Can I Bring My Young Child on a Family Trip? Backroads welcomes young kids on Family Trips. Please note: Backroads has a minimum age requirement of 4 years old. When traveling with a young child, please keep in mind the following:
Bike Safety
For safety reasons, we do not allow children under 7 to ride their own bikes on any trips. On some trips, the minimum age is raised to 9 for safety reasons. Children riding their own bikes must be comfortable with light traffic, occasional narrow shoulders, be able to ride in a straight line without weaving or losing balance and be able to change gears and use hand brakes. If your leaders determine that your child is not riding safely, they will require your child to switch to a trailer bike or ride in the van.
Trailers, Trailer Bikes and Tandems
Pulling a child in a trailer carrier, trailer bike or a tandem can be challenging. Your child’s age, weight and height are factors, as well as the difficulty of the biking route. Hilly, narrow and winding roads can require more effort and attention to safety. We know and understand there are many parents who are strong and experienced riders and would happily pull their child anywhere, anytime. We recommend you practice pulling your child in a trailer carrier or on a trailer bike or tandem prior to your trip to ensure that you and your child are both comfortable with this arrangement. It is important to understand that if your child is under 8 and no longer wants to ride in a trailer carrier or on a trailer bike, you will need to join your child in the van. If you’re on a tandem, please keep in mind that it may not be possible to have a spare bike available for you should you decide mid-trip that you no longer want to ride your tandem; however, our tandems are quite suitable as a solo ride.
Other Activities
Rafting, canyoneering, climbing, horseback riding and some of our other organized trip activities have a minimum-age restriction—kids typically must be 6 years* or older to participate without a parent. Please plan ahead for an adult in your family to remain with your underage child during the activity, as the Trip Leaders will be facilitating these outings and unable to watch the little ones.
Formal Dining and Long Dinners
Some of our Family Trips have long and/or formal dinners, which can be tough on young kids. If you’re traveling with young children who can’t sit through long and/or formal dining experiences, you may want to consider these options: arrange for a childcare provider (if available through the hotel), choose to dine separately as a family or, if available, order room service and enjoy some quiet time.
Leaders Are Not Babysitters
Trip Leaders do not provide childcare outside of daily kids-only organized activities and kids-only dinners but will do their best to suggest alternate babysitting options if requested. You may also check with our trip hotels or local childcare services before the trip begins if you know of a specific night when you’d like to get childcare.
Other Reasons You May Need to Stay with Your Child
It is also important to understand that if there are problems with your child’s behavior, the Trip Leaders may ask you to chaperone and manage your child during activities, including riding in the van.
Nannies
Occasionally, families with younger children will bring their nannies to help facilitate a great family vacation. We can arrange for additional or shared rooming options for your nanny depending on the trip. Please keep in mind that if your nanny does not participate in the trip activities, they may need to spend long periods of time in the van in order to shuttle from one hotel to the next or be responsible for getting a taxi. Please check with your Trip Consultant for more details.