Whether you choose to workout on holiday or not is an individual choice. But for those who want to take some time off in between the sights and food, read on for my experience of getting in a gym workout while in Central Europe.
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Last year I travelled through Central Europe for nine weeks. From August to October I moved through 10 countries, nine languages, and did three organised tours. I had an absolute blast; the trip was a long time coming and definitely lived up to all of my hopes and expectations.
For those of you who are curious, I did a tour from Vienna to Dubrovnik with Intrepid Travel (through Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro and Croatia) and sailed the Greek Islands from Santorini to Athens with G Adventures. The Intrepid Tour was actually two tours combined together (back to back with Budapest as the halfway point). This was my second time touring with them and I highly recommend them! Sailing the Greek Islands was a fantastic experience but there were a few issues with G Adventures so therefore I don’t recommend them. But all in all, the tours were very accommodating and had a great mix of organised activities and free time for you to explore.
I loved the tours because they also did allow time for you to to do your own thing. While the majority of this time was spent walking, doing activities, or eating, I also regularly went to the gym in different cities along the way.
Should you exercise while on holiday?
The answer is it depends. It depends on the type of holiday, the location, the length, and your goals. There is no right or wrong choice, only the choice YOU are comfortable with and which allows you to still enjoy your time away. Personally, I chose to go to the gym because I was away for so long. If I was away for only a few weeks I probably wouldn’t have bothered as much. But 9 weeks is a long time, I had the time to spare, so I chose to incorporate sessions when and where I could.
I also chose to go to the gym because I cannot run nor do much in terms of an effective bodyweight workout (due to a knee injury). If you are fully mobile and uninjured, there are more options for you and it would be easier for you to incorporate a run or hotel/park workout.
My experience of Central European gyms
I had great success at going to gyms through all 10 central European countries I travelled through. Every single one I went to was within walking distance from my hotel and I was able to ask for a casual or single access pass. The price ranged from as little as $4 to $20 AUD. There was one occasion (in Osijek, Croatia) where there was only one staff member at the desk who didn’t speak enough English to understand my request for a casual visit. However I had the Google Translate app ready, typed in what I was asking and showed her the translation on my phone. I’ll never forget the moment where her eyes lit up and she understood what I was asking! It was a great moment where we were both happy we could communicate, despite the language barrier.
All of the gyms I went to had all the things you’d expect of a gym; a squat rack and barbell, dumbbells and benches, cable machines with various attachments and other isolation machines (most commonly leg extension and leg curl). I kept my workouts simple, starting with a compound exercise followed by some free weights and machine work. I basically rotated through the same four workouts the whole trip just trying to maintain my strength and there was always all the necessary equipment for what I wanted to do.
Something I noticed was a few gyms had a “womens only” section of the gym behind closed doors. These areas normally had additional machines, light dumbbells, mats, swiss balls and occasionally a smith machine. I felt conflicted about these womens only areas… part of me thinks a womens section shouldn’t be necessary and women should to feel confident in the main gym area… but many women experience gym intimidation and if these separated sections are encouraging more women to get into the gym, then that’s a good thing.
I don’t really get intimidated in gyms any more and didn’t find any of them a particular daunting experience. Not speaking the local language was actually quite nice on the gym floor; because I couldn’t understand anything anyone was saying, I just tuned out. I got a few more looks than usual, but they were just curious looks, and very few people tried to engage me in conversation.
How to find gyms in foreign countries
These are the steps I implemented to find gyms in the Central European countries I travelled through. They worked well for me, so I hope you have some success too!
1. Search “gym” in Google Maps in the area around your hotel
- For all my tours I knew the accommodation address in advance, so I usually just did a search while in transit to the next location.
2. Select each of the options that show up, looking through photos
- The search term “gym” will also give results such as yoga or pilates studios. Select each of the results that show up on your map search one by one, look at the description, and scroll through the photos.
- Many of the search results had photos of inside the facility so I kept a lookout for pictures of dumbbells, squat racks and machines.
3. Cross check with other sources like Google, Instagram, Facebook
- Once you’ve found a couple of possible options, try searching the establishment in a different app.
- This is where Instagram is really handy, as you can search by location and see when people have “checked in” at certain locations!
- Basically just imagine your best friend told you she liked the look of a guy she had a chance meeting with but can’t remember his surname so you go full blown girlfriend-on-a-mission-detective (but in this case it’s a gym not a boy).
4. Check it out!
This was all I did! There are other steps you could take like asking the staff of the hotel or a local guide, but I didn’t ever find it necessary as my solo searching was pretty effective.
Gyms I visited
Keep in mind, all of the gyms I went to were within walking distance of my hotel, so they may not be the best option for you. But the map below contains bookmarks of all the gyms I attended. I had a good experience at all of them and they were all sufficient for my needs. Shoutout to the gym at Naxos (Greek Island) which has got to have the best view and prime real estate of any gym I’ve ever been to!
I hope you found this helpful! But remember; travelling is such a rich and fulfilling experience which will allow you to learn so much and gain an important perspective of the world. There are friends to be made, sights to be seen and food to be enjoyed. Don’t let your pursuit of getting in a few workouts take away from this.
Em Wizz Fitness 