Road Scholar was created by ElderHostel to attract people with acquisitive minds and adventurous souls of different ages. While ElderHostel trips were designed for older travelers, the Road Scholar trips are geared for everyone from seniors to twenty somethings.? On these vacations you could bike in Vietnam, hike in Peru or ride a camel in Australia.
Photo by Frank Montanaro
Only Mother Nature knows the exact dates to enjoy the fall foliage colors while hiking or biking, because how quickly leaves change color depends upon temperatures and moisture. In September to mid-November, there's bound to be a place in North America where you can put on your hiking boots or hop on your bike and enjoy the changing colors.
Matt Inden/Weaver Multimedia Group/Colorado Tourism Office
Colorado.com has a good fall foliage guide, with tips on where to see the leaves change in the Rockies and other parts of the state. Almost every Saturday or Sunday, one of the chapters in the Colorado Mountain Club has hikes in the mountains on trails where the aspens are turning to gold.
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Francine Bigney
New Hampshire's White Mountains are ablaze with color in the fall. If you're looking for itineraries visit NHGrand.com. For information about where to go biking, visit New Hampshire Outdoor Biking Adventures. If you want to more information about hiking and climbing visit Hiking and Climbing in New Hampshire
Coordinator, Fall Foliage Bike Festival
Join the group rides during the annual Shenandoah Fall Foliage Bike Festival, Oct. 21-23, 2011, in Staunton, Virginia. Each day there is a variety of rides offered that are different lengths and for different skill levels.
Peak colors in this regions are usually toward the end of October into early November.
In a blog on TravelOregon.com, Mikhael Romain has some excellent sugggestions for hiking or biking in prime fall foliage regions throughout Orego. The routes range from right in Portland and along the Columbia River Gorge to trails on cliff tops overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
About.com's Guide to New England, Kim Knox Beckius, has fall foliage covered. To learn where to go and the peak times for fall foliage in the New England states visit How to See New England Fall Foliage at Its Peak. She also has a list of companies that offer Fall Foliage Bike Trips.
If you want to hike or bike during the fall foliage season in Sacramento, Yosemite and the Central Valley in Northern California, visit DiscoverGold.org for suggestions.
Did you see those people walking into the Vatican even though the tours don't officially start for another hour? They hired a private guide.? (We did, and spent a wonderful half hour in one of the museum halls with only 10 other people in sight.)
Not sure how which path to take to the pinnacle of that mountain?? A private guide can lead you on the right one for your ability levels and stop to rest when you want to. You won't? have to keep up with the lead hiker who is racing up the mountain.
Hiring a private guide for any kind of adventure, physical or mental, adds a real dimension? to a vacation.? Here are some tips for choosing and places to find private tour guides.
Photo: (c) Lois Friedland
