Backroads

What Backroads Is and Where It Operates

Backroads runs its own active trips: biking, hiking and walking, and what it calls Multi-Adventure trips that mix activities. Its About page says "Since 1979, we've pioneered Biking, Hiking & Walking and Multi-Adventure Trips in over 60 countries," and the same page says the company has some 192 staff at its Berkeley headquarters and regional offices in Utah, Canada and France, and employs more than 800 Trip Leaders worldwide.

The destination menu covers Europe (from Austria, the Baltics and Croatia through France, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Scotland, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland), the United States (national parks plus states from Alaska and California to Vermont and Wyoming), Canada (British Columbia, the Canadian Rockies, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Quebec), Africa (Botswana, Egypt, Morocco, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia), Asia and the Pacific (Australia, Bali, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Japan, Laos, Nepal, New Zealand, Tahiti, Thailand and Vietnam) and Latin America (from Argentina and Belize to Peru and Uruguay, including the Galápagos and Patagonia).

The Range of Trips

The activities menu splits biking into standard Biking Tours, Unplugged Bike Tours and Easygoing Bike Tours; hiking and walking into Easygoing Walking, Moderate Hiking and Walking and Challenging Hiking; and Multi-Adventure into versions with and without biking. Collections add Easygoing Dolce Tempo trips, Active Ocean Cruises, Active River Cruises, Lodge-to-Lodge, Home Base, Glamping, Snow Adventures, Active Safaris and Active Culinary trips.

Trips are also sorted by traveler. There are Trips for Adults, trips for Couples, Friends and Solos, Women's Adventures, and two family ranges: Families with Kids and Teens, and Families with Teens and 20s. The About page says "Only Backroads offers different Family Trips specifically designed for three distinct age groups." Private Trips run the same itineraries for friends, family or colleagues, and the page advises booking early for best availability; and the menu also lists Small Group Savings, Solo Room Savings, Last-Minute Trips, New 2027 Trips and Quick Escapes.

The homepage quotes leaders on trips they are looking forward to in 2027, including the Channel Islands with Santa Barbara, a Costa Rica and Panama crossing, Tasmania and a walking trip on Mallorca. The date search runs from September 2026 through to 2029, and the About page claims "the most departure dates and destinations in active travel," with "hundreds of itineraries" ranging from California's Wine Country to the pampas of Patagonia and the hill country of Thailand.

Each activity gets its own pitch on the About page. Biking is about "exploring new landscapes under your own power" at your own pace, "with no obligation to slow down or keep up with anyone else." The hiking and walking trips lean on the support of multiple leaders so that each guest "can always go at your perfect pace." The Multi-Adventure trips combine biking, hiking, paddling and other activities chosen for each destination. Leaders' quotes on the homepage give a flavor of the newer routes: the Channel Islands as a landscape "removed from modern life," Mallorca's "Ancient stone paths, mountain villages, dramatic coastline," and an unnamed island trip with "lush laurel forests" that, in the leader's words, no other tour company visits.

How Trips Work on the Ground

Backroads builds its trips around support. The homepage says "We offer 3 or more leaders per trip," rated by guests "an average of 9.8 out of 10," and the About page describes "multiple leaders and vans" giving flexibility every day. Each day offers several route options: "Multiple daily routes each day give you the freedom to enjoy the best of the region at your own pace." The company says all activity levels are welcome, "from easygoing to avid," and it grades trips from Easygoing to Challenging in its menus. How hard a given route is, and how that suits a particular traveler, is for the traveler to judge from each trip's own page.

On group size the About page gives no number, only that "Our group sizes are small enough to deliver the personalized support you need, and large enough to keep the conversations interesting." Hotels and food get a line on the homepage, from "Michelin stars to back-room bistros," and the company credits Regional Managers with an average tenure of 14+ years for designing the trips.

Booking and Support

The About page lists the reservations numbers, 800-462-2848 or 510-527-1555, and a separate line for travel advisors, 877-925-5669. The site header gives business hours of 7am-5pm PT on weekdays and 7am-3pm PT on weekends. Travelers can log in to a My Trips area, order a free catalog, sign up for email and use a help section. Travel advisors can book on a client's behalf.

The company-level pages do not give a price for any trip, a deposit or a cancellation policy, so those have to be read on a trip page or the terms. They also do not give a maximum group size in numbers.

Background, Responsible Travel and Who It Suits

The About page tells the founding story: Tom Hale left environmental planning, pedaled 5,000 solo miles through the West while planning the business, and ran his first tour in Death Valley for four guests, including his mother. The About page says guests give its leaders "an overall 98% approval rating."

The Responsible Travel page organizes its work around people, planet and community. It describes a Give Back Field Project in which a Trip Leader donated bicycles and taught bike maintenance on Santa Cruz Island in the Galápagos, and the About page says the company has donated over one million dollars in trips as fundraisers for non-profits. The Responsible Travel page also links a report from the USTOA Sustainability Is Responsibility Summit in Alaska, and the photography credits page lists individual photographers alongside partner hotels and tourism boards.

Backroads suits travelers who want an active trip with plenty of support, a choice of daily distances and good hotels, and families who want a trip pitched at their children's ages. The size of the catalog and the number of departures make it easy to find a date. It suits less well anyone looking for a budget tour, a self-guided ride, or a stated group-size cap before booking.