, it will help you manage your blood sugar better. Taking a walking tour is a much healthier holiday than sitting at the beach or eating your way through another country.
There are many mental and physical benefits to taking more active holidays such as walking tours. While you’re visiting areas you’ve never been to before, the long walks will help you relax, tone your body and, due to a full day of activity, you will rest better in the evening.