I agree with other reviewers who found these to be tight under the padded band over the instep. It is very tight, and I don't have a particularly high instep at all. I am stretching these with a bit of water and a tapered bottle, hopefully that helps. These run very small for EU size. I wear a 39 and usually find a bit of room around the toes (my US size is 8.5C/D) but the Dansko Volley in a 39 finds my toes right under the edge of the rubber toe cap. I think the footbed on these is perfectly comfortable, they remind me of when Keens made excellent sneakers with cork heel supports inside. I have a pretty low arch and these didn't rub or hurt my feet at all. All in all, a very decent shoe. I waited for a sale to try Danskos (these are my first pair) and I'll definitely go for another pair in the future regardless of sale!