For 25 years, Trek Travel has been delivering cycling vacations of a lifetime all over the world. In honor of Trek Travel's new 2027 trips, here is an excerpt from Trek's 50th anniversary book about the origins of Trek Travel and how it became a gateway to a lifelong love affair with cycling for so many.
In the early 2000s, Trek was looking for new ways to get more people on bikes. There were plenty of ideas — but one stood out. Not just because it expanded the business, but because it expanded what riding a bike could mean in someone’s life.
What if you could travel by bike, and what if that experience could change your life? That idea became Trek Travel cycling vacations.
In the early 2000s, Trek was looking for new ways to get more people on bikes. There were plenty of ideas — but one stood out. Not just because it expanded the business, but because it expanded what riding a bike could mean in someone’s life.
What if you could travel by bike, and what if that experience could change your life? That idea became Trek Travel cycling vacations.
A climb in perfect morning light. A lunch tucked into a village they never would have found alone. A hotel that restores more than legs. And all the decisions made long before anyone arrives, so the riding itself can feel effortless.
The first trips ran in Tuscany and California Wine Country. They set the tone for what Trek Travel would become — immersive, thoughtfully designed, and deeply human. Guests didn’t just finish the vacation happy. Many went home riding more than they had in years. Some had never considered themselves cyclists until a trip quietly changed that.
What began as an idea to expand became something more enduring, built around the most meaningful moments of a life. Over time, the moments added up. Engagements. Weddings at the end of a ride. A son scattering his father’s ashes on Alpe d’Huez. Riders crossing the United States, 3,800 miles in 45 days.
Different people, different reasons, but the same outcome: when the experience was right, the bike stays in your life.
A good journey is hard to define. You don’t always recognize it while you’re in it. Sometimes it only becomes clear afterward, when you find yourself riding again months later on an ordinary road at home. Trek Travel didn’t set out to sell vacations. It set out to create days worth remembering — and in doing so, found another way to change what bikes could mean to people.
The first trips ran in Tuscany and California Wine Country. They set the tone for what Trek Travel would become — immersive, thoughtfully designed, and deeply human. Guests didn’t just finish the vacation happy. Many went home riding more than they had in years. Some had never considered themselves cyclists until a trip quietly changed that.
What began as an idea to expand became something more enduring, built around the most meaningful moments of a life. Over time, the moments added up. Engagements. Weddings at the end of a ride. A son scattering his father’s ashes on Alpe d’Huez. Riders crossing the United States, 3,800 miles in 45 days.
Different people, different reasons, but the same outcome: when the experience was right, the bike stays in your life.
A good journey is hard to define. You don’t always recognize it while you’re in it. Sometimes it only becomes clear afterward, when you find yourself riding again months later on an ordinary road at home. Trek Travel didn’t set out to sell vacations. It set out to create days worth remembering — and in doing so, found another way to change what bikes could mean to people.