Shoe advice please!

[Ignas]

I am having a hard time deciding what kind of shoes to buy for my one month trip through Europe. My plan is to wear one pair of shoes and bring a pair of sandals (still need to buy), and MAYBE a pair of foam flip flops for showers if my sandals aren't waterproof (I've heard of the non waterproof ones falling apart if they get wet).
I'm 22 years old and don't have foot problems really, and usually just walk into a cheap athletic store and pick up a pair of shoes for no more than 40 bucks. However, I've realized all my comfortable shoes are light colored running shoes that would not go well with slacks or for going out at night. I definitely would like to avoid bringing a pair of seperate formal shoes as I'm sure they'll get burdensome lugging around 6 different countries and 13 different cities. As such, I'd like to buy a pair that would obviously be very comfortable for walking long distances every day, casual enough to wear with jeans, yet formal enough to look passable with some black slacks. All the shoes I've seen retail for at least $100, so I'm extremely cautious about which pair I buy, and I would really appreciate any advice.
First of all, should I buy waterproof shoes?
I will be in Italy, Southern France and Spain May 28- June 8, and in Paris, Amsterdam, Prague and Bavaria June 9 - June 22. How likely is it to rain for a large portion of my trip?
I've noticed southern Europe will already be fairly hot by that time of the year, so I was thinking of buying shoes with perforated leather for my feet to breathe, but this would obviously would be catastrophic in heavy rain.
So far I very much like these shoes: www.zappos.com/product/7508041/color/72 as far as their style and lightness is concerned, but they seem somewhat fragile and I'm worried that they wouldn't fall apart in the month long bombardment of constant walking.
Again, any help is highly appreciated. Thank you so much!
Ignas
www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/16737378/c/28108.html - I was initially considering these, but they look significantly more clunky.

[herrbert]

Clarks are great. I am biased, as I wear them myself. The only thing it that you need to walk them in. If you wear them the first day, you'll probably hate them, but it needs some time before the leather settles to your foot. So it would be a good thing to have them a couple of weeks before you leave. At least that;s my experience with Clarks. I wear them because I have a wider foot, and Clarks fit better, as they are a little bit broader.

At the one occacion that I needed to switch my footwear during a trip. I choose Dockers, and I wore them for another 2 years almost every day. They were great aswell. The looked like these: www.zappos.com/product/7464174/color/22626

But the really important thing is to just wear shoes on which you feel comfortable. If you try them on, they should fit right away. If you feel comfortable with tennisshoes, wear them. Unless you are heading for a ball at the Opera, you are not likely to encounter problems with them. If there is a club that has a dresscode not allowing sportshoes, then just go and spend your money (their profit!), somewhere else.

If you have space for your flip-flops (and normaly there will always be some space to put them), bring them!!! (and earplugs)

[Libby]

I liked Clarks, past tense, but the last pair I owned actually resulted in a slight injury. They were supposed to be an athletic shoe but had almost no padding in the ball of the foot area. I now have metatarsul problems. Beware!

I'm not a devour follower of Merrell shoes. I bought two pair for my month long trip, a pair of brown hikers and a pair of black, suade "jungle mocs". They are a slip on shoe that looks quite classy when paired with a nice pair of pants. They are a sneaker though.

Always, always, always bring fliplops for the showers and I woudnt recommend you using your regular sandals. As they get wet, and you wear them..they will soon stink so bad your roomates will toss you out.

[Eagle]

Ignas, I've found that having good shoes for travel is extremely important! I'm a bit older so have had some "foot problems" over the years, so I'm still fine tuning my footwear.

I prefer to travel with only one pair of shoes, the ones I'm wearing. However I usually pack a cheap pair of flip-flops along for Hostel showers (they're light and don't take up much room in the pack).

For several years my primary travel shoes were Rockport World Travel shoe similar to www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EY39EQ. They've worked quite well for the most part, but they're starting to wear a bit so I decided to try something a bit different.

On my next trip, I've decided to try ECCO shoes and the model I chose is www.amazon.com/ECCO-Mens-Track-Gore-Tex-Oxford/dp/B000H73XU0. I took a short trip with them in January and had a few problems, but after some "stretching" at the shoe repair shop they seem to be much better. I found one review for the Track II shoes, which seems to give them a good rating. The review is at www.trailspace.com/gear/ecco/track-ii/review/12686/.

When I'm at home I tend to use New Balance Walking Shoes, similar to these www.onlineshoes.com/productpage.asp?gen=m&pcid=146259 for every day wear. I may take a pair of those on my next trip as well just to try them out but also to have them available in case I have problems with the ECCO shoes. The black models look somewhat like dress shoes, so unless someone looks closely at them they won't notice that the shoes are a bit "informal". Having two pairs of shoes will also allow me to have one pair "airing out" while the other is in use.

I also found an interesting article on travel shoes at www.ricksteves.com/news/tournews/0409/shoes.htm. I'm not sure if I'll be packing the flip-flops along on the next trip?

Good luck with your decision and happy travels!

[Libby]

I shoudl have said I am NOW a devout user of Merrell shoes.