Do you prefer to walk or bike? Do you enjoy challenging or more relaxing routes? Mountains or the beach? We are all unique when it comes to travel, and here at Backroads, we want to make sure that when you take Backroads tours that you’re getting exactly what you expected (and maybe a little more!).

With our hundreds of options when it comes to adventure travel, it can be a little intimidating to figure out which bike tour or hiking tour is truly the one for you. While our trip planners can help you sort through the process when you call us and certainly requesting a catalog and reviewing it will start you along, we also created our new Adventure Advisor to give you some online assistance.

Start the Adventure Advisor here and be prepared to answer just a couple of questions as you click through various screens. Some of the considerations it includes are:

• Type of trip (hiking/walking tour or biking/multisport tour)
• Time of Year
• Area of the world

Once you’ve made your selections, the Advisor plays a short video customized just for your preferences and gives you details on the three top adventure trips we recommend for you. Will it be a biking tour of Italy or maybe a multisport tour of Hawaii? Or is your dream vacation to walk past the lavender fields of Provence or perhaps bike the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia?

Let us know what you think of the Adventure Advisor and if it provided you with some good suggestions. Once you decide between the three trip options, call our Trip Planners to get you started on your dream adventure vacation at 800-462-2848 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time.

Turkey is a land of ancient history, olive groves, seaside vistas, and, of course, food! Backroads invites you to explore this beautiful land at the crossroads of East and West by your own power and at your own pace. Travel Turkey by bike!

Begin your journey in the countryside outside of Bodrum where you will pedal along, enjoying the Turkish sites and peoples, ending your day with a dip in the Aegean Sea if you desire and then a plateful of traditional Turkish cuisine to fuel you for the next day.

On days 2 and 3, you’ll venture back in time to the ruins of Knidos, part of ancient Greece. Pedal up a climb and enjoy spectacular views of the mountain and the sea. In the evening, we’re welcomed like a family at a restaurant overlooking the harbor where the fishermen gather below for cards and to drink tea.

Next we head to several small villages, where you can watch locals as they hone ancient crafts like silk weaving, carpet making and boat building.

Finally, we conclude our adventure tour of Turkey with a three-day sail on the Mediterranean aboard traditional wooden gulets with plenty of opportunities for water fun, like swimming and snorkeling. Feel free to head onshore to explore the on looking hills by foot or bike. We’ll happen upon a Roman theater and the remains of Lycian and Carian tombs. Then enjoy the spectacular Cleopatra’s Bay where you can see the partially submerged ruins of an ancient Greek monastery in the beautiful crystal-clear water.

Our accommodations on this Turkey biking trip are second to none and include a sophisticated contemporary hotel, a 19^th century home converted into a hotel complete with Turkish bath, and finally the chance to sleep under the stars in the wooden gulets which anchor in secluded coves at night and offer private rooms and regional cuisine.

Here’s what one of our travelers had to say about Biking Turkey: “It’s going to be tough to raise the bar any higher than this trip! Was it the country, the itinerary, the most outstanding of any leaders we have ever experienced, the really fun and compatible group — or maybe it was the raki One unforgettable journey.”

Come along with us and bike turkey! Call us at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific time for more information or to book your trip.

Sunny beaches, flamenco dancing and bullrings are all things that come to mind when you think of Spain. Backroads offers a number of bike tours of Spain from the island of Mallorca to the plunging cliffs and white sand beaches of Costa Brava.

New to our adventure vacations for 2013 is our Andalucia Biking Tour where you pedal from Seville to Granada, taking in ancient architecture, whitewashed villages and rolling hills. You’ll also enjoy wonderful Spanish cuisine, like tapas, gazpacho and the best-of-the-best olive oil! End your Spain bike tour at the jaw-dropping 150-million-year-old limestone rock formations at the National Park Los Torcales. Departures begin March 10, 2013 and run throughout the year until Nov. 17, 2013. There are also two Andalucia Singles Tours available in 2013.

In the mood for a sunny seaside getaway with some biking thrown in? You need to book our bike tour to Mallorca! Picture in your mind the endless turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea, lush lavender and citrus groves, and picturesque windmills. These are all images you’ll see up close and personal on your Mallorca bike tour. We’ll also challenge you to ride the road to Sa Calobra, a thrilling roller-coaster of hairpin turns plunging 3000 feet into the sea. Will you dare? Departures for Mallorca are available through Nov. 4 for 2012 and start again March 17 for 2013.

If vibrant city life is more your style, you’ll want to consider our Pyrenees to Costa Brava Biking tour which starts in Barcelona, a city pulsating with life. After you experience the upbeat Barcelona by bike, you’ll pedal north into the mountains and tour the Pyrenees foothills and then enjoy the Catalonia, which inspired artist Salvador Dalí. Finally, end your bike adventure at the beautiful Mediterranean with its white-sand beaches and hidden bays. This Spain biking tour departs beginning in 2013 on May 12 all the way through to Oct. 13, 2013.

How would you dream of seeing Spain by bike? Beaches, mountains, ancient formations? Call our travel planners at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific to decide which Spanish journey will be yours. Viva España!

Coming in 2013, Backroads is inviting you to see the Holy Land by bike. Israel bike tour departures begin April 4, 2013 and run through November 2013.

Step back into ancient history as you venture into Israel, a land shaped by prophets, kings and crusaders, and where the past blends into the present. Explore the area’s beaches and mountains by bike where you can interact with the locals as you stop for a rest at a small village or take in the magnificent Western Wall as the sun sets.

This eight-day, seven-night bicycling adventure begins in Ein Hod, a communal artist’s village overlooking the Mediterranean coast, after which you’ll cycle through orchards and more villages as you make your way to sunny seaside Caesarea. Then, have the pleasure of sampling wine in a land where grapes have been cultivated since Biblical times. Head to ancient Bet She’an, once the center of Egyptian rule and where you can discover vast archeological finds.

After passing through Safed and Rosh Pina, guests will explore the Nimrod Fortress, a Medieval site on Mount Hermon, and then venture east with views of Syria, stopping by a memorial of the Yom Kippur War. During the last days of your Israel biking tour, relax as you head downhill to the Sea of Galilee and Jerusalem and enjoy a magnificent sunset view of the Western Wall. Your bike trip will conclude in the village of Ein Karem.

One of the highlights of the Israel cycling tour is the chance to sample cuisine from diverse cultures, including Israeli, Lebanese and Druze. Lodging along the route also gives you a variety of experiences and includes stops at a mountaintop spa, a boutique hotel overlooking the Sea of Galilee, guest cabins at a kibbutz, and a contemporary hotel within the Old City of Jerusalem.

The bike tour is available for all cycling levels, with a range of mileage options and routes available with help from your Trip Leaders.

Our Israel regional manager sums up the trip this way: “It’s easy to think you know Israel if you’ve been to Jerusalem, but as you venture out of the cities on your bicycle, you’re exposed to incredibly diverse cultures, cuisine, landscapes and amazing ancient ruins. On this trip, it becomes wonderfully clear that Israel is so much more than what is in the news.”

For more information on our Israel bike tour or to book your reservation, contact us at 800-462-2848 Pacific time.

If you haven’t checked New Zealand off your Bucket List, Backroads touring company highly recommends moving it close to the top! New Zealand is one of the most majestically beautiful countries in the world, and that’s why we want you to see it Backroads style: out in the open air. Choose from our trips that include hiking New Zealand, biking New Zealand and New Zealand multisport.

Have you seen the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy? Those sweeping vistas that take you to the magical world of Middle Earth are actually New Zealand! They almost look too fantastical to be real, but we promise you they do exist and we want to take you there. Peter Jackson also filmed the prequel to “Lord of the Rings,” the popular book of many a childhood, “The Hobbit,” in New Zealand and that film is due in theaters later in the year. Hike past some of the beautiful scenes from the movie!

On Backroads’ adventure tours through New Zealand we take you to our favorite spots , including the wine region of Hawke’s Bay, Lake Rotoiti, the giant tree ferns of Coromandel Peninsula, and Cathedral Cove with sandstone, beaches and gorgeous bright-blue waters.

Have your fill of waterfalls, hot pools, geysers, thermal springs and percolating mud pots at Waiotapu. And just like Frodo, get ready to have the adventure of a lifetime, crossing suspension bridges, discovering a gold mining tunnel, feeding emus and if you dare, even a chance to bungee jump! The good news is Gollum is not waiting for you at the bottom!

The inns on this magical journey include the Mangapapa Petit Hotel, which is a lovely country mansion with lush gardens; a private chalet in Puka Park Resort, a secluded wilderness hideaway in the New Zealand bush; Amora Lake Resort with a pool and tennis; and Millennium Hotel, more modern and located on Lake Taupo.

So how will you see stunning New Zealand with Backroads? If you bike New Zealand, you’ll have varied routes each day, some more gentle and others more challenging if you choose. If you’d like to hike New Zealand, get out your hiking boots and get ready for the walk of a lifetime! Some like to mix it all up with our New Zealand multisport option, which includes hiking, biking and kayaking.

Which will you choose to cross off your Bucket List? Call us at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific, and we’ll help you decide!

Here at Backroads, we think a good book can make a perfect adventure vacation even better. Maybe you want to read up on the area before you arrive. Perhaps you want to take a novel based on the region to read under a sun-filled sky during your bike tour. Or you may be so inspired by the destination after your walking tour that you want to read everything you can get your hands on when you return home. We’ve seen it all!

That’s why for each of our hiking tours, biking tours and walking tours to incredible locales around the world we’ve given you some of our favorite reading to go alongside — all with help from our friends at Longitude Books.

For example, on our Tuscany biking tour, Longitude provides you with a host of delectable reads. Selections include: Too Much Tuscan Sun, Confessions of a Chianti Tour Guide; Tuscan Country: A Photographer’s Journey; and A Culinary Traveller In Tuscany among others.

Or on our Napa Valley bike tours, we recommend perusing A Tale of Two Valleys, a travel narrative of Napa and Sonoma, Napa: The Story of an American Eden or Great Wine Made Simple: Straight Talk From a Master Sommelier. Often, if you buy the entire recommended set, Longitude will provide them at a discount.

Bringing kids along with you? There’s no better way to get them excited for their upcoming family adventure vacation than a good book. How about the Kids Italian Picture Dictionary or Starry Messenger, an homage to Galileo, or The Diary of Melanie Martin: How I Survived Matt the Brat, Michelangelo and the Leaning Tower of Pizza for your Italian walking tour? We promise they’ll be raring to go explore the “back roads” after a book or two.

Whether a child or an adult, nothing beats a good book … except maybe a really good vacation! Combine the two and you’ve got a winning combination.

What’s the best travel-related book you’ve read? Is there a book that inspired you to visit a specific place?

For more reading recommendations or questions about Backroads tours, please visit Backroads.com or call us 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific time at 1-800-462-2848.

Photo Credit: Warren Zelman

When you come along on a Backroads trip, your focus should be your destination and the local experience. We don’t want you to have to worry about anything else! That’s why here at Backroads we have focused on making our service unparalleled in the active travel industry. When you join one of our Backroads adventures, you can rest assured you’ll be taken care of like royalty! Here are just a few examples:

Three Exceptional Trip Leaders

When you travel with Backroads, we provide you with the most experienced trip leaders, who can create a truly life-changing experience for you. We give our trip leaders the most training and the most resources to guide their travelers toward an unforgettable vacation. Never ranking lower than a 9 out of 10 on our guest satisfaction surveys, they are often cited as what truly sets Backroads apart from other active travel companies.

On our Family Adventures, we also provide a dedicated Kid Coordinator, whose sole job is to make sure your children are entertained and having fun. Don’t you wish you could take them home?!

On most trips, we also provide you with three trip leaders to make sure they have ample time to be with all guests on a bike tour or walking tour. Most other bike tour or walking tour companies provide no more than two per departure and often they are subcontracted locals.

Here’s just one of many amazing comments about our trip leaders: “The quality of your guides never ceases to amaze me. They are friendly, have a great sense of humor, roll with the punches and are resourceful and delightful. Thanks for hiring such fantastic people.” — Suellen White – Stockholm, Sweden

Read more comments about our trip leaders.

Two Vans Are Better Than One

On almost all Backroads trips, we provide our guests with two vans to ensure the highest-quality service. The vans ride along the route, whether you’re walking or biking, to help you with anything you might need.

Perhaps you need a snack or your bike needs a tune up. The van is there to help! Or you may have decided you’re ready to hop off the bike and head back to the hotel. No problem. One van can take you back while the other stays with the route. Is your spouse a speed demon while you prefer to take it slow? One van can stay with the faster walkers/riders, while the other stays with the slower group.

Having two vans allows us to be truly flexible and cater to all of our guests. We promise you’ll notice the difference over other companies who send only one van per trip!

Our Guests Agree

Sure, we can talk all day long about our great service, but can we back it up? You bet! HALF of our guests have traveled with us before and choose to travel with us again. AND 30% of people who travel with us have been referred by a past guest. We think that speaks volumes.

Here are a few more comments from some of our guests about our service:

“Over the last 30+ years, I’ve taken 96 biking trips all over the world. Anyone can print a brochure or put up a website promising a great active travel experience. Only Backroads delivers exceptional performance—not just promises—every time.” — Richard Seltzer – Wynnewood, Penn.

“Taking a Backroads trip is like enjoying the sweetest part of the watermelon, the planners and trip leaders trim away everything but the sweetest core of the trip. They worry about the logistics, the problem solving, so that as a guest, the most you worry about is what to order at dinner and how far to go on each daily option.” — Jeff Tanji – Davis, Calif.

“I am so impressed with Backroads – your company is the most customer friendly and supportive travel company I have ever had the opportunity to interact with. You deserve off the chart marks on all levels of your service from calling to sign up to the actual trip quality and quality of leaders…” — Patsy Gleason – Green Valley, AZ

Come try a Backroads vacation and experience our service for yourself. Call us 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific time for more information or to book your next adventure trip. You can also request a catalog from us so you begin dreaming of your getaway.

Photo Credit: Martha Ginsberg

We’re sure you won’t want to forget a single thing about your once-in-a-lifetime Backroads biking, multisport or hiking adventures, so why not keep a travel journal?

A travel journal is the perfect place to record your daily activities on your Backroads trip and to help you capture your most amazing experiences and memories along the way. We promise your trip will not only be an active vacation; it will be one that inspires.

For example, you’ll want to record moments like this one from our Myanmar Biking Tour where in Yangong, you’ll take part in a candle-lighting tradition at the Shwedagon Pagoda. You’ll soak up the powerful ambience of this sacred Buddhist site. Better to write down your thoughts about the ceremony before your mind moves on to the next adventure.

You’ll also want to remember visiting a hummingbird sanctuary during your Costa Rica adventure where you may feed these amazing (and fast) birds by hand!

Surely you will want to record your awe-inspiring routes on our New Zealand Bike Tour where you’ll ride the TranzAlpine Train over Arthur’s Pass and then pedal to ocean “geysers” in Punakaiki.

Here are a few tips on how to create a travel journal for your Backroads adventure:

• Before your trip, purchase a notebook or journal and some nice pens, a few pencils and even some crayons (more on that later). You may also want to purchase a small notepad and pencil to stash in a pocket so you can jot down notes while you’re out and about. (A pencil works great because if it gets wet, it won’t run.) You can use the notes on the small notepad as inspiration for a more detailed journal entry after your adventurous day or simply rip out the pages from your notebook and affix them in your journal.
• When you write, don’t forget to record the date and your location. However, don’t worry about writing everything in exact chronological order. The point of the journal is to get the information and inspiration down on paper when it’s fresh (or at the very least, when you remember it!).
• Keep in mind, a journal doesn’t have to be “just words.” It also can be a great place to collect postcards, a story from the local newspaper, a menu, a sketch, a label from a great beer or even a pressed flower.
• Consider asking one of the local people you meet to write in your journal a sentence or two about their country or town. You might also consider bringing along some crayons and asking a local child to draw a picture in your journal.

The places Backroads takes you are off the beaten path, truly “back roads travel.” We pride ourselves on offering you a unique experience and encourage you to record the events of your trip so you can look back and remember.

Need help booking your adventure vacation? Visit our website to peruse our latest trips, including winter escapes! Or call one of our trip consultants 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific time at 800-462-2848

What’s your travel style? Do you prefer luxurious accommodations and fine dining? Then you’ll love Backroads’ luxury trips designed for a day of adventure followed by relaxation at premiere inns and refueling in gourmet restaurants.

Here’s a little “taste” of what you can experience on a Backroads adventure when you select a Premiere Inn trip.

Our Provence Biking Trip, for example, includes two nights at Crillon le Brave, a “relaxed and informal refuge” that’s also a Relais & Châteaux member. This hotel is located about 25 miles northeast of Avignon at the foot of the Dentelles de Montmirail mountains and Mont Ventoux. Crillon le Brave is a collection of beautiful lodges that once served as a presbytery, stables and a school. With 24 rooms and 8 suites, this charming and historic hotel offers stunning views from each room. Bedrooms feature crisp Italian linens by Frette and luxurious bathrooms, as well as Bose Wave systems with iPod connectors. Conde Nast Traveler says this is “easily the best hotel we’ve ever stayed in.”

Crillon le Brave offers two restaurants, each serving high quality, locally-sourced fresh ingredients prepared and served by a team of experts who work together to ensure your food and wine is paired perfectly.

A heated outdoor pool makes a wonderful place to relax after a day on the bike. Other amenities and services include a mini-spa for full body, hot stone massages and facials, a boules court, laptops for loan with complimentary high speed Internet access and a selection of English daily newspapers. They also offer a babysitting service and a special menu for children. What more could you ask for?

We believe all of our Premiere Inn Trips offer the perfect blend of gracious hospitality and authentic regional flair. In addition to hotels that members of Relais & Châteaux, we also frequent Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and accommodations that have won acclaim from the likes of Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report, Condé Nast Traveler and Travel+Leisure.

When it comes to distinguished dining, all of the Premiere Inns we frequent work hard to ensure you enjoy authentic and memorable meals. These establishments are regularly featured in Gourmet and Wine Country magazines, and often boast Michelin stars.

Explore our Premiere Inn Trips in all corners of the world to get a sample of true luxury travel. If you have any questions or want to book a trip, please call us at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.-5p.m. Pacific time.

Do you love beer? Well, you’re in luck because Backroads offers several trips that incorporate world-famous brews into the itinerary.

You don’t have to sample the libations if you don’t want to, of course, but we noticed our travelers really enjoy savoring the food and drink from the countries we visit, so we decided to add a beer sampling during a couple of our trips as much for the taste as for the history and craft behind the brew.

Our brand new Ireland biking trip includes plenty of time to stop and enjoy a pint or two at local pubs. After all, according to some reports, the Irish consume an average of 35 gallons of beer a year, so it’s definitely a part of the culture! Step into a pub and step back in time. Irish beers range from strong, rich and full-bodied for sipping to light and crisp to quench the thirst. We also offer an Ireland walking tour that includes gorgeous scenery, history and culture and plenty o’ pub time, if you wish.

Backroads’ new Holland and Belgium biking trip is another great adventure for beer enthusiasts. The focus on your favorite frothy beverage comes during the second half of the trip, where we scoot over the border from Holland into Belgium. There we enjoy the country’s “national treasure.” Belgium’s beer offerings come from numerous historic breweries as well as unique ones, including a couple of Trappist breweries!

Yet another Backroads adventure is our Czech Republic and Austria biking tour. In the Baroque city of Český Krumlov, you can meander down cobblestone streets and enjoy a pint of locally brewed beer. Czech beer is world famous, and perhaps the best known Czech beer is the original Pils beer, Pilsner Urquell. You’ll find it’s served almost everywhere on our Prague adventure, even in breakfast cafés! Wine lovers needn’t worry; this trip has a little something for them, too in Austria, where you can savor acclaimed Riesling and grüner Veltliner wines.

Are you a beer aficionado? Is there a place you’ve always dreamed of sipping a cold one? Let us know!