The New York Times’ annual 52 Places to Go list is once again talk of the travel world and full of inspiration! It’s no surprise to see 11 destinations included that you can travel to with Backroads.
You can catch the total eclipse in Iceland with us this August, as darkness descends over part of the small Nordic nation during the path of totality (25th on the Times list). Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary by hiking or biking through one of the first states (1st). Explore Costa Rica’s less-touristed and wildlife-rich Osa Peninsula (4th) on one of our fun Multi-Adventure Tours. And much, much more.
Here’s a closer look at Backroads trips that head to some of this year’s most captivating places, as mentioned in the Times.
1. Revolutionary America
July 4 is going to be a big birthday for the US—it turns 250 years old! And while Americans will celebrate from coast to coast, the original 13 colonies will shine in the spotlight as we reflect on this part of our nation’s history.
This year Backroads offers 13 trips to five of the first states: Georgia, Massachusetts, North and South Carolina and New York. You might choose to ramble the woods of New York’s Catskills and Berkshires, stopping at colonial towns that have retained their character; bike Cape Cod, Massachusetts, spending time on the shores where the Pilgrims landed; or wheel through the Carolinas, to understand how the topography shaped Revolutionary War battles and this region’s culture.
How Backroads Does It Best
Booking lodging at any shorefront stay in July requires foresight, and this summer will be particularly tricky in the region, as a result of the semiquincentennial festivities. But Backroads has already secured accommodations well in advance, so you don’t have to. These particular Backroads trips offer a really special setting right before or after the Fourth of July holiday:
- Our Massachusetts Cape Cod Bike Tours, including a trip for families with teens and 20s
- Our New York’s Finger Lakes Bike Tour
- Our New York’s Hudson Valley & Catskills Bike Tour, designed for couples, friends and solo travelers
PLUS: Our national parks are perfect places to appreciate America’s natural heritage. Let us take you there in Backroads style, with expertly planned itineraries and active options.
2. Iceland
New York Times travel editor Amy Virshup remembers the 2024 total eclipse, which crossed over the United States, as the top destination for travelers that year and “one of the most profound experiences of my traveling life,” she commented to a “52 Places to Go in 2026” reader.
On August 12, western Iceland will experience the path of totality during another eclipse, when the Westfjords, Snaefellsnes and Reykjanes peninsulas descend into darkness for two minutes. Adding to the excitement, the small Nordic nation is hosting the Island Eclipse festival August 12-15, with musicians, astronomers and movers and shakers. You can be there for it on a Backroads trip.
How Backroads Does It Best
Three of our adventures align with the total eclipse in Iceland in the western peninsulas that will be in complete darkness. Better yet, we designed two trips for families, making this a bucket-list experience you can enjoy with your children.
- Our Iceland’s Glaciers & Coast Family Multi-Adventure Tour was created for families with teens and 20s, and we have this same tour available for families with kids and teens
- For couples, friends and solo travelers, our Iceland’s Fire & Ice Multi-Adventure Tour is the best bet
- Several other eclipse-adjacent tours in western Iceland have departure dates that fall a few days before or after the event and coincide with the festival. Check out all of our Iceland tours and dates here
3. Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
The New York Times loves the relaxing vibe of this less-traveled Pacific peninsula and calls out the joys of hiking Corcovado National Park. And if it’s wildlife you want to watch, you’re in for a treat: according to National Geographic, it’s home to half of this country’s animal species, including numerous endangered ones. Backroads has been offering tours of Costa Rica for more than two decades, and our adventures in the Osa Peninsula hit the highlights of this lush and very special area.
How Backroads Does It Best
Our Costa Rica Bike Tour wheels around this peninsula. We check in with a local naturalist, soak at a hot spring in the jungle and explore not one but two national parks--one with an active volcano. Birdwatchers in particular love the rainforest lodging. “We saw 25+ bird species from our balcony, which was perfectly aligned with the canopy of trees,” wrote one guest on this trip in 2024. PLUS: We offer an Unplugged version of this trip, designed for non-e-bike riders, from November 15-20. Sign up for it to ride with other pedaling purists.
Looking for something slightly more laid-back? On our Costa Rica Easgygoing Multi-Adventure Tour, we set out bird- and monkey-watching, learn how to make chocolate and cruise the clear waters of Golfo Dulce with an eye out for dolphins and humpback whales.
4. Assisi, Italy
A UNESCO World Heritage site and a spiritual mecca, the town of Assisi is charming and sacred and having a moment this year. Several moments, actually. From Feburary 22 through March 22, you can view the remains of St. Francis, which, according to the Times, will be on public display for the first time ever. Devotees are also likely to visit the town on July 16 and October 3, when St. Francis was canonized and died, respectively. Additionally, May 6-9, Assisi hosts the Calendimaggio festival, with a variety of cultural events.
How Backroads Does It Best
On our Assisi to the Adriatic Bike Tour (which actually starts in the Tuscan town of Arezzo), we stop in Assisi on Day 2 for a walking tour that elaborates on St. Francis’s ties to the town, followed by free time to explore and then dinner. You can use this opportunity to hike the mile up to Eremo delle Carceri, which the Times notes is the monastery where the saint prayed.
Eager to book this trip to coincide with the town’s key dates? Great idea. Head to our site to see which of our seven Assisi to the Adriatic trips align best with the town’s highly touted celebrations this year. Any Backroads tour will guarantee you a stay near Assisi during a monumental summer for this Italian community, when bookings will be a challenge.
5. Nepal’s Other Mountains
Explorers have long looked to Mount Everest as the pinnacle of adventure, but exorbitant permit fees and the rigors of training for such a summit make this peak accessible for the elite few. Instead, as the Times points out, we should look elsewhere in the Himalayas for active adventures, where many other challenging options are equally as thrilling and the mountains are incredibly grand.
How Backroads Does It Best
The Times likes Annapurna, an area we chose for a large part of our nine-day Nepal Lodge-to-Lodge Trekking Tour. Our route takes us just south of the Annapurna Conservation Area, where you’ll hike in the shadow of the Annapurna massif via the Annapurna Circuit. The views of these massive peaks are absolutely breathtaking. Backroads guests have called this the “trip of a lifetime” and “transformative,” and one wrote that “the early morning hike up to Meshram Barah Temple to see the sun come up over the Annapurnas was unforgettable.”
6. Messinia, Greece
When the greatly anticipated Christopher Nolan film The Odyssey hits theaters in July, the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece is going to get quite popular. Messinia, on the peninsula’s western coast, was the shoot site of many scenes. The peninsula is also known for its quaint villages, olive groves and blue lapping inlets.
How Backroads Does It Best
While we don’t visit Messinia, we do visit the southern end of the Peloponnese on our Peloponnese Hiking & Walking Tour. Our itinerary crosses the pine-scented Taygetos Mountains and Spartan gorges, and it runs down to clifftop seafront towns, where you can gaze over the water and imagine Odysseus’s ships setting sail for far-off unknown lands.
For more varied active options, traverse both land and sea via our Peloponnese Multi-Adventure Tour. “The kayaking was a highlight, in the most beautiful waters I've ever seen,” wrote one of our guests in 2025.
7. Portland, Oregon
If you’re a foodie, a sports fan or a museum-goer, Portland is likely already on your radar. The Times recommends a visit to the expanded Portland Art Museum, the new James Beard Public Market when it opens late this year and the Moda Center to see the WNBA’s Fire play.
How Backroads Does It Best
Portland is a young town--according to census estimates, the median age is 38.6—and Backroads is plugged into that population with a bike tour designed specifically for people in their 30s and 40s: the six-day Columbia River Gorge & Willamette Valley Bike Tour, which starts and ends in Portland.
PLUS: This same tour is offered for couples, friends and solo travelers from mid-June through September, when the weather is spectacular. This wonderful route passes waterfalls, the orchard-filled Hood River Valley and includes stops at the area’s renowned wineries. Tack a couple days on pre or post trip to enjoy the city’s newest, coolest attractions, hangouts and shops.
8. Vietnam
Asia’s newest darling, according to the Times, is Vietnam. The food, the temples, the architecture, the people and hospitality and the scenery all merit a trip there. Visit during the drier months of February and March for the most fair-weathered experience throughout the country, or in the fall if you plan to stay up in the mountainous region, where temperatures are cooler.
How Backroads Does It Best
Backroads offers a dozen adventures to this wondrous country, with incredible accommodations to suit. All trips last at least eight days and many tie in a visit to a neighboring nation, like Cambodia and Laos (because why not extend your reach after you’ve made the long trip overseas?). We pedal alongside the Mekong River, sail the sapphire waters of Halong Bay, wander gorgeous seaside cities like leisurely Danang and historic Hanoi and stay in some enviable hotel properties. Find the best Backroads trip to Vietnam for you and your crew here.
9. Sorolla’s Spain
The late painter Joaquín Sorolla is an icon in Spain, revered as a master of luminous works that depicted everyday life. The Times recommends getting to know him—and by extension, that nation—by visiting the expanding Museo Sorolla in Madrid and his birthplace, Valencia, to view hundreds of his pieces this fall at the Hispanic Society.
How Backroads Does It Best
Our Madrid to Valencia Bike Tour visits both cities. Arrive in the capital city early to tour any of the museums featuring Sorolla art before meeting up with the group for the ride southeast through the Castilian countryside and on to Valencia, whose beaches were depicted in many Sorolla paintings. We know Valencia well; in fact, it was the site of Backroads’ most recent staff ride.
PLUS: Our Madrid to the Douro River & Porto Bike Tour starts in Madrid, too, before heading west to Portugal.
10. Route 66
Americans love a road trip. And perhaps no road is as celebrated as Route 66, which stretches from Chicago to Santa Monica, California, and turns 100 this year. Driving even small stretches of it reveals snapshots of the way we were and the scope of our country’s varied landscapes, from cities to high deserts to palm-lined beaches.
How Backroads Does It Best
Reverse into history on two Backroads trips that take in Route 66 towns in the Southwest.
- In Flagstaff, Arizona, join our six-day Sedona & Grand Canyon Multi-Adventure Tour, offered for couples, friends and solos as well as for families with kids and teens. Fourteen miles of Route 66 run through Flagstaff, where we bookend our adventures through the most superb landscapes of Northern Arizona.
- In New Mexico, the Santa Fe Loop of Route 66 existed from 1926 until 1937 and passed by its historic plaza, before planners decided the quicker way through the state was shooting through Albuquerque. All of our New Mexico trips--two hiking and walking tours and a biking trip through the Land of Enchantment—are based out of Santa Fe.
11. Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
An enormous, wildlife-filled caldera is the star attraction of this UNESCO World Heritage site, now home to more than a dozen white rhinos, introduced to the area in 2025. Aside from the concentration of Big Five animals that roam these grasslands, the geographic spectacle of the crater itself is a marvel: it’s the largest intact caldera on the planet, formed about 2.5 million years ago, some 12 miles wide and with walls 2,000 feet high. Viewing it from the rim and exploring its basin are both two ways we recommend understanding its scope and unique ecosystem.
How Backroads Does It Best
Our nine-day active-safari tour to Tanzania in 2026 has already sold out but will return, with hiking and tracking opportunities in the Ngorongoro Crater as well wildlife-watching excursions in the Great Rift Valley and the Serengeti, in 2027. The hotels on this adventure are legendary. In Ngorongoro, they include the five-star Gibbs Farm, known for its coffee, and Sanctuary Ngorongoro Crater Camp, a classic luxury tented camp with rooms among the acacias. This is an ideal trip for anyone seeking a classic safari experience.
PLUS: Our 2027 Tanzania trip also takes guests to incredible Zanzibar, known for its soft white sand and warm azure waters. More information on specific itinerary details and 2027 dates will be available in February on Backroads site, so stay tuned!
