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Illustrative photoHow to stay fit on holiday without going near a gym
A holiday is the easiest time of the year to move more. You have time, you are somewhere new, and every street is worth exploring. Here's how to make the most of it.
Most people come home from a holiday a little less fit than they left. Long lunches, long drives and lazy afternoons add up. But a holiday can do the opposite: it is the one time of year when you have hours to spare and somewhere new to see.
The trick is to stop treating exercise as a separate thing and make it the way you explore.
Make the sightseeing the exercise
The UK's Chief Medical Officers recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate activity a week. A brisk walk counts. Two or three hours exploring a new town on foot covers the whole week in a single day, and you will see far more than you would from a car.
- Park once. Leave the car at the hotel or the edge of town, and walk everything else.
- Walk to dinner. Choose somewhere twenty minutes away and take the long way back along the seafront.
- Take the stairs and the hills. Clifftop paths, castle walls and church towers are all free hill training.
Plan one proper walk a day
Pick one route each day that goes somewhere: along a coast, round a town's old walls, out to a lighthouse and back. Having a destination makes five or ten kilometres feel easy, and it gives the day a shape.
A walk with a destination never feels like exercise. It feels like the best part of the day.
Run the town before it wakes up
An early run is the best way to see a place. The streets are empty, the light is soft, and you get your bearings for the rest of the day. Keep it short and easy. A 5 km loop along the seafront is plenty.
If you are away on a Saturday, look up the nearest parkrun. It's a free, timed 5 km held every week, and visitors are always welcome.
Hire bikes for a day
Many seaside towns have traffic-free cycle paths along old railway lines and sea walls. In Kent, the Crab and Winkle Way and the coast paths around Whitstable, Herne Bay and Thanet are flat, safe and perfect for a family ride.
Give yourself a reason to keep going
The hardest part of any walk is the moment you decide to turn back. A good story fixes that. When you know the next corner has a castle, a shipwreck or a smuggler's tunnel, you keep walking.
Route Stories routes come with stories of the places you pass, told as you reach them, with music in between. Put your headphones on and the kilometres look after themselves.
