Freedom Trail Walking Tour
Ten stops from Boston Common to Copp's Hill, past the Old North Church steeple where two lanterns hung on the night of April 18, 1775.
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Walking time calculator: how long will your walk take?
At an average 3 mph, a mile takes 20 minutes, 3 miles take an hour and 5 miles take 1 hour 40 minutes. A 2 mph stroll takes 30 minutes a mile; a brisk 4 mph takes 15. Add 30 minutes for every 1,000 feet you climb, and the time you spend at each stop. Put your own walk in below.
Work out your walk
How long it takes to walk common distances
| Distance | Stroll, 2 mph | Average, 3 mph | Brisk, 4 mph |
|---|---|---|---|
| ½ mile | 15 min | 10 min | 8 min |
| 1 mile | 30 min | 20 min | 15 min |
| 1.5 miles | 45 min | 30 min | 23 min |
| 2 miles | 1 h | 40 min | 30 min |
| 3 miles | 1 h 30 min | 1 h | 45 min |
| 4 miles | 2 h | 1 h 20 min | 1 h |
| 5 miles | 2 h 30 min | 1 h 40 min | 1 h 15 min |
| 6 miles | 3 h | 2 h | 1 h 30 min |
| 10 miles | 5 h | 3 h 20 min | 2 h 30 min |
| 15 miles | 7 h 30 min | 5 h | 3 h 45 min |
| 20 miles | 10 h | 6 h 40 min | 5 h |
| 1 km | 19 min | 12 min | 9 min |
| 5 km (3.1 miles) | 1 h 33 min | 1 h 2 min | 47 min |
| 10 km (6.2 miles) | 3 h 6 min | 2 h 4 min | 1 h 33 min |
| Half marathon (13.1 miles) | 6 h 33 min | 4 h 22 min | 3 h 17 min |
| Marathon (26.2 miles) | 13 h 7 min | 8 h 44 min | 6 h 33 min |
Flat ground, no stops, rounded to the minute.
How the calculator works
It adds up three things, the same way you would on the back of a map:
- Walking: distance ÷ pace
3 miles at 3 mph is one hour. The paces run from a 2 mph stroll to a brisk 4 mph; pick the one that sounds like you on a normal day, not your best.
- Climbing: 30 minutes per 1,000 feet
Naismith's rule adds an hour for every 2,000 feet of climb, about an hour per 600 meters. Enter the total uphill along the way, not just the height of the top.
- Stops: how many × how long
A photo takes a minute; a museum takes an afternoon. Five minutes is a fair guess for a quick look.
It leaves out descents, rough ground, heat, crowds and long rests, so treat the answer as a plan, not a promise.
Average walking speed by age
Healthy adults under 60 average about 3 mph, roughly 19 to 20 minutes a mile. Speeds ease off after 60, and past 80 the average is a little over 2 mph, about 28 minutes a mile.
| Age | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| 20–29 | 3.0 mph · 20 min a mile | 3.0 mph · 20 min a mile |
| 30–39 | 3.2 mph · 19 min a mile | 3.0 mph · 20 min a mile |
| 40–49 | 3.2 mph · 19 min a mile | 3.1 mph · 19 min a mile |
| 50–59 | 3.2 mph · 19 min a mile | 2.9 mph · 20 min a mile |
| 60–69 | 3.0 mph · 20 min a mile | 2.8 mph · 22 min a mile |
| 70–79 | 2.8 mph · 21 min a mile | 2.5 mph · 24 min a mile |
| 80–99 | 2.2 mph · 28 min a mile | 2.1 mph · 29 min a mile |
Normal walking pace measured over short, flat courses (3 to 30 meters): 41 studies and 23,111 healthy adults, pooled by Bohannon and Andrews (2011). A real walk has corners, curbs and crossings, so read these as your speed on open ground.
What changes how long a walk takes
- Hills
William Naismith, a Scottish climber, worked out his rule in 1892. Going down, Eric Langmuir's correction takes off 10 minutes per 300 meters on gentle slopes (5 to 12 degrees) and adds 10 on steep ones.
- Your group
A group walks at its slowest walker's speed. Langmuir's guidance for a party is 4 km/h (about 2.5 mph) plus an hour per 450 meters of climb, set by the slowest member's fitness.
- Crossings
US crosswalk signals are timed for people walking 3.5 feet a second, about 2.4 mph; the manual says to consider slower where slower walkers cross often. Waiting for the light is time the calculator can't see.
- Breaks
Naismith's rule assumes reasonably fit walkers on typical ground in normal conditions, with no long breaks for rest or sightseeing. Heat, rough paths and small legs all need room.
- Walking for exercise
The CDC counts walking at 2.5 mph or faster as brisk, moderate-intensity activity. You can talk but not sing; if you can only manage a few words between breaths, it's vigorous.
Planning a walking tour?
Count the stops, not just the miles. Our 29 self-guided walks run 0.6 to 4.2 miles with 4 to 10 stops; the middle one is 1.9 miles. We time them at an easy 2.5 mph, the pace of a group that stops to look, plus the story at each stop, about 3 minutes. One of them, Freedom Trail Walking Tour, is 2.0 miles: about 48 min of walking, and its 10 stories add about 29 min, so 1 h 17 min in all.
The first stop of every walk plays free, no sign-up. Dot, the walking green dot, shows you the way.
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See all our tours, walks and drives.
Walking time: questions people ask
How long does it take to walk a mile?
About 20 minutes at an average 3 mph. A brisk 4 mph takes 15 minutes and a 2 mph stroll takes 30.
How long does it take to walk 3 miles?
An hour at 3 mph, 45 minutes at 4 mph and an hour and a half at 2 mph, on flat ground with no stops. Add 30 minutes for every 1,000 feet of climb.
How long does it take to walk 5 miles?
1 hour 40 minutes at 3 mph, 1 hour 15 minutes at 4 mph and 2 hours 30 minutes at 2 mph, before any breaks.
What is the average walking speed?
About 3 mph (1.3 to 1.4 meters a second) for healthy adults under 60, from a 2011 review of 41 studies and 23,111 people. It slows with age, to a little over 2 mph after 80.
How far can you walk in an hour?
About 3 miles at an average pace, 2 miles at a stroll and 4 miles at a brisk pace, on flat ground without stops.
How do you add hills to a walking time?
With Naismith's rule: add an hour for every 2,000 feet of climb, which is 30 minutes per 1,000 feet or about an hour per 600 meters. Put your total climb in the calculator and it does this for you.
Is 3 mph a brisk walk?
Yes. The CDC counts walking at 2.5 mph or faster as brisk, moderate-intensity exercise. A simple check: you can talk, but not sing.
How long does a walking tour take?
It depends on the stops more than the miles. Our 29 self-guided walks run 0.6 to 4.2 miles with 4 to 10 stops, and we time them at an easy 2.5 mph plus about 3 minutes of story at each stop.
Where these numbers come from
- Bohannon and Andrews, "Normal walking speed: a descriptive meta-analysis", Physiotherapy (2011)
- University of Toronto iWalk guide: walking speed, age- and sex-specific normative values
- CDC: measuring physical activity intensity
- Naismith's rule, with Langmuir's corrections (Wikipedia)
- FHWA, Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (2009), section 4E.06: pedestrian intervals
Checked November 2026. Our walks' lengths, stops and times are read live from the tours on this site.