Experience a Backroads summer trip that engages all five senses—sight, taste, smell, sound and touch—through exploring landscapes, tasting local cuisine and immersive cultural experiences.
The anticipation before any trip is one of the most exciting aspects of travel. I look forward to being surrounded by people speaking Irish brogue and trying to discern every word, the first forkful of lasagna—with peas and eggplant, how unusual!—in Sicily, the immediate waft of floral, salty air as soon as I step off the plane in Key West. Setting off on an adventure is a full-sensory experience that can’t be replicated by watching a film or reading a book. It’s more than sightseeing, to be sure.
While you’re considering your upcoming summer trip, take more than pretty pictures into account. Here are some ways to stimulate your five senses—and maybe a sixth—on your next American or overseas expedition. Get out there and touch, taste, smell, hear and see the wonders of the world!
June
See the spectacle that is the midnight sun in Norway’s Lofoten Islands, especially closer to the summer solstice on June 21. The sun stays above the horizon for 24 hours from late May until mid-July, and the “golden hour” actually lasts hours, with the water and white-sand beaches glimmering with pastel colors. Residents are out gardening, runners are still on the roads, and the enduring sunshine makes hiking, biking or sea kayaking a real possibility at any hour.
Backroads will take you there: Norway’s Lofoten Islands Women’s Hiking Tour, Norway’s Lofoten Islands Hiking Tour
Hear the chirping love calls of the male coquí frog on Hawaii’s Big Island. These invasive creatures may be tiny (the size of a quarter), but their two-note calls—ko-KEE!—can be quite loud (up to 90 decibels, comparable to a lawnmower). While they can be heard around the island, most are found at low elevations on the more humid eastern side.
Backroads will take you there: Hawaii’s Big Island Multi-Adventure Tour, Hawaii’s Big Island Family Multi-Adventure Tour
Tatami mats underfoot, especially after a day of hiking or biking, are like a massage for your feet. In Japan, we stay in traditional ryokans and visit temples laid with these traditional floor coverings, which are crafted from rush grass and rice straw. They absorb humidity and help keep floors cool in the summer.
Backroads will take you there: Japan Hiking & Walking Tour, Japan Bike Tour
Maine lobsters with the sweetest, most delicate meat are brought ashore starting in mid-June, when the crustaceans begin to molt. The cold coastal waters and their soft shells this time of year contribute to this delicious taste and texture. Boiled, steamed or served in a toasted and buttered roll, they’re a classic can’t-miss meal on these trips.
Backroads will take you there: Maine’s Acadia National Park Hiking & Walking Tour, Maine Multi-Adventure Tours, Maine Bike Tour
The sharp aroma of Scotch whisky startles you at the nose before you take your first sip. Can you distinguish Islay’s peaty scent, Speyside’s sweet, fruity hit and the Highlands’ heather notes? After a day of hiking or biking Scotland’s hills and dales, there’s nothing like a stop into a quintessential bar for a tasting to warm the insides.
Backroads will take you there: Scotland Hiking & Walking Tours, Scotland Bike Tours
If it’s hard to sleep at night in a certain region of Romania, maybe it’s the creeping suspicion that there’s more to vampires and Transylvania than just myth. Vlad Dracula lived here some 500 years ago, but locals still do dry garlic outside their doors, and more than a few castles are said to be haunted. Let the legends pique your curiosity about this beautiful, mountainous land.
Backroads will take you there: Romania Hiking & Walking Tour
July
See monkeys and caimans and sloths—oh my!—in Costa Rica. These and many brightly colored wildlife live on the beachfront of Manuel Antonio National Park. Toucans flutter in the treetops. Howler monkeys (who really do bellow) and capuchins (quick thieves) leap through the canopy. Punk-looking spiny-tailed iguanas hang out on trunks, and purple-and-orange Halloween crabs scuttle across the sand. Even more creatures come out at night. On our trips, you’ll get the guided intel from a naturalist.
Backroads will take you there: Costa Rica Beaches & Wildlife Family Multi-Adventure Tour
Hear cowbells and more cowbells. In Switzerland, dairy cows wander freely as they graze in the high Alpine pastures, and their sizable bells (typically crafted from a bronze alloy and strapped to their necks with a soft leather belt) help herdsmen locate any that stray. In the past, the bigger the cowbells, the richer the owner, but today the biggest bell tends to identify the alpha. To visitors and trekking guests, the pleasant clinking is an auditory-enhancing addition to a trek. While cows wear bells in other European countries, it’s not to the extent seen here, where both sight and sound have become emblematic of Swiss summers.
Backroads will take you there: Switzerland Family Hiking & Walking Tour, Switzerland Hiking & Walking Tour, Switzerland Multi-Adventure Tour, Switzerland Family Multi-Adventure Tour
Reset with a treatment at a top-rated Italian spa. In the Dolomites, two standout resorts have received accolades for their spas: COMO Alpina Dolomites, a Michelin Key hotel, and My Arbor, a modern-treehouse-like structure. At COMO, warm mountain hay is incorporated into signature treatments (a hay bath following a massage, or a hay mud wrap), while the goat milk wrap and mugo pine scrub also draw upon local ingredients. Special men’s and children’s treatments are also on the menu. At My Arbor, opt for an outdoor massage or ground yourself with a treatment that incorporates scents and oils of larch, spruce and stone and mountain pines.
Backroads will take you there: Dolomites Lodge-to-Lodge Hiking Tour (for COMO) and Bavaria, Tyrolean Alps & the Dolomites Multi-Adventure Tour (for My Arbor).
Moon Mist, a unique banana-, grape- and bubblegum-flavored ice cream invented in Nova Scotia 50+ years ago, is the sought-after summer flavor in Canada’s eastern provinces. Order it scooped from a local shop or buy it by the tub from select grocery stores.
Backroads will take you there: Nova Scotia Bike Tour, Nova Scotia Easygoing Walking Tour, Nova Scotia Hiking & Walking Tour
Smell the lavender in Provence, France. The peak blooming period of this fragrant violet flower tends to happen in the first two weeks of July—starting with lower-altitude areas, like the Luberon—with the harvest quick to follow to make the most of the plant’s oils. The calming aroma is known to reduce stress and anxiety, and studies have shown that smelling its oils can help manage headaches and even heal wounds.
Backroads will take you there: Provence Luberon to Lavender Country Bike Tour
Superstition in Sicily is a real thing. Are you sick because of a virus? Or did someone give you the evil eye? Hold up the horn gesture! Wear a necklace with a cornicello (little horn)! Ask that nonna to flick olive oil into a bowl of water and recite the spell to ward off mal’occhio. This belief continues to be passed from generation to generation, and if you know where to look, you’ll see that evidence of it abounds.
Backroads will take you there: Sicily Family Multi-Adventure Tour, Sicily & the Aeolian Islands Hiking & Walking Tour
August
Watch for sleek, white beluga whales swimming up Alaska’s Cook Inlet, frequently spotted at the mouth of the Kenai River around mid-month, as well as up into the Knik and Turnagain Arms on the rising tides. The pods that live here are endangered, and each year, residents gather on the shoreline for a Belugas Count! event to help monitor numbers of the protected population.
Backroads will take you there: Alaska’s Glaciers & Coast Multi-Adventure Tour, Alaska’s Wilderness & Fjords Multi-Adventure Tour
Nature goes silent—birds stop singing, insects stop buzzing and many other animals go quiet—during a solar eclipse, happening this year on August 12 in western Iceland. The two minutes of darkness will briefly confuse creatures into thinking it’s nighttime. Additionally, the temperature drop (as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit) can prompt bees to return to their hives.
Backroads will take you there: Iceland’s Glaciers & Coast Family Multi-Adventure Tour, Iceland’s Glaciers & Coast Multi-Adventure Tour
Feel the slickrock and cool waters of Zion National Park’s Narrows, the most famous slot-canyon river hike in America. In August, the Virgin River’s flow through the Utah gorge is generally mellower than during other seasons (read: easier to wade upstream), and water temperature can be as warm as 68 degrees. The smooth sandstone of the Narrows’ high walls—up to 1,500 feet—was carved over thousands of years.
Backroads will take you there: Utah’s Bryce & Zion Hiking & Walking Tour, Utah’s Bryce & Zion Multi-Adventure Tour, Utah’s Bryce & Zion Glamping Multi-Adventure Tour
You can’t explore Scandinavia this month without keeping an eye open for all the wild berries endemic to this region. Cloudberries aren’t cultivated, which means seeking them out in bogs and forests when they’re at their golden ripest. Bilberries are blue but not as sweet as the blueberries we know in the US. There are also lingonberries, crowberries—bitter, seed-filled and beloved by bears—and stone bramble berries. Foraging is a pastime in these parts, with great results.
Backroads will take you there: Sweden & Denmark Family Multi-Adventure Tour, Norway & Sweden Bike Tour, Norway & Sweden Family Bike Tour
Take in the smell of the honey-scented hydrangeas of the Azores. These massive pom-pom-like blooms, in colors that range from white and pink to violet and blue, line roadways and blanket the hills. You may find yourself in a Backroads van driving down a hydrangea highway in São Miguel with the windows down to take in the heady scent.
Backroads will take you there: Portugal’s Azores Multi-Adventure Tour, Portugal’s Azores Family Multi-Adventure Tour, Portugal’s Azores Hiking & Walking Tour
Sasquatch, Bigfoot, Dzoonakwa—call this mysterious and very hairy giant what you will. More than 700 reports argue he’s hidden in the cool wilds of Washington, where campers and outdoors people have suspected being watched by a nearby presence or even seeing a being that fit the bill. With its dense forests and healthy population of deer, many believe Bigfoot lives on the Olympic Peninsula. A local “Sasquatch investigator” and a Discovery Channel program have both spent time exploring this possibility.
Backroads will take you there: Olympic Peninsula to British Columbia Hiking & Walking Tour, San Juan Islands to Olympic National Park Multi-Adventure Tour, San Juan Islands to the Olympic Peninsula Family Multi-Adventure Tour
About Tasha: Tasha Zemke is a Backroads Marketing Writer & Editor and has a travel-journalism career spanning two decades. She has traveled to more than 35 countries, most recently Mexico and Japan. And on a May trip to Hawaii's Big Island, she was amazed that she could clearly hear the loud chirps of the coqui frogs while driving 45 miles per hour with the windows rolled up.
