Spring is on its way and with warm weather comes a renewed vigor to head outdoors, explore the beauty of the world and try new daring adventures. Traveling solo can be an experience of a lifetime whether you’re just looking for some “me” time or you want to meet others traveling single.

Backroads offers active vacations for singles and solos to a host of warm destinations across the world this spring that will give you just what you need to say goodbye to winter and hello to a new you! Here’s our top 5 spring singles vacations:

1)      Piedmont Biking – This is a new singles bike trip for Backroads in 2013 and we chose it because of its wonderful combination of gourmet cuisine and beautiful vistas. The Piedmont area of Italy is known for its wines, truffles, hazelnuts and cheeses, and you’ll get to sample a bit of each, as well as explore several vineyards. The Piedmont bike trip also takes you through medieval towns with ancient castles and views of the Alps. The singles tour of the Piedmont region runs June 2-7.

2)      Tuscany Biking – One of our most popular Italy bike trips is Tuscany biking. You’ll pedal through many of Tuscany’s most famous towns like Pienza, Siena and Montalcino and get plenty of opportunities to sample fine wines and nosh on delicious local cuisine – the perfect place to strike up a conversation with one of your trip mates. Get ready to cycle past cypress trees, rolling hills, olive groves and vineyards to your heart’s content! Our singles Tuscany tour runs for five nights in May, June, August and October.

3)      Andalucia Biking – Olé! On this Spain biking tour for singles, you’ll get to enjoy all the best things about the Andalucia region of Spain from flamenco dancing and fiestas with your fellow travelers to gazpacho and tapas for refueling. Can you smell the orange and lemon trees’ fragrant blossoms? You will as you cycle past sweeping vistas through ancient whitewashed villages and the beautiful cities of Sevilla and Granada. Our singles bike trip through Andalucia runs for five nights in April and November.

4)      California Wine Country Biking – Single travelers love our California Wine Country biking tour, which takes you through five valleys of world famous vineyards. Chat up others while mingling over glasses of wine after a great day on the bike. You’ll also enjoy Northern California’s famous gourmet cuisine without worry of calories since you’ll burn plenty while biking. The singles Wine Country bike tour runs 5 nights in May, September and October.

5)      Bali Biking – Go exotic on our singles bike trip through Bali and experience this tropical paradise with new friends. Ride past emerald rice terraces, lovely villages, amazing temples and giant teak trees. Explore the vibrant art scene, cycle up a volcano, snorkel the wreckage of the USS Liberty and engage in a host of adventures. Our Bali singles trip runs April, October and December for 7 nights.

Have you considered traveling solo? Get more information about Backroads’ well-known Singles-Solos program designed specifically for this great group of travelers.

Call us at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific time to book your singles vacation and get ready to have a spring you’ll never forget.

You’ve heard about Paris in the springtime, right? Well, that holds for most of Europe, as well! We love traveling Europe in the spring, as the weather is just right for an active tour, and most of the crowds haven’t arrive quite yet. Of course, we like to take the “backroads,” so you’ll mostly avoid the crowds with us anyway!

Some other benefits of taking a European hiking tour or a European bike tour during this time of year include the fact that airfares are often lower in spring (not to mention there are fewer people on the planes) and you have a better chance of meeting more locals. Most Europeans vacation in summer, plus the nice weather has them out and about, allowing you to strike up a conversation as you hike past or hop off your bike.

Where to go? Here are some of Backroads’ top active tours for Europe in the spring:

Loire Valley – Can you picture this magnificent land of castles in all its glory with lush green grasses, gardens in full bloom and migrating birds? That’s the Loire Valley in spring. Take a Loire Valley biking tour with us for the chance to see these beautiful castles in the open air, indulge in top-notch French cuisine, explore vineyards, and if you take our Loire Valley family biking tour, try your hand at fencing! The Loire Valley tours run March through October 2013.

Provence – Ah, Provence, what isn’t there to like? On a spring Provence tour, expect to see the cherry orchards and almond trees blossoming as you hike Provence or bike Provence under a bright sunny sky. Try our new Provence Biking tour, which takes you from the windswept Alpilles to perched Luberon Villages. Pedal past red-tiled roofs, vineyards and 12^th century castles and ruins, and enjoy delectable French cuisine. Other options include our Provence Walking and Hiking Tour, our Provence and Costa Brava Walking and Hiking Tour, which takes you into Spain, and our original Provence Biking Tour through the Cotes du Rhone vineyards, Crillon Le Brave and the Luberon.

Tuscany – Travel Tuscany in March and look forward to blooming azaleas and camellias to add to the overwhelming beauty already offered by the Italian countryside. Whether you like to walk, bike or cook, Backroads has a Tuscany tour for you! Our new Tuscany Cooking and Walking tour lets you cook with Italian nonne (grandmas), sample honey made by monks, tour a working cheese farm and work off all the calories as you hike to your next destination.

Spain – Can you smell the orange trees in bloom, yet? You will when you arrive in Spain in spring! The almond trees, as in France, cherry trees and camellias are also blooming. There’s also a host of religious and secular festivals that happen in spring, so as you walk or bike past a small town or village, you just might come across a wonderful local celebration. Backroads offers many Spain tours like Andalucia Biking, Mallorca Biking, Pyrenees to Costa Brava Biking and Spain Hiking. Which will you choose?

Greece – Our Greece Biking Tour takes you to the gorgeous island of Crete, where spring means lots and lots of wildflowers. What better way to see them than pedaling past and smelling their sweet scent? On our Crete biking tour, you can ride coast to coast, relax at the beach, see ancient ruins and sample olive oil. Departures begin in March.

What do you bring to mind when you think of Europe in the springtime? If you’ve never experienced it, please join us on a European biking tour or a European walking tour and enjoy this wonderful time of year to travel across the pond. For more information on booking an active European vacation in the spring, give us a call 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific at 800-462-2848. See you beside the blooming f

Cycling past fragrant lavender fields in France… Pedaling the challenging inclines of the Dolomites… Enjoying views of the beautiful Dalmatian coast in Croatia and smelling the salty sea air…. These and more are all bicycle tours to Europe offered by Backroads, experiences that can be yours.

European destinations are some of our most popular routes here at Backroads, and the way we travel lets you see Europe in an entirely different way. Forget bus tours and car trips and get out into the fresh air. We promise you there’s no better way to see this ancient part of the world than pedaling under the blue skies.

Simply being outdoors as you journey from destination to destination awakens the senses and open doors you would have missed inside the tour bus. By bike, you can stop at that delicious-looking café whose sweet smells are wafting into the air, or stop and have a chat with a local selling produce by the side of the road. Enjoy both the sights and the sounds of each unique town and country.

Traveling Europe by bike lets you become a part of the culture, and not just remain an outsider looking in. Plus, our wonderful trip leaders will guide you every step of the way, sharing with you the history and eccentricities of each locale.

With Backroads, all you have to worry about is the journey. Our team is there to handle any issues with your bike, provide you with a snack when you need a little more fuel for the ride or even if you need to take a moment to relax and want to head back to the hotel. Maybe you’re inspired to take a longer journey and our trip leaders will give you an alternate route so you can pedal to your heart’s content.

Plus, we have the trip planned out in all its details from the wonderful restaurants where you’ll dine to the hotels and inns where you’ll rest your head at night.

What’s your dream place to bicycle Europe?

Need more information? Request a catalog or call us from 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific at 800-462-2848. Start dreaming of your bike tour to Europe today!

Credit: Gord Sonnenberg

Kids have been listening to stories and seeing movies about princes and princesses living in and defending castles since they were little. Show them a real castle and share with them a little history by embarking on one of our amazing European family adventure tours or Europe bike tour.

The Loire Valley Family Biking Trip is one option for castle-dreaming kids. This France bike trip includes castles straight out of fairy tales like the Château de Cheverny and Château de Chenonceau, where you and your children will be transported back in time.

Château de Cheverny, built between 1604 and 1635, is still owned by descendents of the original builders, the Hurault family, and has retained an intimate charm. Furnishings and period costumes are on display, and the gardens are enormous and immaculate.

Château de Chenonceau was built around 1513 and is completely surrounded by water. Your kids will love the moat, though we can’t promise any dragons or trolls J. This castle is magnificent because of its original design, the richness of its collections, its furniture and its decorations.

Our Czech Republic and Austria Family Biking Trip is another fantasy land filled with storybook castles. Adults will enjoy the France walking tour of the town Český Krumlov, which was built around a 13^th-century castle and is complete with twisting lanes and buildings with red tile roofs. The town is described as an outstanding example of a central European small town dating from the Middle Ages. It owes the structure and buildings of its historic core to the town’s economic importance and relatively undisturbed organic development over some five centuries.

Later in the trip while in Austria, kids will get to experience a Renaissance castle. They’ll have a day of fun at the castle and get to watch a falconry demonstration that is straight out of the middle-ages.

What is your child’s favorite fairytale featuring a castle? Let us know if we can make those dreams come true! Call us between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Pacific time at 800-462-2848 to start your journey.