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Hiking the trails in Oberammergau, Germany (Scarborough photo)

When we lived in the Netherlands, we found that organized walking and hiking are a big deal. 

Germans, and most Europeans, call it volksmarching (literally "people's march") and there are organized walks across the Continent practically every weekend of the year.  People collect commemorative pins and mugs and doo-dads from the marches, enjoy good company and fresh air, and generally make me wonder why in the world we don't have more of this in the US (although I was pleased to find the American Volkssport Association -- check it out.) 

American military personnel and their families stationed in Europe often volksmarch; here is a great article about it in Oconus.

Volksmarches are generally in rural areas outside of or between towns and villages, but they are on marked trails and roads.  You check in at a start point, you walk a ways, you check in at stops along the route (there's usually a snack or drinks at at least one stop) and you end up at a specific endpoint, where there is more revelry.  They are non-competitive events, super family-friendly and generally not strenuous as long as you can walk for a few miles.

Take a look at the official Web site of European volksmarching, the Internationaler Volkssportverband (click the British flag for the English version) for schedules and ideas before your next trip to Europe.  

If you'd like to see about more organized hiking in Europe, look at this Frommer's article about putting one foot in front of the other in Spain, Norway, Austria and Switzerland.  In Britain, it's also traditional to go for walks on Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, but you don't have to wait until December to check out these Top 10 British Boxing Day walks. 

For those who are pretty doggone serious about their walking, you can join the thousands of people (many of them in the Dutch Armed Forces) who try to complete the Nijmegen Vierdaagse Four Day Walk  in Nijmegen (pronounced "Ny-megan") in the Netherlands. This was the town in the World War II movie "A Bridge Too Far."  Kids who are at least 12 are allowed to participate.

For those who like to (literally) hear about things rather than read about them, listen to these podcasts from National Geographic Traveler magazine, "Walks of a Lifetime," that feature narrated walks in Santa Fe, Montreal and other cities. 

So, go put that one foot in front of the other one....

Update 23 April 2007:  This post was featured in the Carnival of Family Life at the DigitalRichDaily blog.  Head on over and read through the submissions!

Technorati tags:  travel, family travel, Europe, volksmarching, hiking