Backroads in the News
Backroads is regularly featured in local and national publications. Here are some of our favorite articles:
The Search Is on for Future Backroads Trip Leaders to Follow in His Footsteps – Company Now Accepting Applications for 2025 Season.
The last ferry of the day departs in 20 minutes, but a group of cyclists remains 6.7 miles up a winding canyon. If they cut their ride short and start pedaling down now, they should make it.
Tom Hale and his 21-year-old daughter recently took a biking trip through the Basque country, regions of France and Spain, with his tour company Backroads. Hale hopped on a standard performance bike and he used brute strength to power through the hilly terrain. His daughter, Georgia, opted for a less-gruelling experience.
Piedmont is considered a “slow food and wine lover’s paradise.” “Piede” means foot, and “monte” means hill, so the area is called the “foot of the Alps.”
I recently traveled to the area in northwest Italy along with five other Arizona couples for another Backroads bike adventure through the region.
Backroads, a longtime leader in adventure travel, has made its reputation by catering to changing traveler needs and shifting demographics. In 2024, that means focusing on the increasing number of multigenerational families eager to travel together.
Leisure travel has been booming across the board since the pandemic, but two areas in particular have been especially hot. Cruises, which many pundits thought might not recover, have come back stronger than ever, and the entire active travel niche has exploded in popularity, with record bookings for most of the major companies specializing in this area.
As enriching as family vacations can be, there's no question they're stressful to plan. And if you want to show your kids the world, planning family travel adventures to bucket-list destinations like Ireland, Alaska, or America's national parks can also be a bit daunting. The good news is there may be a better alternative to consider—letting someone else do all the planning on a guided tour.
From a safari in Botswana, to biking through New York state and a creative retreat in Norway.
If you're an active traveler, you likely don't consider yourself a cruise person- but "active cruises," like the Seine River Cruise Bike Tour from Backroads, might change your mind. Pg. 84
As 2023 draws to a close and Cruise Critic prepares to sail into the exciting year that is 2024, our very own editorial staff decided to take a look back and highlight their favorite cruise moments of 2023.
One writer learns what “pace yourself” means while hiking in Ireland.
Avery Hale Smith joined Backroads in 2020 as Director of Sales & Guest Experience and as a member of the Executive Team, bringing nearly a decade of expertise in strategy consulting, sales, marketing and customer engagement; in 2023, she was named Executive Vice President. Hale Smith looks forward to the future at Backroads, working alongside her father and Backroads Founder, President & CEO, Tom Hale.
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.
Backroads, the world’s leading active travel company, has just announced Women’s Adventures, a new collection of trips just for women.
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.
During my weeklong voyage, I cycled roughly 300 kilometres, returning each night to my floating hotel room aboard a small luxury ship.