How do you turn a city walk into a proper outing?

Most of us walk through our own cities on autopilot, head down, the same routes every day. Visit somewhere new, though, and the same activity becomes the whole point of the trip: you walk for hours, peering into courtyards, following a smell of baking down a side street, climbing to a viewpoint because it is there. The trick is to bring that holiday curiosity home, and to give city walks the same sense of occasion as a hike in the hills.

Give it a theme

A theme turns a walk into a quest.

• Water. Follow a river, canal or old aqueduct from one end of the city to the other.
• Stairs. Many hilly cities are full of public staircases. Collect them.
• Viewpoints. Link three lookouts in one walk: a hill, a tower, a rooftop café.
• Markets and food. A morning walk between markets, bakeries and a lunch spot.
• Architecture. A particular period, an architect, a style of door or balcony.
• Green. Parks connected by quiet streets, a botanical garden in the middle.
• Literature or film. Places from a favourite novel or a film set in the city.

Plan a route, loosely

Draw a rough line on a map rather than a precise route. The best city walks have room for detours. A few tips:

• Mix big streets and small ones. The grand avenue for the view, the side streets for the surprises.
• Go one way, ride back. A linear walk with a bus, tram or train home lets you go further and end somewhere new.
• Use the quiet routes. Parks, riverbanks and pedestrian streets make the walk more pleasant and the conversation easier.
• Mind the traffic. Cross where drivers expect you and keep your eyes up at junctions, especially when you are distracted by a beautiful façade.

Add some up and down

Hills and stairs make a walk feel like an outing, and the views at the top are the reward. If your city is flat, look for bridges, towers you can climb, or parks with a mound in the middle. If it is hilly, plan your route so you climb once and wander down, rather than up and down repeatedly. Some people even race up tall buildings for sport, as we explain in stairs as a challenge, but taking them at your own pace is just as satisfying.

Build in a proper stop

A great city walk has a great lunch in the middle. Plan it as a destination: a trattoria in a neighbourhood you do not know, a picnic in a park, a market counter. Then walk off in a different direction in the afternoon. Coffee stops, a bench with a view, a cool church interior on a hot day: these are part of the outing, not interruptions to it.

Walk with people

Company makes a long walk feel short. A friend, a partner, a walking group, or a free walking tour if you are visiting. Some of the best conversations happen when you are walking side by side looking at the same city. And in Italy, of course, the evening passeggiata turns walking itself into a social ritual.

Be a tourist at home

Pick a weekend and treat your own city like somewhere you are visiting. Read about a neighbourhood you never go to, then walk there. Visit the museum you always meant to see, on foot from home. Walk to a different market. Many of us know surprisingly little of our own city beyond their daily routes.

Practical things

• Comfortable shoes. City paving is unforgiving over many hours.
• Water and a light layer.
• A charged phone for maps, or a paper map for the romance of it.
• Time. The whole point is not hurrying.