Daily Archives: November 19, 2019

France’s varied countryside, dotted with picturesque villages and rolling hills, makes it a perfect place for a walking holiday. Choose somewhere with easy terrain and plenty of things to visit nearby, and you can have an idyllic – not to mention cheap – holiday, as suitable for pensioners as it is for young children.

By their gentle nature, walking holidays have a low injury rate, but, as with any holiday, accidents can and do happen. Thankfully, these injuries are usually minor, but walkers can present with sprained ankles, minor fractures, Baker’s cysts and other repetitive strain injuries, as well as (depending on the area and the time of year), environmental complaints such as hypothermia or heatstroke. Most injuries tend to affect heavier or older people with more wear and tear on their joints, while the latter two tend to affect younger members of the family who are physically smaller and whose bodies are less adept at controlling their internal environment.

For this reason, for UK travellers, every member of the family, regardless of age or walking experience, should be equipped with an EHIC to cover any emergency treatment. The EHIC, however, may not cover every eventuality, so even if you’re travelling on the cheap, family travel insurance should be set in place in order to avoid any unexpected medical costs.

Visits to the Doctor or the Hospital

While the majority of your holiday will be spent happily exploring French villages and the countryside with the family, there’s always the possibility that you’ll need to see a doctor – whether for a walking related injury or an unrelated complaint. If you do have to see the doctor, EHIC or not, it’s possible that you’ll need to pay up front and claim a refund later. If this happens, you can either present …