Backroads in the News

We took a river cruise in Bordeaux, France, with AmaWaterways and Backroads. Backroads offers small charter groups on the AmaWaterways ships for active and fun days of biking, and we had so much fun riding in beautiful Bordeaux. Check out the highlights from our trip as we cruised on AmaDolce.

Active travel, meaning biking, hiking and multi-sport vacations, have been skyrocketing in popularity since the pandemic. The major tour operators specializing in this field are reporting record traffic and bookings for 2023 and 2024, and this makes a lot of sense, as the pandemic caused a lasting spike in participation in many outdoor sports. Additionally, there are many benefits to active travel - exercise, guilt free indulgence, and seeing the world more deeply at a slower, immersive pace.

It is easy for me to put my finger on the best part of my recent Backroads trip: I didn’t have to do any planning in advance or troubleshooting during the trip and each day of my family’s active vacation was incredible.

Tom Hale knows a thing or two about active travel — after all, he’s been in the business since 1979, when he founded Backroads to offer bike tours. Now, 44 years later, the company has evolved to provide a wide variety of high-end, active tours in close to 60 countries. 

With social skills rusty after Covid, it’s more dicey than ever to put a group of strangers together. The result is that tour guides are sometimes called upon to play both mediator and therapist.

The active tour company names its most romantic overnight spots.

Few European travel experiences are as quintessential as an inn-to-inn hike.

Companies that offer walking tours report big spikes in business compared to before the pandemic. And some destinations are blazing ambitious new walking trails to attract travelers.

Biking may be the best way to explore Sicily — here's why.

Active Travel has never been hotter as a category within the travel industry then it is right now. But it is also far more encompassing than it has been in the past, which means you don’t have to be physically gung-ho to enjoy these kinds of trips, you just have to be open to new experiences - and that is what today’s travelers overwhelmingly say they want, life experiences.

Affordable, friendly, rich in history but still finding its footing in modern Europe, Portugal is the breakout destination for U.S. tourists, with travel up 41% over last year.

Most tour companies specify a trip’s activity level and many will tell you approximately how many miles you’ll cover each day on foot or bike. Active travel specialist Backroad salso categorizes its tours according to traveler type; while it does not list a “50 and older” group, active seniors who enjoy traveling with family or a variety of age groups may fit under “family” or “20 and older.” And a new division of Backroads, Dolce Tempo, offers several levels of “easygoing” excursions.

Spring is here, and summer family vacation planning isn't far behind. Parents looking to take the kids to Europe can take comfort in the fact that complicated pandemic restrictions have eased across the Continent and in the U.K.

In 2015, AmaWaterways and Backroads teamed for a variety of active travel river cruising experiences – adventuring through Europe’s most captivating destinations with what she called Backroads’ “immersive, meticulously planned biking and hiking tours, then ending the day in the comfort and luxury of an AmaWaterways river ship.”

We are at the tail end of Women’s History Month, but as you plan your spring and summer trips, consider noting women’s contributions wherever and however you travel. Consider it a teaching moment for your kids.

He proposed they take the family excursion to celebrate his 84th birthday. ‘I’ve always wanted to go there,’ he said. ‘We need to do it before I get old.’ And so off they went, all six of them.

What’s the best way to explore Ireland, which is once again open to travelers? For those with a sense of adventure, seeing the country by bike or on foot with a specialized small group tour company is the way to go. St. Patrick’s Day is a timely reminder to book before the season starts. Here are five outfitters that offer creative itineraries.

Face it: Not everybody likes riding bikes. Electric bikes let both fans and detractors pedal as much or as little as they want.

Guided tour specialist Backroads, which specializes in cycling, hiking and multisport vacations, knows that a love of athletic pursuits in the great outdoors is a lifelong passion for many. And to appropriately scale its offerings to different age groups, its trips range from active to easygoing, with a lot of flexibility built into the offerings that make them especially appropriate for senior travel tours.

Getting to know your way around a new town can be challenging, whether you’re traveling or relocating. In either case, I’ve always been a proponent of doing so via running or cycling, thanks to the unique vantage point the activities offer. When I temporarily relocated to the Boulder, Colo., area late last summer from the sea-level Mid-Atlantic region, I decided to apply my approach with a city bike tour. This one came with a twist, however: We took to the town on electric bikes.

Most tours for older travelers do a good job meeting the needs of travelers in their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s, but there are some travel tour companies for seniors that go above and beyond. And while age is just one of the many factors that defines your travel style, it’s still nice to know you’re traveling with a company that puts in the extra effort to make their tours for seniors really work for everyone on the trip.

Here are the travel tour companies for seniors that shine especially bright when it comes to the offerings, amenities, and details that serve older travelers.

Berkeley-based Backroads has been leading guided biking, hiking, and multi-sport adventure trips around the world since 1979, when founder Tom Hale first had an idea in the middle of the night to start a bike touring company and encourage active travel (Backroads.com). They’ve slowly started adding back some of their international destinations, taking all precautions, and welcoming travelers again safely. They’ve also added E-bikes, which is a game-changer for those who may be intimidated by the thought of pedaling over anything steeper than a speed bump.