Get out your boots, your cowboy hat and your spurs, Backroads is headed to the Texas Hill Country in 2013 for a one-of-a-kind biking tour!

The Texas Hill Country, which includes several towns and cities just southwest of Austin, is an area of wide open spaces, fields of bluebonnets, live oaks, Texas ranchland and woodsy hills. For a minute, you just might think you’ve landed in Tuscany. But you’ll quickly realize you’re far from the Italian countryside as you hear the familiar twang of honky tonk music and smell the sweet scent of barbeque instead of garlic!

Our Texas Hill Country biking tour, a 5-day, 4 night tour, which begins in April 2013 and runs through November 2013 with a break during the hot, dry summer months, will show you just one piece of the magnificent beauty of the Lonestar state.

Beginning in the town of Blanco, you’ll pedal along undulating country hill roads through canopies of oaks as you head to a vineyard in Sisterdale. Days 2 and 3 take you on the Willow City Loop, a 25-mile country road boasting wildflowers aplenty in the spring, where you’ll cycle through Luckenbach, made famous by Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. Visit the dancehall and try to two-step with the locals. Then finish your journey by sipping a Shiner Bock at Fredericksburg’s biergarten.

On days 4 and 5, you’ll bike through countless cacti and open ranchland on your way to the oldest continuously running dance hall in the state, which has launched the careers of many music greats like Lyle Lovett and George Strait. The conclusion of your Texas Hill Country biking experience lets you enjoy a morning ride along the Guadalupe River to Canyon Lake.

Got questions about our biking tour of the Texas Hill Country? Why, give us a call, y’all! We’ll give you a Texas-size welcome and answer all the questions you have about our Texas bike tours. Call us 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific time daily at 800-462-2848 and go ahead and pick out your dancin’ boots!

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!

While it seems like we just started school and Halloween’s not even here yet, before you know it the holidays will be upon us. We have lots of families who enjoy spending their holiday break on a Backroads adventure vacation and many choose warm weather destinations for a quick break from winter’s cold. Whether it’s biking in Bali or traveling through the Panama Canal, now’s the time to plan a holiday vacation.

Here are our top picks for winter escapes:

• Biking in Costa Rica – How many different animals can your family spot on this Costa Rica holiday adventure vacation? Look for sloths, monkeys, lizards and more as you venture through Manuel Antonio National Park. You also get to white-water raft the Rio Savegre, swim and surf on white sand beaches and maybe even get in a game of soccer or two!
• Hiking the Andes & Exploring the Galapagos – This trip gives you a little snow and lots of education. Kids will love seeing all the animals on this famous Galapagos adventure, including blue-footed boobies, giant tortoises, white-tipped reef sharks, fluorescent fish, sea lions, lava lizards and possibly penguins. You’ll also get the chance to hike the snow-capped Andes through a eucalyptus forest, volcano vistas and pre-Incan ruins.
• Hike the Jungles of Panama – Get ready to head to the jungles of Panama active adventure to see lots of wildlife, including plenty of monkeys, coffee plantations and a cloud forest. Snorkel the second largest coral reef in the Pacific and enjoy the Panama Canal, a 99-year-old marvel of epic proportions. This trip also includes canoeing and biking.
• Bali Biking – Get in a tropical mood on this incredibly beautiful Bali biking tour. You pedal past temples, teak trees, rice paddies and peaceful villages. Ever cycled up a volcano? You’ll get your chance, passing lava flows from a 1963 eruption. There’s also plenty of time for relaxing at a spa, in sacred pools and in the Blue Lagoon.

How do families spend their holidays with us? Some surprise their family on Christmas with a trip departing the next day! Some gather their extended family together for a group holiday adventure. Others plan their trip far in advance, getting everyone excited for a unique holiday experience.

If you could travel during the holidays, where would you want to go? If you’d like some advice, give us a call 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific at 800-462-2848. Here you can also view our complete list of winter active vacations.

Happy holidays!

Each fall, parents gear up their children to head back to school. The list of school supplies is long and sometimes never ending and parents swell with pride as their kids embark on the school year. This brings to mind the schools we get to visit on some of our Backroads trips and the difference we are able to make with our support.

Several of our trips offer the chance for Backroads guests to truly get in touch with the local community and lend a helping hand. This comes in the form of offering support to museums and other national treasures or providing donations and supplies to local schools.

For example, our Walking and Hiking Trip to Peru stops in Ollantaytambo, where we visit a local school, join in sing-alongs and visit classrooms. Backroads works with the school to help them purchase much-needed supplies and games. In the Sacred Valley, also in Peru, we visit a small community where we dance with the locals, interact with the children—soccer anyone?—and bring school supplies.

In Bhutan, where poor waste management threatens the health of residents, Backroads leaders and guests have installed garbage cans along the trail, contributed basic necessities and are currently raising money to build a new kitchen in Chorten Nebu, along with a clean drinking water supply.

Why do we do this? Because Backroads is not just about active vacations, we’re also about Responsible Travel. We understand that any travel has an impact on an area, and we get the amazing opportunity to visit some really interesting and authentic places, some rarely seen by the outside world. So we do what we can to make our impact a positive one. And that means supporting the local environment and culture.

What do our guests think about it?

One guest says: “This was the best trip we have taken with Backroads. Peru was wonderful, the cultural experiences were amazing, the local guide was fantastic and his support crew was off the charts. They are individually excellent and together seemed to work so well. We loved the experience with the local people, children’s school and the village we visited. Backroads giving to the people made it all the more special.”

Another says:  ”The trip was great. Our local guide was a fabulous addition to the trip, and I truly enjoyed his talks on the Incan culture and history. The visit to Huilloc will forever be etched in my mind – the people, the culture, the community and the weavings. Everything we could have possibly wanted all brought together for us to experience.”

Check out all the ways we offer Responsible Travel to Backroads guests and let us know what you think! Better yet, let us help you reserve a spot on an upcoming trip so YOU can help us make a difference.

Traveling single or solo can be the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s a chance to experience a destination on your own, while meeting new people who possess the same spirit of adventure. And with Backroads’ unparalleled service, guests can focus completely on the journey at hand while we take care of all the details.

Backroads offers almost 40 Singles + Solos biking tours and hiking tours to locations around the world for singles travel. Here’s a look at two of our favorites:

For six days and five nights in September, you can get away to the California Wine Country Bikefest. Cycle past amazing redwoods and breathtaking coastline, and enjoy farm-to-table dinners and sleeping under the stars with our Deluxe Camping experience. You’ll spend plenty of time biking during this trip that begins/ends in San Francisco and lets you pedal across the iconic Golden Gate Bridge! After your trip, hang out in San Fran, where the annual Jazz Festival, Oktober Fest, Fleet Week and the America’s Cup World Series will all be going on. We think it’s a single’s dream!

Or if you want something a little more exotic, picture yourself next spring on our new Spain biking trip to Andalucía. Arrive in Sevilla, where you’ll embark on a six-day trip that will provide a mix of ancient cultures, mouthwatering cuisine and amazing views of rugged canyons and dramatic cliffs. Then, try your hand at castanets and flamenco dancing. You won’t be able to stop smiling as you immerse yourself into the sights, sounds and tastes of the Spanish culture.

If you’re traveling single or traveling solo, come travel with Backroads. We’ll give you a getaway you’ll never forget! Feel free to call us at 1-800-462-2848, 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific, if you have any questions or if you’re ready to sign up for your dream trip.

You know how people joke around that “camping” for them is staying in a hotel? We know a few people who say that and we firmly believe that if they ever took a Backroads Deluxe Camping Trip, they’d: A.) Love it. B.) Wish they were camping with Backroads the next time they had to stay in a hotel.

That’s a bold statement, but if you’re familiar with Backroads, you probably know that we do a lot of planning and organizing and that we do a lot of the work so you can really relax and enjoy your experience. Here’s the secret to our Deluxe Camping Trips: We apply these same principles to the campground. While some call our camping style, glamping, we prefer to stick to the term “deluxe.”

After a great day of biking, hiking and sightseeing, when you arrive at the camp site, you’ll find that the trip leaders, camp chef and camp assistant have already taken care of setting up a spacious dome tent and put your luggage inside. They’ve also put down an extra-thick sleeping pad and rolled out your plush sleeping bag. Next they’ll prepare the meal, including kid-friendly fare!

No wrestling with the tent, the sleeping bag or trying to set up an area to cook, much less figuring out WHAT to cook. We do it all for you. What’s for dinner? It depends on where we are, but the chef will whip up anything from broiled salmon and roast chicken to fresh salads and rich desserts. What’s for breakfast? How does sourdough French toast, fresh melon and eggs cooked-to-order sound?

Backroads offers Deluxe Camping Trips in North America and we pick the best camp sites we can find. Previous guests have said the Deluxe Camping Trips were “superb” and that our guides “worked together like synchronized swimmers, seamlessly executing a daily dance that made every element of the camping experience an effortless joy for everyone.”

That may not sound like any camping trip you’ve ever heard of, and that’s OK. Backroads is here to offer you an experience of a lifetime seeing the world on the back roads … and to change your perspective on camping. We don’t call it Deluxe Camping for nothing!

For more information, visit Backroads’ website or call one of our trip consultants today between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific time at 1-800-462-2848.

As the days blaze on in the summer, our minds sometimes wander to cooler days and we often think of fall foliage trips. It’s not too late to begin planning your trip and we have a great spot for you: Vermont.

Our Vermont Biking Tour is an amazing way to experience what Charles Kuralt calls an “unbearably beautiful American time and place.” Leaf-peep an autumn rainbow of colors: red, orange, yellow, brown and green will greet you on almost every pass. And the weather? Well, it’s just about as perfect as it gets.

Our Vermont biking trip takes you through rolling hills and farmlands, under amazing oak canopies, over picture-perfect covered bridges and past postcard-worthy red barns. There will be plenty of quiet roads and a good mix of New England villages, too, like Woodstock!

We know we started this post about fall foliage, but we can’t talk about Vermont without these four words: cheese, beer and maple syrup.

This trip includes a tour of New England’s Maple Museum, and you’ll have plenty of time in the evenings to relax with a tasty New England brew and a bit of Vermont cheese. Sounds like a pretty good way to spend a week in the fall, doesn’t it? Call our Trip Consultants today to check departure dates for our fall foliage tours. Our Trip Consultants can be reached at 800-GO-ACTIVE (462-2848) 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific Time.

Getting ready for your Backroads adventure tour is really exciting. We know! We have so many wonderful walking trips and biking trips for you to choose from. And as you know, we take care of all the “heavy lifting” when it comes to planning so you can simply pick the place and enjoy your Backroads vacation.

However, there are a couple really important things you’ll need to take care of if you’re traveling internationally: your passport and visa. When you book your trip, Backroads will send you a Travel Planner that details the documentation you’ll need for your trip and if you don’t already have a valid passport, you’ll need to contact the appropriate consulate – and in enough time.

A few things to think about:

Some countries require that your passport be valid 6 months beyond your departure date. That means you can’t wait until the last minute to apply for your documentation. There are some expedited options, however, if you’re in a big hurry and willing to pay a little extra.

If you already have a passport, you’ll need to check the expiration date as well as the physical condition. Passports with fraying edges or torn pages are not accepted. You’ll also need to make sure you check the document requirements if you plan to travel to other countries not outlined in your Backroads Travel Planner.

And if you think you don’t need a passport for the country you’re traveling to, double check. As of Jan. 31, 2008, a valid passport is required for all U.S. citizens (including infants and children) traveling by air, land or sea to and from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, Bermuda and the Caribbean (excluding Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands).

We can’t say this enough: Don’t wait until the last minute. Due to a high volume, passport processing times have increased and can take up to 12 weeks from the date you apply! The U.S State Department Passport Services does offer online passport application and renewal information for U.S. citizens.

Alright, so, what if you completely forgot all about your passport or visa and you need it “yesterday.” It’s not a good situation, but it happens. We know this firsthand! If you are in this bind, we recommend using Zierer Visa Service. They’ve been in business for 50 years and specialize in fast, dependable overnight and same day passport and visa services.

And if you tell them Backroads sent you (and mention code 73013), they’ll even give you a discount. Order online or call 866-788-1100 Mon.-Fri. from 7:30 a.m.–7 p.m. Central time.