Affordable barefoot hiking boots

[Lellamir]

I can't do much in the way of exercise, due to osteoarthritis and recent hip and knee replacements.

This week, I've really made the effort, doing wall pilates, daily, and I hiked 5km on Saturday, and 7.5km today.
(The furthest I've walked since my knee surgery (Dec) is the local shop, so 400m).

I actually quite enjoyed it, and the back of my arms are clearly getting a good workout from the walking poles - I couldn't have done it without them. When I'm on the flat, I do proper Nordic walking, then use them for support on hills.

So, if I'm going to keep it up, I need some decent walking boots. I would love Vivobarefoot, but can't justify the expense.

So, I want barefoot, no fur inside, and I want them to look like hiking boots.
And they need to be affordable.

Any suggestions?
TIA.

I'm not sure about the barefoot aspect but I've a couple of pairs of Sorell boots and trainers and love them for walking and hiking.

Maybe something from Freet would suit? I haven't tried their walking boots but I wear their shoes everyday, and they're less expensive than Vivobarefoot. freetbarefoot.com/collections/hiking-walking

Perfect! Thank you.

Do they have to be barefoot? I have Vivobarefoot which were £180 and Scarpa which were £130 from Millets and much prefer the Scarpa boots.

I saw a lot about Hobibear walking boots on TikTok this year. I haven't tried those ones but I like my Hobibear trainers and find they compare favourably to my Vivobarefoots which even my Vinted pair were more expensive. At least when I was buying Aliexpress was the cheapest place to buy them - cheaper than their webisite but that was around a year ago.

Yeah; I really want to try barefoot, on rough terrain.
If I hate them, I'll take a look at your suggestions, thanks.
I've just ordered the Freet ones, so I'll know soon enough!

Thanks, everyone.

The Freet boots arrived, but were too small.
Then, I lucked out, and found a pair of Vivobarefoot boots from Legend - which I'd never heard of - for almost half what they are on the official site.
They are sooo comfortable, and they don't look THAT weird. I think they probably do, in bigger sizes, though, because they're so flat. I also bought some merino wool socks. I don't reckon there's any going back from this!