Would you climb a mountain if there was a ladder?
TravelArticleSeptember 16, 2026
From bucket lists to bragging rights, adventure travel now comes with training wheels – but isn’t risk-free
A few years ago, I jumped out of a plane. It was exhilarating and unforgettable – and I will never, ever do it again.
I suspect I’m not alone. Adventure tourism is booming, projected to reach USD 2 trillion by 2032. Many travelers like the idea of adventure. They just don’t necessarily want to spend their holiday dangling from a cliff face or surviving on freeze-dried food in a dripping-wet tent.
The thrill doesn’t always come from how extreme the activity is. It might just be the satisfaction of doing something you weren’t entirely sure you could do.
So here’s a new travel trend I can get behind: adventure with a handrail.
These are the experiences that sit just beyond your comfort zone: challenging enough to feel memorable, accessible enough that most reasonably fit travelers can give it a go. A dose of adrenaline, a sense of achievement but without starring in your very own mountain rescue documentary.
Here are five adventures for people who aren’t adventurous:
1. Via ferrata
The original adventure with a handrail. Literally. Via ferratas – protected climbing routes equipped with ladders, cables and safety systems – have turned sheer rock faces into achievable travel experiences for beginners. Developed in the Alps but expanded to destinations from Uzbekistan to Australia, they deliver spectacular views and a genuine sense of accomplishment without requiring advanced mountaineering experience. In fact, uptake of Freely’s adventure add-on has increased by 166 percent year-on-year,* particularly for destinations such as Europe and Central Asia.
2. Hut-to-hut hiking
You carry a small backpack. Someone else cooks dinner and serves you a beer – what’s not to love. From Scandinavia to Tasmania, hut-to-hut hiking has become increasingly popular with travelers looking to experience mountain landscapes without the heavy load. The days are still demanding, but the experience sits somewhere between an expedition and a walking holiday.
3. E-bike adventures
Intimidating routes that once required serious fitness are suddenly accessible to families, casual cyclists and travelers who simply want to see more without spending their holiday gasping uphill. You’re still earning the views. You’re just arriving with a bit more energy in the tank.
4. Fitness retreats
Whether it’s Nordic wild swimming, a weeklong bootcamp in Costa Rica or a surf-and-yoga retreat in Morocco, more travelers are combining wellness with a manageable physical challenge. The appeal is equal parts adventure, achievement and potential social media content.
5. Winter wilderness
Not all adventure travel happens in summer. Across Scandinavia, Canada and parts of the Arctic, dog sledding has become one of the most accessible ways to experience remote winter landscapes. It feels adventurous, involves genuine wilderness and often requires little previous experience. The same applies to sledding, snowshoeing, guided winter treks and northern lights expeditions, which offer a taste of exploration without demanding expedition-level skills.
Before you book
The appeal of “soft” adventure travel is that it often feels low risk. But that doesn't mean the risks disappear.
These types of activities can be treated differently by travel insurers depending on the destination, elevation, route difficulty or level of supervision involved. Via ferrata, for example, may not be included in a standard base policy, but some insurers offer flexible adventure add-ons for additional protection. The best time to check is before you book, not while standing at the foot of a mountain wondering whether your insurer would agree that this counts as “walking.”
People are increasingly traveling for moments rather than monuments. They want memories, stories and a sense of accomplishment.
Sometimes that means climbing a mountain. And sometimes it means climbing a mountain with a ladder attached to it.
*Based on % of policies sold between May 25, 2025, and July 10, 2026, and compared with the same period the previous year.
