Backroads Reviews 

Don’t book a tour with this company until you confirm the staffing level for the group activities! It’s a higher price-point company, but I’ve booked trips a few times because of timing and family trip wishes. Up until the last trip all had gone smoothly, with met expectations of premium service, accommodation and food. My son and I booked a hiking trip in Utah with Backroads, and were very excited about it. About a month before the trip, I realized that some recent back problems would hinder my ability to hike much of the trip, but we went anyway. I warned Backroads ahead of time about my problem, and assured them that I’d be able to gauge my readiness to hike various itineraries. I’ve hiked in Bryce and Zion before, so it was not a big problem for me to choose alternatives on my own. When we met the group, the leaders shared with me that they knew about my situation. The first day’s hike was a disaster which I take some blame for, but was definitely exacerbated by Backroads’ bad judgment on cost-savings of having only 1 hike leader through the desert, at 105 degrees. I’d decided to try the 3.5 mile hike, 65 feet of gain, because it looked like the easiest one, and I expected that there would be two hike leaders. On no other paid-for hiking trip, with any hiking company, had I seen no back-up leader, to “sweep” the back of the group, especially in a place with few if any blazes. At numerous times we were left so far behind that we couldn’t see the group ahead. At the last section, the leader told us that she’d lead the group out, then “come back for us.” She never returned to the spot, and we were alone, lost in the desert, and were at least 1/2 hour late getting back to the van, which we’d located ourselves. The rest of the day had us in the St. George emergency room, where my son had developed a bad case of heat exhaustion. He missed both days of hiking in Zion, recovering from the ordeal. The rest of the trip was great, the two guides were wonderful and lived up to my previous Backroads experiences. But the high cost of this trip was just not justified this time.

Happy with all aspects of our bike tour of Vermont and into Canada. Excellent accomodations in lovely settings, most all meals provided and were varied and delicious, high quality bikes and a group of 4 outstanding young women who were extremely knowledgable, patient and capable. It was a memorable trip and we look forward to our next Backroads adventure

An Unforgettable Backroads Experience: Croatia To Montenegro Multi-Adventure 2025

If you want to travel to several different amazing countries and cities in several days, have fun to the nth degree, partake in adventures that ore safe but push your limits, absorb the local history and culture, be pampered in great accommodations, experience wonderful camaraderie, take away great memories, be guided by incredible leaders that anticipate your needs and make your wishes come true, eat healthy and delicious food while gaining muscle but not weight, then this Backroads adventurous trip is for you. First and foremost, our trip leaders (Martinho, Solana, snd Stefan) and guides (Biljana in Kotor, Paula in Seask Kuca, and Josip in Dubrovnik) were everything you could want and more. The state of the art E-Bicycles made the spectacularly scenic rides well within your reach while allowing you to titrate your effort to your mind and body’s content. The cities were all extremely interesting and unique in different ways. The times were chosen to minimize the crowds in the larger ones that accommodated cruise ships. The bicycle routes through scenic vineyards, beautiful mountains, and along spectacular coast lines were meticulously planned and so well chosen!! So many memorable experiences to choose from but a few highlights: the trailside super-delicious homemade tapas in the mountains above Kotor made with love and skill by Biljana and the countryside lunch in the beautiful taverna style restaurant, Cilipi. I could go on and on but no words can evoke the actual smells, tastes, sounds, images, thrills, emotions, feelings, moods, and thoughts delightfully provoked by this amazing feast of experiences. I would like to say this amazing trip is a once in a lifetime experience, but I will not as I know I will return for many more Backroads adventures … and in my next life as perhaps one of the wonderful guides🙏🙏😊😊

I recently finished a multisport patagonia lakes district trip. Disappointingly, it did not meet my expectations in activities, quality of hotels nor food offerings. They claim to offer less strenuous biking options and fail to mention the route is gravel. No electric bike option available either, although there were plenty of them being riden on our routes. Bottled water was not a standard offering and tap water was what was made available. Unfortunately, a few guests, including myself got "food poisening" symptoms, which we believed to have been due to the tap water. My feedback on limited food selections (how many days in a row can you expect guests to be satisfied eatting the same fish offering)? and tired properties were answered by their rep with statements saying these were luxury tier and would make note in my file I might prefer "comfort" properties instead. Rather than acknowledging my feedback of nonworking spa equipment and + 30 year old bathrooms you wouldn't dare walk barefoot in, my feedback was dismissed and the BR standard line given. Lastly, I did not rate my guides as excellent, I rated them in the top 25% but their rep wanted to know specifically why I had not given them a 10, as she claimed they would form a remedial plan of improvement for them.
I am convinced Backroads pushes back on anything that's not a 5* ratings and discounts any feedback that might be contrary to that. I'd suggest BR start with listening to clients concerns and NOT correcting them as to why a client's feedback is not an accurate description of their experience. I have over +40 adventure travel vacations under my belt and BR is in the lower tier of my experiences.

Easily one of the best companies I’ve ever experienced. I’ve done about ten trips with Backroads and they are easily the best in their industry. Better than TrekTravel and VBT for sure. Mostly because their Trip Leaders are consistently phenomenal and Backroads seems to go above and beyond to make sure every detail of the trip is executed to perfection. The biking routes, the hotels, the restaurants, the whole journey. I’ll be traveling with them for as long as I can ride a bike.

Terrible experience with the company . Use any other company -
Their phone staff give inaccurate information .
VBT was a superior experience

Poor Customer Service
I would have expected more from Backroads when they cancelled a trip and did not provide a refund.