We think food and active travel go perfectly together. For one, you can burn off most of the calories you consume dining on delicious local cuisine and two, there’s no better way to experience the true flavor of a region than through its local fare.

Backroads offers several hiking tours and biking tours that have a big food focus whether it’s taking a cooking class, shopping the local market or dining with locals. Here are some of our favorite active tours for foodies:

Puglia Biking Tour

Tour the Puglia region of Italy by bike and experience all of its gastronomic delights! On our 6-day, 5-night Puglia Bike Tour, you’ll travel the Italian Adriatic Coast, which brings to mind the whitewashed coastal villages of Greece. Olive trees and fennel stretch as far as the eye can see interspersed with age-old farmhouses. You’ll sample a full-bodied primitivo and other notable vini Pugliesi, cook with local Pugliese chefs during a culinary lesson, learn how mozzarella is made and enjoy organic homemade Pugliese dishes. The Puglia Biking tour runs April-June and August-October.

Peru Walking & Hiking Tour

You may be surprised to hear that our 7-day, 6-night Peru hiking tour also has a food focus in addition to the amazing Machu Picchu ruins and active Andes activities.  Some of the culinary experiences in which you’ll indulge in Peru include sipping a pisco sour at the Cusco Museum, shopping the lively Pisac market and take a cooking class with a local Peruvian chef from Sol y Luna. Then get ready to burn all the calories you’ve consumed during two days of hiking to Machu Picchu. The Peru walking tour runs March-October, as well as some dates in December.

Tuscany Walking & Cooking Tour

New for 2013 is our Tuscany Walking and Cooking Tour. Tuscany has always been a popular destination for us and guests are always asking for recipes and techniques to recreate the mouth-watering Tuscan dishes at home, so we’ve created a Tuscany tour focused around one of everyone’s favorite highlights of the area: its glorious food! On our Tuscany cooking & walking tour, you’ll have the opportunity to cook side by side with Italian “le nonne” (grandmas),  chat up a Tuscan butcher about meats, have lunch under the grape vines, enjoy a private wine talk, sample honey made by monks at Monte Oliveto Maggiore, visit a working cheese farm and much more! The 6-day, 5-night trip runs May-July, September and October.

Did we make you hungry?! Go ahead and reserve your spot on one of these fantastic food-focused tours for 2013. You’ll come home full of culinary inspiration and stories to share with family and friends. Call us today at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.- 5 p.m. Pacific.

Hiking Peru is a once-in-a-lifetime, bucket list experience. We’ve seen people celebrate major milestones like graduations and birthdays by gifting this amazing hiking tour. Strap on your hiking boots and get ready to turn back time hundreds of years to step inside the remains of an ancient civilization.

If you choose to check this item off your bucket list with Backroads, we think you’ve chosen wisely! We’ll handle all the details, making sure you see everything you should, that you stay in amazing lodging, ensure delicious food to refuel you for hiking and provide three Trip Leaders on every hiking trip to guide you for the ultimate trip to Peru.

On our Peru Hiking Tour, you’ll start at Cusco, once the center of the Pre-Columbian empire; journey through Puca Pucara, Q’enko, Temple of the Moon and Sacsayhuamán; and learn the meaning of an indigenous “Pago a la Tierra” ceremony from a longtime Backroads friend and local shaman. Next up, walk among the Inca salt pans’ honeycomb of pools, visit Pisac’s vibrant market and view the Pisac ruins.

Day 4 gives you a chance to meet the Peruvian locals, interacting with kids at a local school, shopping for local ceramics and taking a Peruvian cooking class with a local chef. On the last three days of your Peruvian journey, you’ll venture toward the mysterious Machu Picchu, the Lost City of the Incas. Hike the Inca Trail to reach the Gate of the Sun and a stunning view of this ancient site. Then explore the Lost City itself with a local expert and learn more about the area’s flora and fauna from a Peruvian naturalist.

Our Peru Walking Tour is a 7-day, 6-night adventure that runs March-October and December.

One note, permits to hike the Inca Trail are extremely limited. We recommend booking a minimum of 4-6 months prior to your departure date to significantly increase your chance of securing a permit. If permits are unavailable during some seasons, you will take a train to Aguas Calientes, bus to the entrance and hike into Machu Picchu.

So don’t delay to schedule this life-changing trip! Why not go ahead and schedule your daughter’s 16th birthday trip now or plan your son’s graduation gift in plenty of time? Call us at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific daily and we’ll get you all set up!