Treat your family to Tuscany with a blend of biking, history and exploration. Our custom-designed routes are tailored to adults and kids alike. Discover medieval hill towns, such as the famed San Gimignano, crowned with impressive towers. Pedal past wheat fields and pastureland, stopping to taste truffles - and meet the dog that sniffs them out! While the younger set is off making pizza, adults savor Chianti wines at an exclusive tasting. Throughout the trip, delight in the friendliness of locals who enthusiastically share their culture and heritage. Join Backroads to tour Tuscany family-style!

MEDIEVAL MODERNITY: Casual Inns

Palazzo Mannaioni (2 nights): A four-star hotel with a garden, lemon and orange tree grove, and a swimming pool.

Hotel Pescille (1 night): Once a country villa, this hotel offers a swimming pool, unique rooms with brickwork flooring and spectacular views of San Gimignano's medieval skyline.

Fattoria Valle (2 nights): Situated just outside the village of Panzano, this former private residence is now a comfortably appointed hotel with a swimming pool that overlooks vineyards. Rooms have views of the surrounding valley and antique furnishings.

Daily Mileage Options & Cumulative Elevation Gain

Day 1

• Level 1   2 Route Options Available 
• 8, 20 miles
• 350 - 600 feet elevation gain

Day 2

• Levels 1 to 3  3 Route Options Available
• 21, 31, 38 miles
• 200 - 1500 feet elevation gain

Day 3

• Levels 1 to 3 3 Route Options Available
• 15, 20, 37 miles
• 1000 - 2900 feet elevation gain

Day 4

• Levels 2 to 4 3 Route Options Available
• 25, 37, 46 miles
• 600 - 2200 feet elevation gain

Day 5

• Levels 1 to 4 3 Route Options Available
• 18, 24, 45 miles
• 600 - 2700 feet elevation gain

Day 6

• Level 1 1 Route Option Available
• 8 miles
• 850 feet elevation gain

On this Family Trip, liberal van shuttling is incorporated into the itinerary to facilitate our activities and mileage is kept moderate to enable you to spend more time exploring on your own.

Routes For All Abilities

Every Backroads trip is designed to appeal to a wide variety of interests and fitness levels. We know your pace may vary from one day to the next-and your traveling companion's may differ somewhat from yours. So we present a range of mileage options, and each day you decide exactly what and how much you want to do.

Activity Level	Average Time	Biking Average	Walking Average
Level 1	2-3 hours	10-20 mile	2-5 miles
Level 2	2-4 hours	21-30 miles	5-7 miles
Level 3	3-5 hours	31-40 miles	7-9 miles
Level 4	4-6 hours	41-55 miles	9-11 miles
Level 5	5-7+ hours	56-75+ miles	11-13+ miles

2010 DATES

FAMILY TRIPS

• 6/13-18Price: $3098 pp dbl. occ., (+ $600 for sgl. occ.)
• 6/20-25Price: $2998 pp dbl. occ., (+ $600 for sgl. occ.)
• 7/4-9Price: $3198 pp dbl. occ., (+ $600 for sgl. occ.)
• 7/11-16Price: $2998 pp dbl. occ., (+ $600 for sgl. occ.)
• 7/18-23Price: $2998 pp dbl. occ., (+ $600 for sgl. occ.)
• 7/25-30Price: $2998 pp dbl. occ., (+ $600 for sgl. occ.)
• 8/1-6Price: $3098 pp dbl. occ., (+ $600 for sgl. occ.)
• 8/8-13Price: $2998 pp dbl. occ., (+ $600 for sgl. occ.)
• 8/15-20Price: $3098 pp dbl. occ., (+ $600 for sgl. occ.)
• 8/22-27Price: $2998 pp dbl. occ., (+ $600 for sgl. occ.)

Recommended Kids Ages

Minimum Ages:

Recommended minimum age for the trip: 9 years

Minimum age restriction to ride own bike: 9 years

General Info on Minimum Ages:

We strongly encourage families to join our Family Trips, designed with kid- and adult-friendly features. Please note that we have a minimum age requirement of 1 year for all Inn trips and 2 years for all Camping trips. Other than that, we do not restrict trips to a minimum age except in the rare case of a hotel age restriction. We do, however, recommend minimum ages based on the following criteria:

• 12+ cultural appreciation, difficulty/restrictions of activities and route
• 9+ several long adult dinners; difficulty/restrictions of activities and route
• 6+ several long adult dinners; parent may not be able to pull a Burley and/or there may be multiple activity restrictions

Please note that a trip may feature an activity with an older age requirement than the minimum age recommendation for the trip. Younger kids are still welcome on the trip and while they will not be able to participate in the activity, the leaders will suggest an alternate activity. For safety reasons, children under 7 may not ride their own bikes and are required to ride on a Piccolo or in a Burley. For certain destinations, children must be 9 or older to ride their own bikes.

Guest Trip Reviews

Biking Tuscany was a great experience for my family. Our leaders were excellent and catered to our every need. Their knowledge of the region was excellent and they were a constant source of information. In addition, the chemistry between them was very energetic. The choice of lodging and cuisine was superb and offered a great sampling of the area. Thank you, Backroads. We will definitely return.

Diane Artiles - Bethesda, MD

This trip ranks as one of my favorite all-time vacations. The setting in Tuscany is breathtakingly beautiful. This trip was everything I imagined and more! I especially enjoyed meeting the other families. There was also a very nice mix of kids. The Trip Leaders were exceptional - very personable and took a very special interest in the group. All of them were very good with kids. They provided excellent van support. By the end of the trip, the leaders and the entire group had really bonded. It was really hard to leave such a nice group of people.

Walter Bering - Houston, TX

Backroads surpassed by vacation expectations by bringing together some truly remarkable people in a wonderful setting to enjoy the beauty of biking, culture and fellowship. Not only were the 9-5 activities (biking) off the charts, but also the 5-11 events were equally stimulating and impressive. We are already planning a trip reunion.

Judy Riendeau - Prospect, KY

This was really a knockout trip for me. The itinerary cherry-picked scenic route after scenic route and it never stopped being incredibly charming and beautiful. Every destination just dripped with atmosphere. The leaders were what I've come to expect with Backroads, and more: great people who magically made everything come together for us. True perfection.

Nancy Terjung - San Diego, CA

We normally stay at five-star resorts when we travel to unfamiliar places. The Premiere Inn trip was sold out so we signed up for the Casual Inn trip in Tuscany. It was a tremendous experience! The leaders and the families on this trip were "off the charts." It was a fabulous adventure for our family.

Mike Geoghegan - Rye, NY

Backroads was possibly the best vacation of my life! At points it was challenging considering all the hills we biked up, but it gave all of us a wonderful sense of accomplishment.

Lauren Vorisek - Columbus, OH