Our Story
Journeys Built Around the Ride
Gravel Adventure grew from a simple conviction: some places are best understood from the saddle.
Not by passing through them, but by moving through them at the right pace.
Quiet roads, sorgotten tracks, long approaches into landscapes that reveal themselves slowly.
Every route we offer has been ridden, refined and tested by us first, then shaped into a journey with support, comfort and character.
Where It Began
In 2013, we began by taking friends out to explore new routes through the Alps. From those early rides, MTB-Adventure took shape — today our mother company and the foundation from which Gravel Adventure grew.
In 2017, Tanya and Michael Sommer took the helm and lifted the entire set-up from a hobby into a professional, yet deeply personal experience. We created fully supported cycling journeys built around exceptional riding, thoughtful logistics and genuine hospitality.
Over the years, new regions and continents were explored, routes developed, and a clear philosophy took shape: exceptional riding is only part of a memorable journey. The route matters. So do the places you stay, the people you meet, and the quality of everything around the ride.
In 2022, after years of gravel riders asking for something similar, Gravel Adventure launched as a sister brand — built around mixed surfaces, longer horizons, and the particular freedom of riding through a landscape rather than simply across it.
Ridden Before You Arrive
Every route we offer has been personally scouted and ridden before it enters the programme. We are drawn to roads and regions beyond the obvious — mountain passes linked by forgotten tracks, coastal gravel roads, remote interiors, places that reward arriving by bike.
Some destinations are well known. Others are quietly surprising. All are chosen for the quality of the riding and the richness of the journey around it. Our routes are not assembled from standard tour templates, but discovered.
Four holidays in one.
Nature. Physical challenge. Cultural discovery. Social connection.
— A guest
A Small Team,
Properly Invested
We remain intentionally small. Tanya and Michael lead the way, alongside an experienced crew of guides and support staff — people who understand that the quality of a journey often lies in the details guests never have to think about.
Many come from orienteering backgrounds, with a particular feel for landscapes, maps and the art of finding the right road. It means our routes are not assembled from standard tour templates, but discovered. And it means when conditions shift on the road, they know how to adapt.
Luggage is handled. Support is close. Hotels are chosen with care. You ride. We take care of the rest.
These are journeys through remarkable places, shared with like-minded people, designed with equal attention to route, rhythm and comfort.
Well-ridden roads. Well-chosen places. Well looked after.
Trans Alp
Hotel to hotel over the Alps — three departures across summer, with Stelvio as one of the route’s defining moments.
Tuscany Gravel
The Apennines and Tuscany’s wine country — long gravel days through some of Europe’s most recognisable landscapes.
South Africa
Wide open landscapes, long riding days, and a gravel scene that draws riders from across the world every November.