# Virtual Walking Challenges: Walk Between Real Cities With Your Steps (2026)

**Published:** 2026-10-20
**Updated:** 2026-10-20
**Author:** The Outstep team
**Canonical:** https://outstepapp.com/blog/virtual-walking-challenges

> A virtual walking challenge turns your everyday steps into progress along a real route, like Toronto to Montréal (565 km, about 750,000 steps). For a paid challenge with a real medal, use The Conqueror. For hundreds of free and paid maps, World Walking. For a fantasy quest, Fantasy Hike. Outstep Journeys has 29 real routes with checkpoints (3 free, all 29 plus any two cities you choose on Outstep Plus), but Journeys are personal. To walk a route as a group, use a shared Group target challenge set to the route's distance in steps.

Ten thousand steps is about 7.5 kilometres. Do that every day for a couple of months and you've walked from Toronto to Montréal. A virtual walking challenge makes that visible: your daily steps move a marker along a real route on a map, past real towns, to a finish line.

This guide covers how virtual walks work, how long real routes take, and the apps worth using, alone or with a group. We make Outstep, whose Journeys feature does this, so we've been clear about what it does and doesn't do. Facts about other apps come from their own sites and store listings, **checked October 20, 2026**.

## What is a virtual walking challenge?

A virtual walking challenge is a real-world route that you "walk" with the steps or distance you log in everyday life. You don't go anywhere. You pick a route, such as the length of Britain or a famous pilgrimage, and every step you take at home, at work or on the treadmill moves you along it, until you reach the end.

They work because they give a big, abstract number a shape. "Walk 750,000 steps" is hard to care about. "Walk to Montréal, and you're past Kingston" is a story you want to finish. Most apps add checkpoints along the way with a note about each place, plus a medal, badge or certificate at the end.

## How many steps does it take to walk between cities?

Roughly 1,300 steps per kilometre, or about 2,100 per mile, if you assume an average step of 0.75 metres. Your own number depends on your height and pace, and apps that use your phone's or watch's distance measurement will be more accurate.

At 10,000 steps a day, that works out to:

| Route | Distance | Steps (at 0.75 m) | Days at 10,000 steps a day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boston → Portland, Maine | 180 km | ~240,000 | ~24 |
| Montréal → Québec City | 254 km | ~339,000 | ~34 |
| Kyoto → Tokyo | 501 km | ~668,000 | ~67 |
| Toronto → Montréal | 565 km | ~753,000 | ~75 |
| Camino Francés (St-Jean-Pied-de-Port → Santiago) | 790 km | ~1,053,000 | ~105 |
| Land's End → John o' Groats | 1,405 km | ~1,873,000 | ~187 |
| Vancouver → Toronto | 4,410 km | ~5,880,000 | ~588 |

Distances are the walking-route figures Outstep uses for its Journeys. A group sharing the walk gets there much faster: eight people averaging 8,000 steps a day cover Toronto to Montréal in under two weeks.

## The best virtual walking challenge apps

| App | Best for | Price | Groups | iPhone + Android |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| **The Conqueror** | A real medal at the finish | Paid per challenge | Teams pool distance | Yes |
| **World Walking** | Lots of routes to choose from | Free; in-app purchases | Walk with friends | Yes |
| **Fantasy Hike** | Fantasy fans | Free; in-app purchases | Compare progress with friends | Yes |
| **Pacer** | Free virtual races with a group | Free; optional Premium | Yes | Yes |
| **Outstep Journeys** | Real routes with checkpoints, alongside step competitions | 3 routes free; all 29 + custom on Plus | Personal only | Yes |

### 1. The Conqueror: best for a real medal

**The Conqueror** sells virtual challenges along famous routes, such as Niagara Falls, Yellowstone and the English Channel, plus licensed series like Harry Potter, Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. Every finisher gets a real medal posted to them. It says it has more than a million participants worldwide, and its app is rated 4.8 on the App Store from over 12,000 ratings.

Steps and distance can come in automatically from Apple Health, Google Fit, Garmin, Fitbit, Strava and others, or be entered by hand. Teams pool their distance to move one marker, but each member buys their own entry.

**The trade-off:** every challenge costs money, and most are measured in distance rather than steps. Challenges also expire, three years after purchase for The Conqueror's own routes.

### 2. World Walking: best for choice

**World Walking** has more than 400 virtual maps, from Route 66 to the Great Wall of China and Scotland's North Coast 500. You sync steps from your phone or watch into a "bank", then "spend" them on whichever walk you're doing. You can walk solo or invite friends to take on a bigger route together.

**The trade-off:** the app is free to download but has in-app purchases, so not every route is free.

### 3. Fantasy Hike: best for fantasy fans

**Fantasy Hike** turns your steps into a quest through a fantasy world "from your comfy halfling hole all the way to Mount Fire". It's an obvious nod to The Lord of the Rings, without the licence. You can see friends' progress on the map, and it's rated 4.8 on the App Store from about 15,000 ratings.

**The trade-off:** it's a single themed journey, not real places.

### 4. Pacer: best free virtual race for a group

**Pacer** lets you create free step, distance and virtual race challenges for a walking club or group of friends on any phone. It's a good option if you want a group race without paying per person.

**The trade-off:** Pacer's challenges are about totals and pace, not a route with places along the way.

### 5. Outstep Journeys: best real routes alongside step competitions

**Journeys** is the personal side of Outstep, the step-competition app. Pick a route between real cities and your steps carry you along it, checkpoint by checkpoint.

- **29 routes** across North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania, from 180 km (Boston to Portland) to 4,410 km (Vancouver to Toronto). They include Land's End to John o' Groats, the Camino Francés, Seoul to Busan, Sydney to Melbourne and Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City.
- **3 routes are free:** Toronto to Montréal (565 km), Kyoto to Tokyo (501 km) and Paris to Amsterdam (559 km).
- **Outstep Plus** ($2.99/month or $24.99/year) unlocks all 29 plus **custom journeys between any two cities** at least 25 km apart.
- **Checkpoints:** 8 to 24 per route, each with a short note about the place. There's a replay of your walk, a passport of finished journeys, and share cards.
- **Real distance:** Journeys use the distance your phone or watch measured, or 0.75 m per step if it doesn't report any. Each day counts up to 120 km.
- **One at a time:** 1 active journey and up to 3 paused, on every plan.

**What it isn't:** a group race. Journeys are personal. They're stored on your phone, your group can't see where you are, and they're lost if you delete the app. If you stop paying for Plus, a premium route you've finished stays rewalkable.

> **Try Outstep free:** private groups, live leaderboards and an alert the second someone passes you. [App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6768469919) · [Google Play](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.outstepapp.outstep)

## How do you run a virtual walk as a group?

Pick a route, convert its distance to steps, and run a shared step goal. In Outstep, that's a **Group target** challenge, where everyone's steps count toward one total. It's free for groups of up to 8 and challenges up to 30 days:

1. **Pick the route and the number.** Toronto to Montréal is 565 km, or about 753,000 steps at 0.75 m a step. Round it to 750,000.
2. **Check it fits the time.** Multiply your group size by a realistic daily average. Eight people at 8,000 steps is 64,000 a day, so 750,000 takes about 12 days. Five people at 6,000 is 30,000 a day, about 25 days.
3. **Name the challenge after the route,** such as "Toronto to Montréal", and set the target.
4. **Mark the milestones yourself.** Post when the group passes Kingston (273 km, about 364,000 steps) or Cornwall (451 km, about 600,000 steps).
5. **Have each person walk the route in Journeys** if they want their own map and checkpoints alongside the shared total.

Want a race instead? Use **Race to X** with the finish line set to the route in steps, and the first person "into Montréal" wins. Group Premium adds team versions, so two halves of an office can race each other between cities. For more formats, see our [step challenge ideas](/blog/step-challenge-ideas), and for running it at work, our guide to [how to run an office step challenge](/blog/how-to-run-office-step-challenge).

## Do virtual walking challenges actually help you walk more?

They help mainly by making a goal concrete and giving you reasons to come back, like the next checkpoint. The strongest published evidence is for adding other people. In the STEP UP trial (JAMA Internal Medicine, 2019), a competition arm added about 920 steps a day over control, more than the support or collaboration arms. More on that in [do step competitions work?](/blog/do-step-competitions-work)

That's why we'd pair a route with a group goal or a race rather than walking it alone.

## Frequently asked questions

### What is a virtual walking challenge?

It's a real route, such as Land's End to John o' Groats, that you walk using the steps or distance you log in everyday life. Your progress moves along a map until you reach the finish.

### How many steps is 100 km?

About 133,000 steps, assuming an average step of 0.75 metres. Taller people and faster walkers take longer steps, so they need fewer.

### Are virtual walking challenges free?

Some are. Pacer's challenges are free to create, World Walking and Fantasy Hike are free to download with in-app purchases, and Outstep has 3 free Journeys. The Conqueror charges per challenge and posts you a medal.

### Can I do a virtual walk with friends?

Yes. The Conqueror pools a team's distance, and World Walking lets friends walk a route together. In Outstep, run a Group target challenge set to the route's distance in steps. Outstep Journeys themselves are personal.

### Do treadmill steps count?

In most apps, yes. If your phone or watch counts the steps, they move you along the route like any others. Outstep doesn't count steps typed in by hand.

### What happens to my Outstep Journey if I change phones?

Journeys are stored on the phone, so they don't move to a new phone and are lost if you delete the app. Your step history is safe, because it comes from Apple Health or Health Connect.

## Sources

- [The Conqueror Virtual Challenges](https://www.theconqueror.events/) (The Conqueror)
- [The Conqueror FAQ](https://www.theconqueror.events/faq/) (The Conqueror)
- [The Conqueror Challenges on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1539543704) (Apple App Store)
- [World Walking on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6689518786) (Apple App Store)
- [Exploring the world from home with the World Walking app](https://pusher.com/blog/exploring-the-world-from-home-with-the-world-walking-app) (Pusher)
- [Fantasy Hike on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id1557127861) (Apple App Store)
- [Fantasy Hike, an app that tracks your steps through a Lord of the Rings themed journey](https://laughingsquid.com/fantsy-hike-walk-tracking-app/) (Laughing Squid)
- [Pacer group steps challenge](https://www.mypacer.com/challenges/bw5ux0m5/group-steps-challenge) (Pacer)
- [The STEP UP randomized clinical trial](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31498375/) (JAMA Internal Medicine, via PubMed)