Italy Adventure Travel: Guided Bike Tours of Tuscany, Amalfi Coast Walking Tours, Puglia, Umbria, and More

Experience the incomparable charm of Italy on an active vacation with Backroads!

“For us to go to Italy and to penetrate into Italy is like a most fascinating act of self-discovery — back, back down the old ways of time. Strange and wonderful chords awake in us, and vibrate again after many hundreds of years of complete forgetfulness.” — D. H. Lawrence (1885—1930)

What the English novelist and poet D. H. Lawrence expresses makes sense: During a trip to Italy, the closer and more interactive you get with the country, the more you enrich and learn about yourself. And penetrating into this storied nation is best done by walking its streets, biking its trails, or boating its waters.

In fact, hundreds of local festivals — usually celebrating a harvest or a saint — take place across the Italian peninsula and its islands on any given day, including the daily ritual of passeggiata, where young and old alike take part in a collective evening stroll through their towns and villages. In Tuscany, for example, you might amble down cypress-flanked lanes, past vineyards and olive groves, stopping for a taste of Brunello or olive oil on bread, toasted in a stone fireplace.

Along the Amalfi Coast, where pastel-colored villas cling to steep cliffs, a walk might take you to the Isle of Capri’s highest point atop Monte Solaro. Your feet will glide upon centuries-old cobblestones, up ancient steps etched into rugged hillsides. Hundreds of feet above the blue-green Mediterranean, you’ll be able to savor the superb vista you earned of the Faraglioni sea stacks. Or choose to boat along the Costiera Amalfitana, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Biking the Dolomites is an adventure in Italy that is sure to awake D. H. Lawrence’s “wonderful chords” in you. Maybe it’s the way these mountains caress the light, casting shadows at unexpected angles. Perhaps it’s the long twisting climbs and glorious descents that put you in tune with your every muscle.

Or try biking Italy coast to coast, from the Ionian to the Adriatic. You’ll spin over undulating terrain with views of azure seas and picturesque, white-sand beaches. In Sicily, your Italian adventure could encompass a ride through orange groves above the Mediterranean as Mount Etna simmers on the horizon.

There’s another thought about Italy that is often quoted: It’s said that if there is one special national characteristic, it’s that Italians know how to live life to the fullest. After your tour of Italy, you will, too.

Scroll down to learn more about Italy adventure travel and browse our guided bike tours in Tuscany, Umbria, Puglia, Sicily, as well as our Puglia, Umbria and Sicily walking trips.