My favorite walking shoes are cute enough for vacation, comfortable enough to walk miles in

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For two weeks in Japan, I refused to sit still. Determined to make the most of a bucket-list vacation and propelled by caffeine, I explored Tokyo and Kyoto mostly by foot, where I racked up a daily average of 19,000 steps.

The key to pulling it off: good walking shoes. I wore my Salomon XT-Whisper sneakers, that saved my feet from blisters and aches – while still looking chic enough to wear to all the restaurants, bars and shops.

I first purchased these Salomons last fall, and they’ve seldom left my feet since. I remain a Salomon devotee even after one of the laces broke two months in and it took me hours to re-lace them using the complimentary replacement kit (it isn’t an exact match). I have yet to find a shoe that strikes a better balance of generous support and a fashionable design (sorry to my Hoka Cliftons).

I travel 200,000 miles a year. This is the best travel backpack I can’t leave home without

You may be thinking: I’ve seen these shoes everywhere on the internet, where they’re a hallmark of the outdoorsy gorpcore aesthetic. But things are cliches – ahem, classics – for a reason. Despite my packed itinerary, I never ran out of ways to style them.

Below are six ways that I wore them during my 14-day adventure this summer.

At a glance: My go-to travel shoes

How I styled the perfect vacation shoes for …

13-hour travel days

Salomon’s easy-to-fasten laces made the shoes easy to slip on and off at airport security. And their added mesh made them breathable enough for a long flight. I’m proud to say that I didn’t take them off once on my 13-hour journey from New York to Tokyo and my feet simply felt like they had taken a restful nap (unlike me).

I wore them with … breezy white linen pants, a red cardigan from Sézane and a black Aritzia tee for a stylish and comfy airport look.

Tokyo’s secondhand shopping scene is famous for its wide selection of vintage items. My XT-Whispers proved to be the ideal support for my marathon shopping day in the city’s Harajuku neighborhood. I must have visited dozens of shops and walked around 20,000 steps overall, but after my credit card swiping spree, only my arms were aching from hauling around my finds.

I wore them with … Anthropologie kick-flare black pants (no longer sold, but here’s a similar option) and a sheer black button-down.

Life-altering (seriously) meals

My favorite dining experiences were at the places I randomly found on Google Maps. (I’m still thinking about the origami show a chef put on for me and my friend at a sushi spot in Kyoto.) Yet I did try a few spots listed as “can’t miss” on travel blogs and social media. At Cloud Club in Ginza, my Salomons and I stood in a 40-minute line for an incredible matcha latte. And I loved Udon Shin in Shibuya, where I had a warming dinner of udon noodles topped with a raw egg and salmon roe.

I wore them with … a plaid skirt I bought from Flamingo. I paired it with a brushed cashmere T-shirt from Banana Republic that I bought secondhand (here’s a similar option). I love the casual, sporty edge that my Salomons brought to this otherwise dressy look.

Cafe-hopping in Kyoto

I had been looking forward to riding on Japan’s bullet trains – which allowed me to go from Tokyo to Kyoto in just over 2 hours. The next day my friend and I, as huge coffee drinkers, tried About Us Coffee, founded by a pro barista certified by the Coffee Quality Institute. . I’m happy to report that my frothy cappuccino more than made up for the rainy weather that plagued much of the trip.

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I wore them with … a thrifted sweater vest and my trusty Free People brown skort.

And after a soothing scalp massage at a headspa, I walked a few miles to Gokago, a beloved spot in Kyoto’s Higashiyama district known for its vibrant matcha, where I grabbed a latte topped with a scoop of ice cream (the perfect day if you ask me).

I wore them with … my Uniqlo brown pants, which saved the day in the city’s humidity. For the top, I opted for a simple black cotton tank from Aritzia and dressed up the look with a gold necklace from Madewell.

Hiking Fushimi Inari

Salomon’s grippy outsoles came in handy for a steep, rainy hike at one of Kyoto’s most famous shrines, Mount Fushimi Inari. While the umbrellas made the narrow walkways feel crowded at first, they thinned out the further my friend and I climbed up the 2.5-mile path, and we began to find the rain calming. My shoes were not waterproof, but my feet stayed dry thanks to a pair of thicker cotton socks.

I wore them with … a North Face jacket that kept the rest of me dry.

Exploring Nijo Castle

And I visited Nijo Castle, the former residence of the Edo period’s first shogun nestled amid gardens and leafy walking paths. Once again, Salomon’s QuickLace system was convenient whenever I needed to take my shoes off when entering certain temples.

I wore them with … a black Aritzia tee, my favorite skort and a triangle hair scarf.