Latest news with #activeTravel
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
This Surprising Exercise May Be Better for Your Brain Than Walking, New Study Suggests
Reviewed by Dietitian Annie Nguyen, M.A., RDCycling was linked to a 19% lower dementia risk and 22% lower Alzheimer's risk. Active travel may boost gray matter in memory-related brain regions, like the hippocampus. Benefits of active travel persist regardless of genetics, especially for Alzheimer's is a condition that disrupts memory, cognitive abilities and the ability to perform daily tasks, and its prevalence continues to rise globally, particularly among older adults. The good news? Staying physically active in middle age may be a powerful way to lower the risk of developing dementia. Research consistently highlights the protective benefits of regular movement, though many adults still fall short of meeting recommended activity levels. One effective method to boost physical activity is what is referred to as 'active travel,' which includes walking or cycling for transportation. In other words, the simple act of skipping the car, bus or train and traveling by foot or bike may have a profound impact on brain health. Active travel not only promotes general health but has also been linked to a decreased risk of conditions like diabetes and potentially dementia. But participating in active travel won't be a magic bullet to living a dementia-free life. The interplay between lifestyle habits and genetic predisposition of developing dementia adds another layer of complexity. While active travel presents health advantages for most individuals, the extent of those benefits may differ depending on a person's genetic risk for dementia. To explore this relationship further, researchers in the UK conducted a study to determine how various modes of travel influence dementia risk, including Alzheimer's disease, alongside changes in brain structure, and their results were published in JAMA Network Open. To conduct this study, researchers used data from the UK Biobank cohort. These participants came from different regions across England, Scotland and Wales. The study gathered extensive information about their demographics, lifestyles, health conditions and more through surveys and exams. For this research, some participants were excluded, such as those already diagnosed with dementia at the start or shortly after (within 2 years), those who couldn't walk, and those missing travel-related data. The study looked at two groups of dementia cases: those who developed dementia before age 65 (younger onset dementia) and those diagnosed at 65 or older (later onset dementia). The researchers ultimately evaluated 479,723 participants with over 13 years of follow-up. To gather information about travel habits, participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire that included questions about transportation choices that they used. Based on their answers, the researchers grouped travel modes into four categories: nonactive (using cars, motor vehicles, or public transport), walking, mixed-walking (a mix of walking and nonactive modes) and cycling and mixed-cycling (cycling combined with other modes). To identify individuals with dementia, they relied on detailed health records using standardized codes for medical diagnoses. They also used information from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain, heart and abdomen. The research also looked at genetic factors related to dementia, focusing on the APOE gene, which is known to play a key role in dementia risk. Specifically, two genetic markers (called single-nucleotide polymorphisms) were used to determine whether a participant had a higher genetic risk. Participants were then grouped based on whether or not they carried the APOE ε4 gene variant. Over a follow-up period of about 13 years, researchers found that out of all participants, 1.8% were diagnosed with dementia, including a very small group who developed it at a younger age (0.2%). The study compared different types of travel, like walking, cycling, or a mix of the two, with nonactive travel modes like driving. The results showed that people who cycled, or combined cycling with other modes, had a notably lower risk of developing dementia overall, particularly later-life dementia. For instance, using a mix of walking reduced overall dementia risk by 6%, while cycling or combining cycling with other methods lowered the risk by 19%. Even for younger onset dementia specifically, cycling or mixed-cycling appeared to cut the risk by 40%. On the other hand, walking alone seemed to slightly increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease by 14%, but cycling or mixed-cycling helped reduce its risk by 22%. When researchers studied brain scans , they found that cycling and combining cycling with other methods of travel were linked to slight increases in gray matter volume (GMV) in certain parts of the brain, including the hippocampus, which is important for memory. Walking and combining walking with other travel modes, however, were linked to slightly smaller volumes of gray and white matter in some areas. Importantly, these changes don't suggest a higher risk of dementia but highlight how different activities may affect the brain. Nonactive travel, like driving, didn't show any significant impact on brain structure in this study. Interestingly, the researchers found that genetic risk didn't change the link between travel mode and early-onset dementia or Alzheimer's disease. However, for all dementia types and late-onset dementia, genetics did play a role. People who didn't have a specific genetic marker (APOE ε4) seemed to benefit more from cycling, showing lower dementia risks compared to those with the marker. While these results are interesting and compelling, it is worth noting some limitations to this study. First, because younger onset dementia is relatively rare, the researchers couldn't break down the different types of cycling, making it hard to draw a firm conclusion. To improve this, future studies need more participants with younger onset dementia and longer follow-up periods. Second, they relied on people reporting their own travel habits, which might not always be accurate. Third, the researchers didn't track how travel habits changed over time, making it challenging to best understand these patterns. Finally, the study group lacked racial and ethnic diversity, as most participants were of European ancestry, so the results may not apply to all groups equally. Understanding how active travel impacts dementia risk can ignite meaningful changes in your daily life, especially if you are focused on supporting your cognitive health. Imagine replacing those quick car rides with a refreshing walk or bike ride! Not only do you help the environment by cutting down on emissions when you do this, but you also take a proactive step toward protecting your brain health. Whether it's walking to the corner store, cycling to work or enjoying a peaceful stroll in the park, these simple shifts can deliver long-term benefits. The great thing is that incorporating more movement into your routine is achievable for most people and it may also support your brain health to boot. Not all communities make it easy to bike or walk to work or while running errands. But if you can find time to go for a ride around the neighborhood or lengthen your parking lot walks at the grocery store, those little moments of extra activity could be helpful to your longterm health. But active travel is just one piece of the bigger picture. Brain health thrives on a combination of regular exercise, a balanced diet, staying socially connected and getting quality sleep. While we can't control genetic factors, adopting healthy habits like active travel empowers us to take charge of what we can. The key is to tailor these efforts to your environment—whether that's walking more in pedestrian-friendly cities or cycling in bike-supportive areas. Small, consistent actions add up, and over time, they may help support not only your cognitive health but your overall health as well. This study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that cycling may be linked to a 19% lower risk of developing dementia and a 22% lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found that cycling may increase gray matter volume in the hippocampus, which plays a critical role in memory. Conversely, nonactive modes of travel like driving did not show meaningful effects on brain health. While genetic factors can influence these outcomes, the study suggests that physical activity through active travel offers protective benefits regardless of genetic predispositions, especially for those without high-risk genetic markers. Whether through cycling, walking or other forms of active travel, making intentional choices about how we move through the world can yield profound health benefits. While active travel is not a one-size-fits-all solution, it can be a practical and rewarding way to support both brain and body. By combining movement with other healthy lifestyle choices, like eating a nutrient-rich diet, getting quality sleep and staying socially connected, you can take meaningful steps toward a healthier future. Read the original article on EATINGWELL
Yahoo
a day ago
- Health
- Yahoo
This Surprising Exercise May Be Better for Your Brain Than Walking, New Study Suggests
Reviewed by Dietitian Annie Nguyen, M.A., RDCycling was linked to a 19% lower dementia risk and 22% lower Alzheimer's risk. Active travel may boost gray matter in memory-related brain regions, like the hippocampus. Benefits of active travel persist regardless of genetics, especially for Alzheimer's is a condition that disrupts memory, cognitive abilities and the ability to perform daily tasks, and its prevalence continues to rise globally, particularly among older adults. The good news? Staying physically active in middle age may be a powerful way to lower the risk of developing dementia. Research consistently highlights the protective benefits of regular movement, though many adults still fall short of meeting recommended activity levels. One effective method to boost physical activity is what is referred to as 'active travel,' which includes walking or cycling for transportation. In other words, the simple act of skipping the car, bus or train and traveling by foot or bike may have a profound impact on brain health. Active travel not only promotes general health but has also been linked to a decreased risk of conditions like diabetes and potentially dementia. But participating in active travel won't be a magic bullet to living a dementia-free life. The interplay between lifestyle habits and genetic predisposition of developing dementia adds another layer of complexity. While active travel presents health advantages for most individuals, the extent of those benefits may differ depending on a person's genetic risk for dementia. To explore this relationship further, researchers in the UK conducted a study to determine how various modes of travel influence dementia risk, including Alzheimer's disease, alongside changes in brain structure, and their results were published in JAMA Network Open. To conduct this study, researchers used data from the UK Biobank cohort. These participants came from different regions across England, Scotland and Wales. The study gathered extensive information about their demographics, lifestyles, health conditions and more through surveys and exams. For this research, some participants were excluded, such as those already diagnosed with dementia at the start or shortly after (within 2 years), those who couldn't walk, and those missing travel-related data. The study looked at two groups of dementia cases: those who developed dementia before age 65 (younger onset dementia) and those diagnosed at 65 or older (later onset dementia). The researchers ultimately evaluated 479,723 participants with over 13 years of follow-up. To gather information about travel habits, participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire that included questions about transportation choices that they used. Based on their answers, the researchers grouped travel modes into four categories: nonactive (using cars, motor vehicles, or public transport), walking, mixed-walking (a mix of walking and nonactive modes) and cycling and mixed-cycling (cycling combined with other modes). To identify individuals with dementia, they relied on detailed health records using standardized codes for medical diagnoses. They also used information from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain, heart and abdomen. The research also looked at genetic factors related to dementia, focusing on the APOE gene, which is known to play a key role in dementia risk. Specifically, two genetic markers (called single-nucleotide polymorphisms) were used to determine whether a participant had a higher genetic risk. Participants were then grouped based on whether or not they carried the APOE ε4 gene variant. Over a follow-up period of about 13 years, researchers found that out of all participants, 1.8% were diagnosed with dementia, including a very small group who developed it at a younger age (0.2%). The study compared different types of travel, like walking, cycling, or a mix of the two, with nonactive travel modes like driving. The results showed that people who cycled, or combined cycling with other modes, had a notably lower risk of developing dementia overall, particularly later-life dementia. For instance, using a mix of walking reduced overall dementia risk by 6%, while cycling or combining cycling with other methods lowered the risk by 19%. Even for younger onset dementia specifically, cycling or mixed-cycling appeared to cut the risk by 40%. On the other hand, walking alone seemed to slightly increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease by 14%, but cycling or mixed-cycling helped reduce its risk by 22%. When researchers studied brain scans , they found that cycling and combining cycling with other methods of travel were linked to slight increases in gray matter volume (GMV) in certain parts of the brain, including the hippocampus, which is important for memory. Walking and combining walking with other travel modes, however, were linked to slightly smaller volumes of gray and white matter in some areas. Importantly, these changes don't suggest a higher risk of dementia but highlight how different activities may affect the brain. Nonactive travel, like driving, didn't show any significant impact on brain structure in this study. Interestingly, the researchers found that genetic risk didn't change the link between travel mode and early-onset dementia or Alzheimer's disease. However, for all dementia types and late-onset dementia, genetics did play a role. People who didn't have a specific genetic marker (APOE ε4) seemed to benefit more from cycling, showing lower dementia risks compared to those with the marker. While these results are interesting and compelling, it is worth noting some limitations to this study. First, because younger onset dementia is relatively rare, the researchers couldn't break down the different types of cycling, making it hard to draw a firm conclusion. To improve this, future studies need more participants with younger onset dementia and longer follow-up periods. Second, they relied on people reporting their own travel habits, which might not always be accurate. Third, the researchers didn't track how travel habits changed over time, making it challenging to best understand these patterns. Finally, the study group lacked racial and ethnic diversity, as most participants were of European ancestry, so the results may not apply to all groups equally. Understanding how active travel impacts dementia risk can ignite meaningful changes in your daily life, especially if you are focused on supporting your cognitive health. Imagine replacing those quick car rides with a refreshing walk or bike ride! Not only do you help the environment by cutting down on emissions when you do this, but you also take a proactive step toward protecting your brain health. Whether it's walking to the corner store, cycling to work or enjoying a peaceful stroll in the park, these simple shifts can deliver long-term benefits. The great thing is that incorporating more movement into your routine is achievable for most people and it may also support your brain health to boot. Not all communities make it easy to bike or walk to work or while running errands. But if you can find time to go for a ride around the neighborhood or lengthen your parking lot walks at the grocery store, those little moments of extra activity could be helpful to your longterm health. But active travel is just one piece of the bigger picture. Brain health thrives on a combination of regular exercise, a balanced diet, staying socially connected and getting quality sleep. While we can't control genetic factors, adopting healthy habits like active travel empowers us to take charge of what we can. The key is to tailor these efforts to your environment—whether that's walking more in pedestrian-friendly cities or cycling in bike-supportive areas. Small, consistent actions add up, and over time, they may help support not only your cognitive health but your overall health as well. This study published in JAMA Network Open suggests that cycling may be linked to a 19% lower risk of developing dementia and a 22% lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers found that cycling may increase gray matter volume in the hippocampus, which plays a critical role in memory. Conversely, nonactive modes of travel like driving did not show meaningful effects on brain health. While genetic factors can influence these outcomes, the study suggests that physical activity through active travel offers protective benefits regardless of genetic predispositions, especially for those without high-risk genetic markers. Whether through cycling, walking or other forms of active travel, making intentional choices about how we move through the world can yield profound health benefits. While active travel is not a one-size-fits-all solution, it can be a practical and rewarding way to support both brain and body. By combining movement with other healthy lifestyle choices, like eating a nutrient-rich diet, getting quality sleep and staying socially connected, you can take meaningful steps toward a healthier future. Read the original article on EATINGWELL
Forbes
3 days ago
- Forbes
Top 10 Active Travel Trends For Your Next Great Hiking Or Cycling Vacation
Active travel, especially guided or self-guided hiking and cycling trips, have exploded in ... More popualarity in recent years. Active travel is hot, and this segment of tourism has been booming ever since the pandemic. Actually, it was already growing before that, but during Covid-19, more people started doing more things outside, walking, hiking, biking and generally being active, and much of this newfound passion for the outdoors, nature and exercise has stuck around. As a result, most of the top players in the active travel field are reporting ongoing record bookings year after year since the pandemic, and most are adding many new trips, activities and destinations. So even if you do not already think active travel might be a good choice for you, consider these top 10 active travel trends for your next great hiking or cycling vacation This is a niche I personally love, and one that I have followed closely for more than a quarter century. I've biked, hiked, skied, paddled and trekked all over the globe, and I know the best companies, especially in the luxury active travel space, and I know what they have been doing differently in recent years. I speak regularly with executives of the best outfitters, as well as people who use them and travel agents who book them for clients, all so I can remain informed about all that is going on, and these are the most important recent trends I have identified. Backroads, the nation's largest and oldest luxury active travel specialist, has pioneered boat-based ... More hiking and biking trips, especially with European river cruises. This has probably been the single biggest shift, one that was largely pioneered by Backroads, the country's largest, best-known and longest established luxury guided active travel tour operator, for more than half a century. Backroads led the charge into using luxury European river cruise ships, which hold far fewer people but offer more space than most ocean-going cruise ships, and the big appeal is the fact that guests do not need to pack or unpack during the trip, whereas traditional active travel itineraries change hotels about every other day. In addition, if the weather is bad or you are just tired and want to opt out of an active day, you have the option of participating in the normal guided shore excursions the cruise lines offer. This proved so popular with guests that the company expanded to both river cruises in other continents and ocean cruises, and most recently added an active cruise trip to the Galapagos Islands, a Bucket List spot for many. A Turkish gulet ship used by luxury cycling specialist DuVine on its trips in Greece and Turkiye. Other top players in the luxury space, especially Butterfield & Robinson and DuVine, have followed suit. I've written about the special appeals of this particular niche here at Forbes so you can get a lot more detail. Instead of cruise ships, DuVine has focused on small groups and luxury-chartered boats and I wrote about one of their great trips here at Forbes as well. DuVine is a luxury cycling tour operator that hosts trips to single standout hotels such as ... More Tennessee's Blackberry Farm. The popularity of not packing and unpacking that led to the boom in boat-based trips above also fueled a surge in trips entirely based out of single lodging, rather than moving hotel to hotel. Backroads launched a series recently (currently for hiking only) and calls these 'Home Base' trips in desirable spots like Southern Italy's Puglia. The Cycling House, a Tucson-based biking specialist, has been doing it for a long time, both in Arizona and international destinations such as Italy and Spain, usually using a private villa. DuVine has some shorter 4-day cycling trips based at standout culinary and luxury lodging such as Troutbeck in New York's Hudson Valley, Glen Gordon Manor in Virginia horse country and Blackberry Farm, a legendary Relais & Chateaux property in Tennessee. DuVine also offers a slate of private villa-based cycling trips in Tuscany, Provence, Mapa and Mallorca. But the best example I know is Explora, an exceptional family-owned adventure lodge company in South America. Explora began in Chilean Patagonia with an award-winning eco-friendly luxury lodge and staff of expert, in-house, full-time guides, offering guests a dizzying array of varied activities during their stay, along with excellent food and wine on an all-inclusive basis. Explora has done it so well that the company has grown to multiple locations across Chile, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia. They now even do Iceland. I have visited their properties in Patagonia, the Atacama Desert and on Easter Island, and recommend them all heartily. For travelers wanting to experience the Incan ruins of Peru in an active way I can't imagine better option. Read more about Explora here. Macs Adventures is the leading self-guided active travel specialist, and offers several itineraries ... More for the Tour du Mont Blanc, one of the world's most iconic hikes. One of the biggest things that separates luxury active hiking or biking vacations from simply going backpacking or bike packing is the packing part. On these luxe trips your luggage is moved for you from place to place, so if you hike it's just with a day pack of layers and some water, and if you bike there are no cumbersome heavy panniers weighing you down. On top of this, there is usually a guide and support vehicles. But more and more travelers are choosing to go without the guide and support vehicles, while keeping the luxury of a detailed and well thought out itinerary with carefully selected routes, often the same kind of special tours, meals and activities set up along the way, and of course, the luggage transfer. All the higher end companies also have assistance phone call away if your bike breaks down or you get lost or such. Doing it this way is high-end self-guided, and one of the biggest advantages (besides being much cheaper) is that it essentially makes every trip a custom private one, so you can go when you want and just with your choice of traveling companions, rather than picking a scheduled departure date for a group trip with strangers. At the high end of the active travel luxury spectrum is Butterfield & Robinson, known as the top white glove operator and the one that has been doing these trips longer than anyone, sixty years in 2026 (I just wrote about their special 60th Birthday slate of trips here at Forbes). B&R was also the first to specialize in true luxury self-guided trips, and my wife and I did one for our anniversary, just the two of us in Burgundy, and it was fabulous. They offer a lot more than most companies do for self-guided, such as VIP private experiences and stellar included meals along the way. At the more budget friendly end of the spectrum is Macs Adventures, a very large and well-established UK-based operator that recently opened a U.S. office and has grown very quickly in the American market. Macs does nothing but self-guided, with hundreds of global hiking and biking itineraries, and offers a more no-frills version, with an itinerary of selected lodgings, luggage transfers, and a standout app that provided detailed route maps and turn by turn directions, but no meals (beyond breakfast) or activities. It is perfect for self-starters who want to do their own exploring and choose their own dining but still have the infrastructure of a waiting hotel room and waiting luggage. Macs offers an incredible array of hiking and biking trips all over the world and is a great value proposition. In between these two extremes are companies such as Trek Travel and VBT Biking Adventures for cycling, Country Walkers for hiking, and highly expert, local, one country specialty active travel operators like Tourissimo in Italy and WalkJapan in Japan. Tourissimo calls their version 'concierge self-guided' because so much local expertise is provided along with luggage transfers. I have recently traveled with both of these last two companies and highly recommend them. Both offer regular fully guided scheduled trips but have self-guided options with more support and activities included along the way. Read my story 'Why Your Best Hiking or Biking Trip Might Be Self-Guided Active Travel' here at Forbes. Bhutan was the most recent country to create a border to border hiking trail spanning the entire ... More nation. I've seen a big surge in coast-to-coast or border-to-border trips, such as cycling across the entire width of Italy, from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean. Several tour operators offer this, including one of my favorites, DuVine, a very high-end luxury operator with special focus on wine and gastronomy. There is also Bike It! Tours, a very local tour operator with a bike shop in Bellagio, on Lake Como, that offers this trip on a custom basis just for your group and is a great value with deep local knowledge. Another Italy specialist, Tourissimo, does an 8-day cycling trip across the island of Sardinia from coast to coast. Trek Travel, another one of the big higher-end global hiking and cycling tour operators, offers several cross-country bike trips, in Italy, France, Spain, even the entire United States. They are the only high-end company doing a fully-support transcontinental U.S. trip, but it takes almost eight weeks. Walking the Coast of Wales. More manageable is biking or hiking across England, offered by Wilderness England (8 and 13 days respectively). In recent years countries such as Bhutan and Liechtenstein have created new hiking trails that run the full width of their countries, and I was the first foreigner to tackle a walk across Liechtenstein. The Liechtenstein Trail is just 45-miles long and the national tourist board offers several 6-7 day packages with lodging and luggage transfers along the way, plus extras such as an adventure pass that includes attractions, wine tastings and such, and daily free lunch. This is one of the most affordable self-guided adventures out there, from $1100 per person for 3 & 4-star lodging (their national rating system, not Forbes Travel Guide) or $1650 with luxury hotels. I did a section of the trans-Bhutan trail, and many top luxury tour operators such as Backroads, Butterfield & Robinson and MT Sobek do roughly weeklong trips, and G Adventures has more affordable 10–11-day outings, but the entire trail is 250 miles and takes almost a month. Bhutan's tourist board offers package with home stays and guides for those who want to tackle the whole thing. Wales has a walking path running the entire length of its coast, border to border. Launched in 2012 it was the first country to offer a marked walk of its entire coastline, 850 miles. It is broken into themed sections and some travelers return over and over to do the entire trail in manageable chunks. Many companies including Macs Adventures offer luggage transfers and support for self-guided trips, while Backroads, Wilderness England and others offer weeklong more luxurious guided trips. Central America is the narrowest part of the Western hemisphere, and one of the most popular trips is a hike across Costa Rica from the Atlantic to Pacific, which has been dubbed the 'Camino de Costa Rica' after one of the most famous hikes in the world in Spain (see next entry). But this one is just 174-miles and can be done in 15-16 days, while MT Sobek, one of the world's oldest and best-established active travel companies, offers a fully guided 10-day 'best of' sampler. Molinaseca, Spain, one of many charming towns along the famed Camino de Santiago Most active travel hiking is going to a region like the Dolomites or Scottish Highlands and doing day hikes, then returning to a hotel. But increasingly, travelers are seeking to do part or all of more iconic continuous routes. Arguably the most famous of the multi-day hikes readily doable in a single American-length vacation trip (unlike the Appalachian Trail or such that take months to complete) is the Tour du Mont Blanc, a legendary circular hike that circumnavigates the highest peak in the Alps while going through Italy, France and Switzerland all in roughly 10 days (there are slightly longer and shorter versions). I did the TMB, as it is known, and it was simply the best hiking trip of my lifetime and one of the best trips I have done, period. Not many top operators offer the TMB in its entirety, and the best choice I know of is MT Sobek, another veteran adventure company with an excellent reputation. G Adventures, a big company known for great value proposition also has the TMB. Macs Adventures offers self-guided TMB itineraries. The Trans-Bhutan Trail is the world's newest pilgrimage route, but doing the entire thing takes a month, so G Adventures offers the most affordable turnkey (Bhutan is pricy and logistically complicated) sampler, a 12-day trek. Other top iconic multi-day hikes include the ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro (I've done it and frankly found it underwhelming and would not recommend) and the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru. Up and coming iconic hiking routes can also be found in in Tuscany and New Zealand. Pilgrimage treks, originally for religious purposes, have also exploded in popularity, none more than Spain's Camino de Santiago, which has become the next big thing in hiking trips. How popular is it? Those who complete most of the Camino under certain rules get a certificate, and in 1984 the number that achieved that was just 423, while 40 years later in 2024, it was more than 495,000. However, this centuries old pilgrimage trek morphed repeatedly with invasions, occupations and threats, and there are no less than seven official Camino rotes today, some of which include portions of France and/or Portugal. Some are also much less crowded than others. Most are basically a walk across Spain, taking 30-40 days, and all are broken into more palatable portions and these segments are popular with active travel companies. For a luxury spin on the Camino, Backroads recently introduced a new and outstanding segment on one of the less crowded routes in the Basque region of Northern Spain, with fabulous food and coastal scenery, from Bilbao west. G Adventures offers multiple options from 8-10 days. Macs Adventures offer dozens of Camino itineraries, all self-guided, including the whole thing on multiple routes. Japan's Kumano Kodo Pilgrimage trail is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Another less famous home of pilgrimage hikes is Japan, which has several mixing Shinto and Buddhist temples, and this is something WalkJapan specializes in and does very well, with expert guides and amazing food. In fact, only two pilgrimage routes on earth have achieved coveted UNESCO World Heritage status, one being Spain's Camino and the other Japan's Kumano Kodo, a favorite of Walk Japan customers. KC&E Adventures offers a lot of gravel and single track mountain bike options. 'Gravel grinding' has been the fastest growing segment of cycling for the past few years, exploding in popularity. This basically entails riding a slightly heavier duty road bike with slightly wider tires, still more efficient than a mountain bike, on gravel and dirt roads rather than pavement. The appeals are a greater variety of places you can go with a more natural wilderness aesthetic, and far fewer cars, the bane of many cyclists. Gravel grinding is popular worldwide, but the Mecca of the sport is in the same place as the Mecca of regular road riding, Tuscany, with hundreds of miles of its famously unpaved 'white roads,' or strade bianche, especially through the Chianti wine region. But while gravel riding has soared in participation, few of the biggest active tour operators have begun offering it. The one major exception is Trek Travel, with more than a dozen gravel itineraries in the U.S. and worldwide. KC&E Adventures is a top boutique cycling and hiking adventure company that does some scheduled group trips but specializes in small private groups and offers a great combination of local knowledge and value, especially for the private tour segment which tends to run very expensive. Founder Collin Daulong says, 'We're seeing increased interest in gravel riding and light mountain biking on double track, not only for the sense of adventure but also because it feels safer and more approachable. It's ideal for people with general biking experience who still want that 'out there' feeling without technical barriers.' KC&E regularly does gravel trips in New England, Italy and Iceland, and has done custom in Croatia and elsewhere. Other smaller specialty operators offering gravel trips include Tourissimo, a great choice for Tuscany, and the Cycling House, here and abroad. Tuscany is famously popular for gravel grinding. A lot of people love mountain biking, but even fewer luxury companies do mountain bike trips in the way road and gravel active vacations are offered, in part because more technical skill is required of guests, an entirely different fleet of expensive bikes is required, they tend to break more, and it is harder to support these trips in high style, as the vans that cater to cycling trips cannot go on off-road trails. However there has been some growth, and DuVine, one of the most luxurious companies, with a food and wine focus, recently added its first mountain bike trip, to South Africa. KC&E Adventures also does a lot of mountain bike trips, especially in Vermont, Iceland and Arizona's Sonoran desert. Electric assist bikes, or e-bikes, have small battery powered motors that reduce the amount of human effort but still require some pedaling, and these have exploded in popularity. I remember the first time I went on a cycling trip where anyone rode an e-bike, and it was a Butterfield& Robinson trip to Japan about 10 years ago. It was new then but now it is standard for very major tour operator to offer this option, and on most trips I've done since, there have been people on e-bikes, though it has remained a minority, maybe 10-20% of participants. An e-bike is a great equalizer that lets less avid cyclists join friends or family who are better conditioned and can put children or grandchildren and multi-generational groups on equal footing. It also opens up more challenging destinations and rides that might be too long to too hilly are now doable with help of e-bikes. While I am still powering my own way and have never opted for this, I've seen lots of people of all ages who have and love it. In fact, the popularity of e-bikes on trips has gotten so high that there has been some backlash from traditional cyclists who somehow feel threatened or that it is a less pure approach, and one of the biggest active travel companies, Backroads, which was an early adopter of offering e-bikes, has released an entire series of e-bike free trips. These are called 'Unplugged,' which the company describes as 'designed for cyclists who want to experience a ride together—with all its ups and downs—under their own power.' But while the no e-bike trend is limited, the use of e-bikes has spread to practically every active tour operator doing cycling, even self-guided specialists like Macs Adventures and the tour operators that tend to attract harder-core cycling enthusiasts such as Trek Travel and DuVine. Escape Adventures, a large active travel company I have traveled with and thoroughly enjoyed, but lower-priced not quite as luxurious as some of these others, offers a slate of only e-bike group trips and says, 'Our E-bike (both road and mountain bike options) vacations are created specifically for both first-time cyclists and experienced bike enthusiasts who want to bring their partners who don't bike nearly as much.' Women-only active trips have become much more widley available and Backroads offers many itineraries ... More for these. Women-only has been a big growth category both within the major tour operators and companies focused solely on this niche, such as Wild Women Expeditions and AdventureWomen. I wrote about this trend recently here at Forbes. Backroads has long led the way in this category with a lot of women-only versions of its standard luxury catalog of hiking, cycling and multi-sport trips, and goes further than anyone in also offering trips sorted by age, including adult-only, and trips for families in several categories, for those with kids and teens, teens and 20s, 20s and beyond. DuVine doesn't do women-only trips at this time but does offer family departures. Butterfield & Robinson has been the leading high-end luxury active travel company for almost six decades but just added the women-only category last fall. Cycling House has a lot of women-only scheduled trips. Italy's Dolomites is an incredibly beautiful region for hiking, cycling and fine dining. The Dolomites have long been the best spot in the world for doing hut-to-hut hike and bike mountain bike (and ski) trips in a luxury way, at least if you are the type who after a long day outdoor enjoys a Wine Spectator award winning cellar with huge verticals of Super Tuscans in your 'hut.' The Dolomites have an incredible selection of high-altitude rifugios, or restaurants, many of the them stunningly gourmet and many with overnight accommodations, dotted throughout the region's peaks. This selection of mountain lodgings of high caliber is unparalleled on the planet. Macs Adventures offered self-guided trips staying at rifugios here and several companies offer longer trips including a night or two in rifugios, including Wilderness Travel, but for a more immersive guided hut to hut itinerary here, the top choice is MT Sobek. But this kind of travel is expanding beyond the Dolomites, and Backroads just added a broad slate of Lodge-to-Lodge trips around the world, including Peru, Nepal, the Pyrenees (Spain/France border) and the Mont Blanc/Chamonix region of the Alps combining Italy, Switzerland and France in one stunning trip. Lodges are a little more elaborate than mountain huts, essentially small rustic hotels in adventures places, and some are extremely luxurious. Norway is another country with a rich tradition of mountain cabins, and upscale tour operator Up Norway, a company doing just this one country, has just introduced a slate of these hut-to-hut trips, cherry picking special locales. The Dolomites region of Italy is rich with mountain rifugios, or restaurants with overnight lodging. The U.S. has several more rustic hut-to-hut systems, originally focused on backcountry skiing in winter, then expanded to mountain biking. The most famous are the 10th Mountain Division and San Juan Hut systems, both in Colorado, but the newest is the Aquarius Trail Hut System, five solar powered huts strategically set along a 190-mile route through some of Utah's most scenic backcountry and best mountain biking trails. Aquarius offer both self-guided and fully guided mountain biking trips, the latter in partnership with Escape Adventures, a company I had a great trip with in Nevada. Biking and hiking in Italy fuels an appetite for gelato. Doing exercise and burning calories goes great with guilt-free indulgence in great food and drink, and many of the best biking and hiking destinations are foodie paradise, from Italy to Japan. I've often described bike trips in Italy as riding from one gelato to the next, and I just did a hiking trip in Spain's Basque region where food was a huge part of the appeal, with daily lunches at tapas bars and San Sebastian being one of the world's greats culinary destinations. Food is a key part of enjoying a trip to Japan. For this reason, there has been a spate of food-centric active travel offerings, and both DuVine and Tourissimo (an Italy active travel specialist) offer annual series of chef (and sommelier) led bike (and Tourissimo also does hiking) tours, often with famous award-winning chefs. DuVine has a heavy food and wine focus on all of its 'regular' trips as well and is the rare company that includes wine at every meal because it is such a focus of the company that 'vine' is in its name, plus they have the one-hotel immersions noted above to food-centric resorts such as Blackberry Farm, TN. South America's Explora, covered above under single hotel stays, has a big focus on regional cuisine and the best wines of Chile and Argentina, also fully included in its rates. WalkJapan is a specialist in hiking trips across Japan and makes incredible meals and foodie education a centerpiece of its great guided trips, I just traveled with them for the first time and was wowed. They also have an even more immersive series of dedicated gastronomy walking trips. Butterfield & Robinson and Backroads both regularly feature standout meals, often at Michelin-starred restaurants or private chef dinners, as well as cooking classes on many trips. Backroads offer specific 'Active Culinary Hiking & Walking' tours in Provence and Tuscany, which take the normal food focus a step further and add market visits, more cooking, wine and olive oil tastings and more. This is the tastiest of the top 10 active travel trends for your next great hiking or cycling vacation.
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Travel + Leisure
5 days ago
- Travel + Leisure
One of the Best Way to See Romania Is by Cycling Through Medieval Villages, Castles, and Vineyards
It was a warm June afternoon in Bucharest. Rays of sun bounced off the glass of Romanian-produced rosé that I'd held up to clink above the table. Over a soundtrack of loud house music, Martha Butterfield, a vivacious 84-year-old with wispy silver hair, giggled naughtily and shouted, 'Live your f@*#ing best life!' She wasn't giving a toast. She was reading from a piece of art hanging on the wall of the restaurant, Casa di David. But the words would have made a fitting mantra for my weeklong cycling adventure with Butterfield & Robinson, an active-travel company founded by Martha, her brother Sidney Robinson, and her husband, George Butterfield. Joie de vivre has been B&R's driving force since its early days in the 1960s planning bike trips from Vienna to Paris. The clock tower in the city of Sighișoara. Ivan Šardi/Butterfield & Robinson While Western Europe itineraries remain among the company's most popular, George, 85, thrives on forging tracks in less-discovered corners of the world. Romania, with its Easter-egg-colored Saxon villages, Gothic castles, medieval citadels, and forested valleys, is his latest obsession. Five-star accommodation is a feature of any B&R itinerary; in the past few years, the opening of properties like Bethlen Estates and Matca have allowed George to curate high-end trips there. I joined George, Martha, and 12 of their longtime clients on a newly created trip that started in the vibrant capital, explored wine country, and ended in Transylvania, a cycling mecca. 'Here's to a week of discovery,' George toasted, adding with a wink, 'Thank you for trusting me.' 'I'd follow you anywhere, George,' yelled Andy Gleeman, a B&R groupie on his 11th trip. Grapevines gave way to the soaring peaks of the southern Carpathian Mountains. It's not all long mileage and steep climbs—B&R journeys prioritize cultural immersion. To that end, we began with a history lesson. After lunch, Raluca Şpiac, of the travel agency Beyond Dracula, gave our group a glimpse of the country's Communist years, from 1948 to 1989. She took us to Ferestroika, an apartment turned private museum that felt like a time capsule from the 1980s, complete with a pantry sparsely stocked with monthly rations. In contrast, the mansion of Romania's notorious final Communist rulers, Nicolae and Elena Ceaușescu, was the epitome of extravagance, with velvet- and silk-lined walls, a gilded bathroom, and a private cinema. George and Martha Butterfield at Zabola Estate, a hotel in Transylvania. Ivan Šardi/Butterfield & Robinson 'The Ceaușescu times were particularly traumatizing,' Şpiac said. 'But Communism forced people to be very creative.' We witnessed that ingenuity in everything from the edgy pieces on display at the Museum of Recent Art to the open-fire cooking that evening at Bucharest's Soro Lume restaurant. George ranked the meal among the best of his life, and he's traveled to 51 countries and owns a home in Burgundy, France. Palates don't get more discerning. The phrase 'Never Underestimate an Old Man With a Bicycle' was emblazoned on the back of George's cycling jersey, and I spent much of the next day staring at it as I pedaled behind him. In this group of rugged B&R veterans, at 44, I was the youngest guest. E-bikes allowed those in their 70s and 80s to breeze past me on the rolling, vineyard-covered hills of Dealu Mare, one of Romania's premier wine regions. Our 18-mile route led us to the tasting room of LacertA winery, where we learned about the country's dark-skinned native grape, Fetească Neagră. Grapevines gave way to the soaring peaks of the southern Carpathian Mountains as a van transferred us three hours northeast to Brașov, a medieval city in Transylvania. It has several historical monuments—most notably one of Romania's largest Gothic buildings, the Black Church—but also modern cafés and bistros. At One Soul, we ate tender duck breast dressed in a deliciously funky sauce with pear and yuzu. Cyclists riding on the Bucegi Plateau on a Butterfield & Robinson trip through Romania. Ivan Šardi/Butterfield & Robinson Over the next few days, as we cycled through pastoral landscapes speckled with bell-shaped haystacks and well-preserved Saxon villages, it felt like we'd traveled back to preindustrial times. (The Communist years left much of the countryside undeveloped.) A slower pace allowed me to observe shepherds tending their flock, women fetching water from wells, and men steering horse-drawn carts. Ponies munched grass on the side of the road, and white storks nested atop farmhouses. Transylvania is home to people from more than a dozen different ethnicities, and people we passed spoke both Germanic and Hungarian dialects. We would come across whitewashed Unitarian churches in one village, then towering Gothic or Romanesque Lutheran churches in the next. On the fourth day, an hour-long ride led us to the village of Alma Vii, which was founded in the 13th century. The fortified church and its surrounding stone walls have been restored, and it now houses the Center for Interpretation of Traditional Culture. Inside, craftspeople braided corn husks for mats and made felt woolen slippers and hats. The Museum of Recent Art, in Bucharest. Cosmin Dragomir/Courtesy of MARe, Bucharest A local restaurant, Belalma Rural, had brought a farm-to-table feast to the center, and we dug into hearty plates of sautéed lentils with oven-baked eggplant and ricotta-like urdă cheese. Palincă, a fruit brandy served with every meal, flowed freely, and the group teased me—the 'youngster'—when I abstained. 'But this is the B&R way,' insisted Dick Balfour, one of the five lawyers in our group. Even with 20 to 30 miles of cycling a day, I was still feeling the trip's indulgences, so I'd committed to biking the optional 11 miles back to our hotel, Bethlen Estates, in the medieval village of Criș. That evening, we'd been told, the property's super-talented chef would be serving us a seven-course dinner of updated Hungarian recipes, like fermented cucumber with fresh peas and smoked trout and dill, served with a cold cucumber gazpacho. I intended to be hungry. Over the next few days, as we cycled through pastoral landscapes speckled with bell-shaped haystacks and well-preserved Saxon villages, it felt like we'd traveled back to preindustrial times. Bethlen Estates was the ancestral home of Count Miklós Bethlen, who passed away in 2001. Since then, his widow, Countess Gladys Bethlen, has been meticulously restoring the property with ambitions of making it Romania's most luxurious place to stay. I'd say she succeeded—not a detail was missed, from the fresh-cut flowers in my bedroom, which was warmed by a traditional tiled stove, to the handmade ceramics in the dining room. Appetizers at Matca, a hotel in the village of Şimon. Ivan Šardi/Butterfield & Robinson Székely Land, where we spent our final two days, is an area in the eastern Carpathians where many ethnic Hungarians live. The cultural distinctions made it feel as if we'd cycled across a border: at our hotel, Zabola Estate, a fairy-tale property in Zăbala owned by a Hungarian noble family, the staff spoke Hungarian, and we dined on dishes like goulash and kürtőskalács, a spit-cooked, sugar-dusted pastry we hadn't been served anywhere else. My legs were finally starting to feel the miles, so after an afternoon ride I wandered down a forested path (watching for bears as I went) to Zabola's sauna and cold plunge. I returned to the terrace at sunset to find our group clinking glasses of plum palincă . After a week with George and Martha, I left convinced that the secret to living your best life is simple: good food and good wine, friends, and a view. A version of this story first appeared in the July 2025 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline "Joy Ride ."
BBC News
5 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Cycle route opening spells end of roadwork 'chaos'
Two major cycle schemes for Manchester have been completed after four years of Chorlton to Manchester Cycleway and the Deansgate and Whitworth Street West Active Travel Scheme projects have been in progress since 2023, with the aim to get more people to cycle and they were marrred by controversy due to roadworks and the "chaotic" traffic disruption which City Council said there was now an uninterrupted 6.5km long cycleway from the south of Manchester into the city. The council added that since the beginning of the work, the number of people cycling through Chorlton have increased by 85%, and walking has gone up by 38%.The projects were carried out in partnership with Transport for Greater were part funded by the Mayor's Challenge Fund, the Active Travel Fund, and Active Travel Tracey Rawlins, said: "When the infrastructure is put in place, it can act as the key which unlocks people's ability to get on a bike and choose cycling."By re-shaping our transport network we are showing that positive interventions do have the power to change people's behaviour."This ultimately helps people lead healthier lives, creating healthier communities, and contributes to the wider fight against climate change across Greater Manchester." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
