Back-Roads Tours

Although many meals and entrance fees are included within the price of our tours, you will need to bring spending money to cover non-included meals, drinks and activities.

Unlike many tour companies, we include a selection of entrances in our tour prices. Any other entrance fees will be at your own expense.

As we travel in mini-coaches, luggage space is limited. Each of our guests may bring one piece of main luggage of a standard size of no more than 158cm (when the length, width and height is added together) and weighing no more than 20kg. You may also bring one small carry-on bag per person. If you have more luggage, please make arrangements to store it prior to joining the tour. We are unable to carry extra luggage on the mini-coach.

A suggested packing list will be provided in your pre-departure information. We suggest packing for variable weather conditions. If you are travelling through the UK or Europe in the summer, make sure you pack a hat and sunscreen. We also suggest a pair of good shoes for walking tours.

The majority of the hotels we use have limited or no ground floor rooms. If you require a ground floor room, please request it in advance and we will try our best to arrange it for you. Most of the hotels we use do not have lifts. For this reason, we recommend that you only join a Back-Roads tour if you are able to walk upstairs unassisted. You are required to inform us about any pre-existing medical conditions and/or mobility challenges that could affect your trip.

Breakfasts will be served in our hotels throughout the trip. Included evening meals come in the form of a three-course dinner, either in our hotel or at a local pub or restaurant. Please note that drinks will not always be included.

While you won’t be able to share a room with another single traveller, we do offer a very reasonable single supplement rate on all our tours.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer triple rooms.

We use a 3-star/4-star standard of accommodation ranging from country inns to town centre hotels (and the odd castle!). Rather than going by the official rating (based solely on facilities rather than the standard of the accommodation), we base our choices on quality, charm and character. In all hotels, the rooms have en-suite bathrooms. Porterage is included wherever possible.

Many of the traditional accommodations we use are historic buildings that have been converted to hotels. Often the rooms are different shapes and sizes, and some may be smaller than you might be used to in newer chain hotels. Most of our hotels do not have lifts or air conditioning. In many cases, this is due to regulations concerning ‘listed’ (protected) buildings. However, guests will be offered fans during periods of hot weather (subject to availability).

Airport transfers are not included in your tour price. You will need to make your own way to the tour start location and are on your own arrangements at the conclusion of your tour.

For some destinations, pre and post-tour accommodation can be arranged by your Global Journeys travel advisor. Please note, all tours start at 6pm on Day 1 of your tour. Therefore, you may not require pre-tour accommodation. Most tours end in the early evening. Back-Raods cannot take you to the airport and we suggest you return home the day after your tour to ensure you don’t miss your flight due to unforeseen circumstances.

As a general rule, we are normally able to guarantee our tours when we have a minimum of seven passengers booked. However, some tours require a higher number of booked passengers before we can guarantee that they will run. Examples include our tours of Norway. Guaranteed tours are identified on our website. Your Global Journeys travel advisor will advise you of a tour’s ongoing status. If Back-Roads are forced to cancel a tour, you will be advised at least six weeks in advance. You will then have a choice of a full refund of the amount paid for the tour, or choosing an alternative tour.

The majority of our guests come from Canada, the USA, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa - and our tours are designed principally for adults, age 18+. All tour commentaries are in English. Our tours appeal to those looking for a more relaxing style of travel, and who enjoy culture, good food, meeting like-minded people and exploring destinations in depth. We welcome first-time travellers, but also find that many of our passengers have travelled with us before!

Yes. While you are welcome to purchase a travel insurance policy of your choosing, we will require you to provide the policy number and company information to us prior to departure. This is to ensure that our Tour Leaders have all of your information prior to arrival – in case they need to step in and assist you before or during the tour.