Somewhere among the millions of people walking the Camino each year are travellers in their 70s and 80s who never stopped moving, and new research suggests that habit may be doing more for their brains than anyone realised.
A study published in Neurology has identified a group researchers call ‘SuperMovers,’ people aged 80 and over who maintain exceptional walking ability well into old age. Examining almost 4,000 people in this age bracket, the research found SuperMovers had a 51 per cent lower risk of developing cognitive impairment than their peers. For an audience that treats walking as a way to experience the world rather than just stay fit, the findings add a compelling new layer to an old idea: that movement and mobility are tied together for life.
What the research actually found
The study, titled Cognitive Aging and Brain Health: A Comparison of Super Movers vs Nonsuper Movers, drew on data from several ageing studies and was published online in Neurology in June 2026, appearing in the journal’s July 2026 issue. Beyond the lower risk of cognitive impairment, SuperMovers also showed slower decline in memory and other areas of cognitive function, and brain imaging revealed better preservation in the hippocampus, the region of the brain most closely linked to memory formation.
It is worth being precise about what this shows. The research identifies an association between exceptional mobility and cognitive health in older age. It does not establish that walking prevents dementia, and the researchers themselves frame it as one piece of a larger and still-developing picture. Separate research published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia in 2025 found that higher levels of physical activity, longer active periods and less sedentary time were all associated with slower annual cognitive decline across multiple areas of brain function.
Walking as a lifelong practice, not a fitness trend
For active travel specialist UTracks, the findings echo something the operator says it already sees on the trail. ‘At UTracks, we see people in their 60s, 70s and 80s taking on some of Europe’s great walks, from the Camino to the Dolomites,’ said UTracks general manager Kate Baker. ‘They enjoy being active and want to keep experiencing the world on foot, whatever their age.’
Baker frames the goal less in terms of longevity and more in terms of continued capability. ‘For many of our travellers, the goal is to still be actively travelling as they get older,’ she said. ‘And if walking helps us do that, there has never been a better reason to keep putting one foot in front of the other.’
Walking holidays built for a different pace
UTracks runs more than 500 itineraries across Europe, and several are designed specifically around a slower pace suited to senior travellers, rather than around distance or difficulty. The Guided Camino Walk for Senior Travellers follows the final stage of the pilgrimage route through northern Spain at a more relaxed tempo, while the Guided Portuguese Camino Walk for Senior Travellers begins in Vigo and follows the Portuguese Coastal Camino through Redondela, where the coastal and central routes converge, before continuing on to Santiago.
For travellers who want the classic long-distance routes without the classic long-distance days, UTracks also offers rambler itineraries on trails including the Camino de Santiago, the Tour du Mont Blanc and England’s Coast to Coast, spreading the same distance over more days and shortening each day’s walk. Many itineraries can also be extended with additional rest days to suit a slower rhythm.
The bigger picture for ageing travellers
Taken together, the SuperMovers research and the broader body of ageing studies point toward a simple, if unglamorous, conclusion: staying mobile appears to matter as much as staying fit. For an audience already drawn to walking holidays, that is less a call to start walking than a reason to keep going, whether that means tackling the Dolomites at 65 or taking the Camino’s final stretch at 82.
