Hero Slider Images
Image
Blooming flowers on a green hillside

Active Travel Trends for 2025

Read More
Image
boats in clear blue water on a cove

10 Best Europe Vacation Tours for Families

Read More
Image
Large valley of crops with mountains in the background

An Unlikely Journey

Read More
Image
Row of homes in the UK

Nine Trips, Four Nations, One Kingdom: Which UK Adventure Fits You?

Read More
Formatted Text

Welcome to The BackBeat!

Your go-to guide for epic adventures. Dive into tales from the road and trail, straight from our expert Trip Leaders, and get the inside scoop on planning your next escape. From pro tips and a peek behind the scenes to bucket-list destinations and unforgettable travel stories, inspiration is here.

Backroads 100 year old biker
January 10, 2017

100 Years Old and Biking!

This year I had the honor of attending my first 100th birthday party. Actually, my Great Uncle Mike is the only 100-year-old I've ever met. But age is only half of this story... Uncle Mike's 100th birthday party was a bike ride! 100 years of age is a crazy thing to wrap your head around. But can you imagine being 100 and balancing on a bike, managing traffic, flying down hills?!

Read more
lavender field in provence france
January 5, 2017

The Luberon & Secret Provence

Provence rhymes with vacances ("vacations" in French). When I was a child, my family was renting every summer a mas (Provençal farm) in the Luberon. So when I came back to Provence years later with the mission of designing a new trip for Backroads, all my childhood memories came back to me!

Read more
Copenhagen, Denmark bicycle sign
December 19, 2016

On a Winter's Day in Copenhagen

It's the second winter that I'm spending in Copenhagen, the city that also happens to be the destination of Backroads' Stockholm to Copenhagen cycling voyage. Up here in the North, the winter days are short, sunrise is late and counting the hours to sunset does not require all fingers of both hands. Sometimes it seems as if the cold is not only freezing the lakes and ponds in the countless parks and city gardens, but it is also freezing time. The hands of the watch slow their pace, as if they want to save energy for the long awaited summer, when suddenly music festivals, foodie fairs and street galleries pop up at every corner as if they were tulips and Copenhagen was not a city, but a large, fertile field. While summer is the perfect time to explore Copenhagen's art and food scene, the slow winter is well-suited to chat up the locals and engage in some philosophizing, especially when a few sun rays manage to break through the cloudy sky.

Read more
The Backroads Experience
December 7, 2016

The Backroads Experience Video

What is the Backroads Experience? It’s the feeling of your body in motion, with the wind in your face and excitement as your experience unfolds. By bike or on foot, you explore hidden corners, meet locals and immerse yourself in the life of a region while traveling in the company of our expert leaders, the best in adventure travel. Since 1979 we’ve been exploring new places, dreaming up new adventures, and we never stop searching for the best, most inspiring ways to experience the world. We invite you to come and feel alive and engaged on your next adventure.

Read more
December 6, 2016

Hut-to-Hut Hiking in the Dolomites

Back in 1996, I was tasked with a dream research assignment at Backroads. The mission, which I gladly accepted, was to create an all-new luxury hiking itinerary in Italy’s prized Dolomite region. Stunning mountain peaks, fairy-tale valleys, an abundance of cozy accommodations and, best of all, the comfort of Italian cuisine made me an instant fan of this compact alpine playground.

Read more
Backroads trip leader with wildflowers in Alaska
November 23, 2016

Traveling in Alaska

It is easy to express the beauty of Alaska in words but seemingly difficult to articulate the impression this place leaves on the soul. Some say, once you visit Alaska you will never be the same. Not always such a dramatic life change but often times a subtle shift. It is the encounter with the wild that often times brings you closer to your true self.

Read more
Backroads Amalfi Coast tour
November 11, 2016

Amalfi Coast Walking & Hiking Tour Video

Let Backroads be your guide on the Amalfi Coast, where the views are stunning, the seafood is fresh, and the fragrant aromas of lemon trees and wildflowers may send your senses into full alert. We’ll wind our way through pastel-colored villages, along coastal trails, and on to golden pebble beaches. The friendly faces, fresh seafood, legendary Italian cuisine, and enchanting activities make this hiking tour one for the memory books.

Read more
Backroads trip leaders on Backroads Staff Ride in Mallorca
October 31, 2016

The End of the Season and that Full-Heart Feeling

I write from the Provence leader house, amid a low murmur of convivial kitchen banter and stovetop smells. I've brought a bottle of wine to contribute to this homemade chicken soup dinner, so my hands are free from cooking tasks. And so I sit and I think... as another season winds down.

Read more
vernazza beach
October 20, 2016

Cinque Terre Hiking - The Perfect Escape by the Sea

Cinque Terre is one of those rare places that leap from the pages of picture books simply because it seems too picturesque to be real. Do places like this really exist? A string of colorful centuries-old seaside villages perched on the rugged cliffs of the Italian Riviera, clinging to the rocks as if defying gravity. Small fishing boats ply the waters between the towns and happy locals enjoy lively conversations in the narrow winding streets that thread and climb steeply through these enchanting outposts overlooking the blue Mediterranean.

Read more
shutterstock fondue matterhorn - Courtesy Shutterstock
October 13, 2016

Fondue like Swiss do

If I learned one thing while studying in Switzerland, it’s that fondue brings people together. Fondue in winter warms you up from the inside. Summer fondue is a naughty pleasure, like a morning mimosa. Should you find yourself high in the mountains after a day of hiking or cycling, starting to shiver beneath the green-cheese moon—maybe it’s time to ditch the diet and dip in.

Read more