Our bike trips and hiking trips are already tons of fun, but many of our travelers and families make the fun last even longer by extending their active vacation either before or after their tour. We’ve picked 5 of our amazing active trips and included suggestions of where to travel to extend your getaway.

1)      Party in Barcelona – Barcelona is the city where our Pyrenees to Costa Brava Biking starts and ends and it’s the perfect place to spend a few extra days. Barcelona is a vibrant Spanish city, formerly home to the summer Olympics, and the perfect place for a night out on the town. We recommend taking in a tapas bar or trying restaurant Mil921, featuring Catalan cuisine with a Japanese twist, owned by the brother of one of our Spanish Trip Leaders. After all, you deserve some delicious dinners after your Spain Biking Trip through some challenging mountain passes.

2)      Get some Culture in Florence – Get your fill of art and culture in this Italian Renaissance gem. As the gateway city for our Tuscany Biking tour, we highly recommend adding on a few days – or even a week! In addition to the history and sites, Florence is also a great city for sumptuous Italian cuisine. Why not take a wine appreciation or group cooking class at the Apicius International School of Hospitality after your Italian bike tour? You can come home, bragging about your new Italian cooking skills!

3)      Peruse Paris – You just can’t turn down an opportunity to see the City of Lights and its famous Eiffel Tower when you’re so close on our Loire Valley Biking trip. Stroll the city, stopping at cafes, sipping cappuccinos, and perhaps taking in some jazz at a lively club before or after your French bike tour. Here’s a site that offers the latest information about happenings in Paris.

4)      Savor San Francisco – One of our most popular tours is the Wine Country Biking Tour. We have to admit seeing rolling hills by bike and sampling wine after wine is pretty amazing. To continue your California tour by bike, consider the Streets of San Francisco Bike Tours, founded by former Backroads leaders. They’ll take you off the beaten path of San Francisco and they offer Backroads customers a 15% discount. Just use the code “backroads” when booking.

5)      Sight-see in Prague – Our Czech Republic & Austria Walking & Hiking Tour takes you from Prague to Salzburg, so consider a few additional days at the start to explore the wonderful city of Prague, the largest city in the Czech Republic. Did you know it’s the sixth most visited city in Europe after London, Paris, Rome, Madrid and Berlin? It’s known for its architecture and museums and if you have kids, be sure to check out the Prague Zoo, named one of the best in the world by Forbes.

Be sure to check with your Trip Planner if you have questions about extending your trip. We’re happy to provide suggestions and tips for making the most out of your extended vacation. For more information about any of our active tours, please call 800-462-2848 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

We know that our Trip Leaders are the best in the world and that’s why we want to introduce you to them one by one. Nothing makes an adventure tour memorable like an amazing trip leader.

Meet Vincent Soyer, a French trip leader who specializes in Argentina adventure tours and Patagonia adventure tours. Vincent has been with Backroads since 2004 and led our walking tours and biking tours all over the world.

Vincent studied international commerce in Montpellier, France and started his career by selling software all over Europe based out of London. But that job didn’t satisfy his wanderlust…

His travel adventures began at Club Med and several other companies throughout Europe. Vincent has traveled across the world, including Pakistan, Cambodia, Tibet, China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and Nepal. He’s also traveled extensively throughout South America and lived in Argentina where he taught managers working at international firms.

Vincent now calls Spain home and began his time with Backroads in 2004 after looking for an active travel company that focused on fewer guests per trip. “I was looking for more individual connections,” he says.

“I have enjoyed the chance to be part of an unbelievably organized team, where each and every in

dividual is a source of help, knowledge, happiness and kindliness,” says Soyer about his time with Backroads.

Want to travel with Vincent? Try our Spain Walking & Hiking Trip or our Pyrenees to Costa Brava Biking Trip. Call us at 800-462-2848 7 a.m.-5 p.m. Pacific to book a Backroads tour today.

Have you ever traveled with Vincent on a Backroads tour? Share your experience about this enthusiastic and knowledgeable Trip Leader.

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.