For the average kitchen, it's not a huge job to remove worktops. It rather depends on how "conventionally" they have been fitted.
With the removal of a few screws, they should come off ok. Where they're tiled over at the back is often where a certain amount of brute force and disruption occur.
There are options with thin pre-formed reconstituted w/tops are fitted directly over the old ones.
I did a kitchen complete with Earthstone recently, with no splashback at all. Just the painted wall. A lot of people are moving away from traditional tiled backs.