When Meindl reached out to me to try this Toskana Trail Walker, I initially turned them down. I’m not someone who normally buys shoes or boots online. It’s just hard to get the right fit, you know? I’ve run into that before with other companies. But as I was chatting with their rep, he managed to convince me to give them a shot.
And am I glad he did!
We’ll get into the details in a second, but here’s a spoiler. These are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn.
What’s In the Box?
Made in Italy, the Toskana Trail Walker from Meindl is built for comfort as well as stability no matter what sort of terrain you’re facing. There is Gore-Tex lining to keep you dry on rainy days and premium suede leather construction that’s handsome and comfortable.
Comfort Fit® Last and Comfort Fit® cork footbeds give you a fit that feels like each shoe was custom-made for your feet. Their proprietary technology results in an anatomically correct fit with a wider foot box. As someone with wide feet, this is definitely appreciated.
The multigrip sole provides amazing traction on virtually any surface, from dirt to gravel to concrete. At the same time, while the sole is thick and sturdy, there’s plenty of flex, so it doesn’t feel like you’re walking on pieces of wood.
The Toskana Trail Walker is 4.25 inches high. This is definitely more shoe than boot, and that’s fine with me. The pair weighs 2.30 pounds. This isn’t an ultralight footwear option, that’s for sure. However, for years I’ve been wearing low-cut boots that tip the scales at nearly a pound more for the pair. So these didn’t exactly feel like boat anchors.
The Meindl website advises ordering one full size down from your Brannock or current U.S. shoe size. However, I ordered the same size that I wear in everything else, and it fit fine. Your mileage may vary, as they say. These take 40-inch laces. Mine arrived with red laces on the shoes and black laces in the box.
How Do They Perform?
I mentioned at the outset that these Toskana Trail Walker shoes are the most comfortable shoes I’ve ever worn. I’ll add to that statement by saying that there was zero break-in period with them. They felt great right out of the box. I can’t say that this is the first pair of footwear I’ve had like that, but it’s pretty rare.
I’ve worn these shoes every day since they dropped on my doorstep. They’ve gone on a couple of hikes, puttered around in the yard, and even went along on a two-day semi-business trip to a knife manufacturer in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. They’ve felt amazing everywhere I went.
On trails, they provided excellent traction, even when the terrain was muddy. Full confession, I did slip once. But that was due to getting tangled in some brush because I wasn’t watching where I was stepping. Totally my fault, not the shoes.
In addition to hiking, I spent a few days in an industrial setting, on my feet for upwards of 10 hours a day, standing and walking on concrete floors. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Trail Walkers did there. While I can’t say I was exactly invigorated at the end of each day, I didn’t feel like I was going to collapse into a puddle of aches and pains either. I’m counting that as a definite win.
What’s the Verdict?
I can’t recommend the Toskana Trail Walker highly enough. It not only surpassed every expectation I had, it set the bar pretty high for any footwear to follow. Find them online at MeindlUSA.com.
[For transparency, Meindl provided a pair of these shoes to me at no charge for the purposes of evaluation. This has had zero impact on my opinion of the shoes or on this review.]
