My vacation plans for the year ahead are totally stacked. I’m headed to Mexico City with my college-age daughter during her spring break, to the Sicilian island of Pantelleria for a summer reunion with our Italian relatives and to Vermont in October as part of a Backroads Bike Tour. At some point I’ll also gather with my childhood friends for our annual girls’ trip, usually a lodge-to-lodge hike on the West Coast.
Apparently, I’m your typical US traveler: the average number of trips Americans take is 4.1, according to industry experts. I’m also trendy. Like many of you, I’m now leaning into vacations that offer a sense of community, empowerment and confidence exploring the outdoors.
At Backroads, we track industry trends, but we prefer to set them. We like to do our own thing, sparked by ideas from our global team of Trip Leaders and guest feedback. Inevitably those ideas turn into trips, and those trips turn into trends in a trickle-down effect. We love how our itineraries and offerings reflect the changing times. And with that, here’s our forecast for adventure-travel trends in 2026.
More Numbers of Women and Solo Travelers
Adventures designed specifically for women are surging. I personally seek out trips that allow me to connect with other female friends and family members, foster friendships and boost my confidence with experiences that challenge and delight.
My annual girls’ trip is a great example. Every year, ten of us meet up for a long weekend, free from partners, kids and work obligations, and spend several hours (if not days) walking and talking. Two years ago, we drove to Marin County, just north of San Francisco, and hiked down the coast, stopping at quaint inns each evening. To celebrate turning 50, we went to France, wandered the beaches of Normandy and explored the historic abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel. Every adventure with my girlfriends inevitably incorporates an activity that pushes someone out of their comfort zone (we’ve kayaked at night and scaled a via ferrata with severe drop-offs), and those moments always prove to be the most memorable because we champion each other.
Backroads bookings reflect the popularity of Women’s Adventures, which are projected to grow 100 percent in 2026. We currently offer more than 60 trips specifically for women.
We also expect the market for solo travelers to grow, for similar reasons: single travelers want to bond with others who share their love of active travel. We estimate this market will increase by 14 percent over the next five years, with women over 50 driving the momentum.
📈 What’s Trending: England’s Cotswolds, Peru, the Canadian Rockies
Active Family Adventures
Many parents are taking advantage of their children’s school breaks to open up dates when they can travel as a family. My daughter and I have been taking spring break together for a decade; in fact, we look forward to this particular getaway more than any summer vacation, because it’s a huge respite from the cold, snow and routine of winter.
Family Adventures continue to be some of Backroads’ most popular trips. We design active Hiking, Biking and Multi-Adventure Trips around the globe for families with Kids & Teens, Teens & 20s and 20s & Beyond. They are amazing opportunities to treat your crew to an adventure that you did not have to plan. As any parent can attest, that’s a real treat.
“I have recommended Backroads trips to many women with middle schoolers,” said Laurel Fountain, one of our guests. “Heaven for moms. The only time we travel and I don’t have to worry about a thing.”
Backroads offers special youth rates of up to 20 percent off. And we’re confident that our Kids Adventure Leaders will be a hit; they step up and get extra activities going for the younger set at times when parents are hoping to decompress (read: have some alone time).
Thinking of a family Bike Trip? We provide trailers for parents to transport the youngest ones, individual bikes for kids seven and up on most trips and e-bikes for anyone 16 and older. My teenage daughter would never take a bike trip without an e-bike; there would be no convincing her.
📈 What’s Trending: Brittany and Normandy, Croatia and Iceland
A Boom of Discerning Millennial and Gen X Travelers
Camaraderie and meaningful experiences are also high on the list of millennials and Gen Xers booking travel. These Backroads guests, who roughly fall between 30 and 60 years old, are also interested in adventure travel to iconic destinations.
Notably, the estimated (and unprecedented) $27 trillion wealth transfer to these generations by 2045 is expected to significantly influence experience-driven travel trends in coming years.
We’re seeing increased interest in our new 30s & 40s Trips, which are small-group active adventures designed especially for active Gen Xers and millennials. Lodge-to-lodge and Multi-Adventure Tours in far-flung locales are some of our most talked-about trips.
📈 What’s Trending: Peru, the Italian Dolomites and Santorini & Crete in Greece
Renewed Interest in Classic Biking and Hiking Trips
Don’t get us wrong, e-bikes are a fantastic innovation, but more than a few traditional cyclists let us know they were jonesing to ride with a community of others who prefer to pedal under their own power. So Backroads rolled out what we call Unplugged Bike Tours: trips that take guests back to the basics, riding non-electric-assist bikes, grinding up hills, burning those quads and loving it.
In general, trips that incorporate hiking and biking and other human-powered outdoor activities are trending for 2026. Further, Backroads trips are designed so you can bike or hike at your own pace every day. If I want to take the longest route with the most elevation on Day 1 of my trip to the Alps, I might choose to shorten my Day 2 hike with a more moderate trail, lingering in mountain towns to take photos along the way. Backroads typically offers routes with various lengths each day, and our support vans and trip leaders are ready for a quick pick-up if you peter out.
This kind of slow travel is something I absolutely crave in our frenetic times, and hiking or biking through dramatic landscapes has completely the opposite effect of driving through rush-hour traffic. It feels like freedom to me.
I read a 2025 review by Mary Virginia Coffman, who took our Norway & Sweden Bike Tour, that nails what makes these trips special: “The physicality of the hiking, the shared group experiences, and the eloquent, illuminating education that we received from our local guide created the most profound and soulful journey.”
📈 What’s Trending: Biking tours in Croatia, Portugal’s Algarve, Tuscany and Nova Scotia; hiking and walking tours in Argentina and Chile’s Patagonia
Rugged, Less-Visited Islands
Remoter archipelagos are the new darlings of classic island escapes. They see fewer crowds because they’re off the beaten path, and while getting to them requires more work, the scenery is unparalleled.
Imagine an active itinerary that takes in dramatic cliffs, volcanic ridges and other epic scenery not frequently posted about on social media.
Backroads has a selection of trips to so-called frontier islands that will whet the appetite of any well-seasoned traveler.
📈 What’s Trending: Spain’s Canary Islands, Cyprus, Denmark’s islands, Norway’s Lofoten Islands and Portugal’s Azores
Trip Stacking and Off-Season Adventures
Travelers are increasingly “stacking” their journeys—booking two or even three back-to-back trips—to maximize a single long-haul flight. This reflects a growing shift toward sustainable travel and maximizing every moment away. Backroads has noted a 6 percent increase in back-to-back trip bookings since the pandemic, with no sign of the growth stopping.
A few tips for trip stacking:
Pack clothing that can do double duty on both adventures.
Give yourself at least two days to arrive at your new destination without hurry; strikes and inclement weather, for example, can push back transportation times and put a kink in your plans.
Pick trips that are different enough to satisfy your curiosity; maybe your first trip is a seaside one and your second is in the mountains, or maybe the language changes or you blend a city with the countryside. We’ve found that variety is key for a memorable adventure.
Off-season exploration is also on the rise, with more travelers heading out in early spring, late fall and throughout the winter. Shoulder seasons offer a fresh take on familiar places and usually mean better flight deals. At Backroads, most trips have a wide range of departure dates.
📈 What’s Trending: Norway, Japan and Spain
A Rise in Active Culinary Travel
Food-focused travel is enjoying a moment, not only domestically but also abroad. At Backroads, we’ve developed Active Culinary Trips to unite our guests’ love of incredible cuisine after a day of adventure.
On a hiking tour of the French Alps, I remember logging 14 miles one day and thinking the views would be the highlight—until I sat down to dinner. A homey, multicourse meal rolled out, but what I recall about it most all these years later was a whole cooked carrot placed simply and beautifully on my plate next to the sole meunière. It was a revelation about what a carrot could be: glossy and tender and one of the most flavorful things I’ve ever eaten.
The next day, 10 mind-blowing miles of trails were followed by another incredible meal, this time with a blueberry vacherin for the books. My photo reel from that trip basically consists of peaks and perfect plates of amazing food.
Backroads has a lot of fun with its food-focused itineraries. We schedule cooking classes and visits to local farmers markets and olive oil tastings. Depending on the trip, you might have the pleasure of dining at a Relais & Châteaux property. If you’re a foodie, like me, I encourage you to go to Backroads.com and start exploring our options.
📈 What’s Trending: Tuscany, Provence and Spain’s Basque Country
Hut-to-Hut and Lodge-to-Lodge Itineraries
Backroads guests love mountain lodges and historic huts, and we look for these special stays in off-the-beaten-path destinations with jaw-dropping panoramas. Bookings for these laid-back, comfortable accommodations have surpassed our expectations; they’re up more than 170 percent since 2024.
If you’ve never slept in an Italian rifugio in the Dolomites, often the lone structure surrounded by miles of wilds, you’re missing out. The traditional architecture and Tyrolean touches—heart motifs, grand windows, boxes of geraniums—afford guests a real sense of this region and its people.
While Backroads’ hut stays lean toward homey and cozy, our lodge stays tend to be elevated and feature wellness amenities like saunas and spas. Locals in the mountain regions we visit work hard and regularly ease their weary muscles in heated spaces and thermal waters and pools, and we want you to enjoy those same rejuvenating experiences.
📈 What’s Trending: Dolomites Hut-to-Hut, French & Italian Alps Lodge-to-Lodge and Pyrenees Lodge-to-Lodge trips
Most likely you’re already nailing down dates and details of your trips for the year ahead, if you haven’t already. Adventure travel is booming, so booking ahead is smart.
In the Backroads Berkeley office, I sit next to our Travel Consultants who answer your calls and help with person-to-person bookings, and I can tell you that the Dolomites and Croatia trips are selling fast. Both locations are absolute stunners, but if you’re more of a lone-wolf traveler, then Backroads’ Lofoten Islands Tour might be your Call of the Wild. Hit it in the shoulder-season month of September, and you have a chance to see the northern lights. Trends come and go, but that kind of experience is timeless.
