I’m a woman, so I’m sharing my experience as a woman…sorry guys, you’ll have to look elsewhere for shoe tips

As a rule of thumb, wear what you wear in general in everyday life…
if you wear sneakers, bring sneakers. If you wear Tevas, bring Tevas. If you wear flip-flops, bring flip-flops. If you wear 4 inch stilettos…well, don’t go tramping around European cities in those, during the daytime at least

Some people think they need to be bringing hiking boots. To that, I say this: Would you ever spend a day walking around (name any local metropolis) wearing hiking boots? Chances are, you wouldn’t. European cities are just the same — no reason you need to wear hiking boots.

On that same note, unless in general you walk around public looking like you’re in the middle of a the wilderness (i.e. unshaven, not showered in a week, dirty clothes, bandanas, hiking staffs…) there’s no reason you should plan to do so in Europe.

So, back to the issue at hand…here is my pitch for the sandals from The Walking Co. that I ended up bringing (and fell in love with):

These were THE shoes for my trip. They mold to your feet (somewhat like Birkenstocks, but much more quickly, and they’re much more stylish, and the polyeurethane sole does an incredible job of absorbing shock). I love mine so much that I wore them every single day, bought another pair when I returned…and then I got a part-time job at the store…and then I bought another pair, and another…my fifth pair is on my feet right now as I type. They come in lots of different colors and designs.
http://www.thewalkin…

Would you ever wear Tevas or Reefs to a night club in New York? Never! bring a pair of kitten heel mules or sandals for going out — they’ll take up very little room. Despite how wonderfully comfortable my slides were for daytime, my biggest regret was not bringing something more dressy for night. It may sound trite. But European women are very consciencious about footwear, and I often felt kind of frumpish without something more stylish.
a good choice would be something like:
http://www.zappos.co…

Because I worked at The Walking Company (a comfort shoes store) for sometime, I know quite a bit about comfort footwear. Check out their website: http://www.thewalkin… They’ve got some really stylish options that are still very comfortable. I’ve highlighted a few of my favorites below…

Very soft and CUSHY, good at absorbing shock
http://www.thewalkin…

Molds to your feet, great arch support:
http://www.thewalkin…

These Dansko sandals are so stylish, and very comfortable!

http://www.dansko.co…
http://www.dansko.co…
http://www.dansko.co…

I actually don’t know much about the comfort qualities of these ones, but they’re really cute
http://www.thewalkin…

http://www.thewalkin…

http://www.thewalkin…