On my recent trip to London, I took 3 pairs of walking shoes. I always take more than one pair because when your feet get tired, sometimes a change of shoe is what you need to refresh your feet and avoid any hot spots from turning into blisters.
One was a pair I have taken several times. They are Le Mouton brand and they are wool with sturdy soles. I can't fault them. They have always been trustworthy and comfortable and they are recommended on my TRAVEL GEAR page. The molded wool has no seams to rub and there is plenty of cushioning beneath my feet. I highly recommend them and will always wear them.
The other pair was new-ish to me. I decided to jump on the white sneaker band-wagon so I got these Dr. Scholl's Time Off sneakers. They are man-made uppers rather than leather so I always wonder if they will be comfortable or feel weird and plasticky. But, after breaking them in around the house before the trip, I realized they were actually very comfortable, so I took them. And, they ARE comfortable until they started rubbing. The spot where the sole and a seam come together started putting pressure on my little toe's toenail and it HURT. That doesn't mean they aren't comfortable enough to wear at home, but they weren't comfortable enough for 7 miles of daily walking. So, after wearing them for a couple of days, I put them in the suitcase and didn't take them out again.
ENTER THE WINNER! I was shocked, but yet, not shocked at the shoes I literally wore for days on end without problem. The clear winner was our own Send Me to London Lizzy Underground Shoes. These are our own brand that we worked with Theme Parkist on. I had seen several Disney influencers talk about how comfortable they are and that's why we took a chance on having Theme Parkist design a shoe for us. I had been wearing these around at home and found them to be comfortable but knew
that the true test would be London.
I arrived in London wearing them. Our first day we walked about 10 miles and I didn't really think about it because I was jet-lagged and was focused on staying on the go. The next morning, I put the Le Mouton's on and weirdly felt like I was walking through mud all day. It just seemed hard to walk comfortably. It was weird because they always felt fine before. When we went back to the hotel for a while, I changed back into the Lizzy Undergrounds shoes. The day after that, I put on the Dr. Scholl shoes and started to feel that pain in my little toe and realized there was no "give" at that part of the shoe and so the pressure on the toenail wouldn't change. I was sort of grumpy all day because of the pain and wondered if I was going to lose a toenail over it.
Every day after that I wore my Lizzy Underground Shoes. They didn't rub. The soles were supportive and just rolled with my feet well.
So, there you have it. The winner of the London Walking Shoe contest was our own Lizzy Underground shoes! Therefore, stay tuned for more patterns!
DO follow Theme Parkist's sizing advice. I ordered a half size up and I'm glad I did. Your feet will SWELL. My feet never felt cramped in the shoes.
Use SIMPLYLONDON10 at check-out for 10% off!
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