Best trips for solo travellers
These tours prove that heading off on your own can be the greatest adventure of all.
There was a time when solo travellers had little choice but to go it alone or book with the likes of Contiki. The New Zealand-based company, which turned 60 last year, caters to 18 to 35-year-olds and once had a reputation for wild partying. Now absorbed into The Travel Corporation portfolio, and with a more sedate profile, it still has plenty of skin in the burgeoning solo-travel game.
It’s a growing corner of the market. Whether planning a cultural journey in Asia, a luxury train trip in Europe or a multi-day hike just about anywhere, singles can find an operator suited to their interests and budget. From luxe to lean, a wide range of companies are on the case, waiving or reducing single supplements and offering small-group experiences for those who enjoy their own company along with that of like-minded travellers.
Founded in 2012, Two’s a Crowd specialises in this niche, promising its customers they can “travel solo but never alone”. Its journeys range widely from India, Scandinavia and Africa to small-ship charters in Fiji and France. The Melbourne-based operator is predicting an increase of more than 20 per cent on bookings this year compared with 2019.
In some ways, the pandemic has made it easier for singles to secure a last-minute bargain, given Covid’s ability to turn the best-laid travel plans upside down. Footloose and fancy-free singles who can quickly turn an idea into action have an advantage.
Cairns-based cruise line Coral Expeditions has a program that makes sole rooms available supplement-free on voyages where single berths remain empty within 30 days of departure. Commercial manager Jeff Gillies says the initiative is popular in the current environment, when late cancellations are not uncommon. Coral also has a social-media scheme whereby sole passengers can find a suitable person with whom to share a stateroom.
Gillies points out it’s not just singles making use of these options. “We find that many older-generation guests are happy to travel without their partners to pursue specific interests in nature, history and culture their partners might not deeply share. We have sole travellers on board every voyage and they enjoy the experience of mixing and making new lifelong friends who share common interests. It is common to see guests who meet on a voyage choose to travel again together in the future.”
Ready to branch out and go it alone? Here’s some inspiration.
River cruising in Europe
These voyages are offered everywhere from Asia and Egypt to the US, but Europe’s many scenic waterways continue to be the best served by a plethora of international companies. The continent also remains a perennially popular destination for travellers of all ages. Because river ships carry a maximum of 190 guests, it’s easier to get to know fellow passengers than on larger ocean-going vessels. It’s also a far more enjoyable way to see Europe than by coach (however comfortable) or driving independently.
Many cruise lines offer solo traveller discounts throughout the year, but you have to be on top of their promotions and remember special offers may apply only to certain departures or to a limited number of staterooms. Alternatively, British-based Riviera Travel runs cruises exclusively for solo travellers on select departure dates, with no single supplements across the entire ship.
Multi-award-winning Tauck is another standout operator; there is no single supplement on any category 1 cabins on all its European river cruises and the line is renowned for its marvellous, multilingual on-board guides, the Tauck Directors.
Try A 10-day Savouring France itinerary with Tauck from Paris to Lyon and Provence, including a seven-night Rhone River cruise, departing August 8, 2023; from $8860 a person.
Adventure cruising close to home
Sailing to remote regions on small expedition or luxury ships is an increasingly sought-after way to see the world, particularly for those who prefer to avoid crowds – on board and on shore. Choose an area to explore, or a specific wilderness or wildlife experience to have, and you will find like-minded travellers aboard any number of ships that accommodate a maximum of 200 to 300 guests. Expedition teams comprising experts in everything from anthropology to zoology are on hand to lead excursions and deliver detailed daily briefings and recaps. The shared sense of discovery enables the forging of friendships.
While there are dozens of excellent international companies that offer limited deals for solo travellers, if you’re looking for a relatively close-to-home solo adventure cruise, check out two highly regarded local companies. Coral Expeditions’ Solo Traveller Program offers four options for singles and operates in many areas of Australia that are accessible only by small ship. New Zealand’s long-established Heritage Expeditions is one of only a handful of companies to explore the Subantarctic Islands, among other wild and wonderful NZ regions, and its newly refurbished Heritage Adventurer has 20 dedicated single cabins.
Try Heritage Expeditions’ seven-night Forgotten Islands of the South Pacific voyage, departing December 20, 2023, from $11,500. At the time of writing, Coral Expeditions had five supplement-free staterooms available on its 17-day Mauritius to Madagascar voyage, which has been sold out for the past 18 months; departs February 19; from $18,590 a person.
Luxury Train Journeys in Britain
Luxury train travel in England and Scotland is undergoing a renaissance, to the point where bookings need to be made at least a year ahead. Purists count just three British trains as true luxury: Belmond British Pullman, Belmond Royal Scotsman and the Northern Belle. Rail journeys are a perfect fit for the solo traveller, who can be as self-contained or sociable as they please while soaking up the history of the trains along with that of the destinations en route. The British Pullman and Northern Belle specialise in themed day trips from London and other major cities; these might feature a Dom Perignon dinner, murder mystery lunch, and race day at Cheltenham, to name a few. The Royal Scotsman offers two to seven-night round trips from Edinburgh. The “chieftain of the rails” has four elegantly appointed single cabins and no single supplement is charged. Rail packages include sumptuous wining and dining aboard the train, and bespoke excursions such as visits to castles, distilleries and private estates.
Try the four-night Classic Scottish Highlands Tour, from £7502 for departures April-October 2023 and 2024.
Walking Tours
Intrepid is a great go-to company for guided, small-group walking (or hiking, or trekking) tours in a multitude of destinations – yes, there is a significant difference between the three categories. Walking tours are on defined tracks and don’t require participants to be super-fit. Hiking tours are more challenging, and you may traverse mountainous countryside or hike through rugged bush. Treks are for the serious enthusiast and involve the sort of specialised equipment and fitness levels you’d expect to deal with high altitudes and rugged terrain. All groups take a maximum of 16 people, but you’re more likely to be with seven to 10 fellow travellers – most of them singles. If travelling alone, it’s possible to share accommodation with another person of the same sex for no extra charge, or pay a bit more to have your own room.
Try A five-day walking tour, Sierra Nevada, California, from $2033 (departs May 15); eight-day hike, Dolomites, Italy, from $2608 (July 5); 15-day Annapurna Circuit Trek, Nepal, from $1695 (May 7).
Safaris
Spotting the Big Five (lion, leopard, black rhinoceros, elephant and buffalo) on an African safari is high up on many travellers’ wish lists and joining a small-group tour is the way to go for solo adventurers, combining camaraderie with shared experiences. Highly regarded luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent was founded in Africa more than 60 years ago and its team knows everything about this vast and varied country and how best to experience its magnificent wildlife and wilderness areas. Expect exceptional itineraries, expert guides and fabulous accommodation in game reserves and national parks in Botswana, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and South Africa. Solo travellers are welcome to join its tailor-made journeys and small group journeys, and although a single supplement is levied on most itineraries there are two on which they are currently waived (West Africa: People Past & Present, and Madagascar: Otherworldly Marvels), while the supplement is reduced by 50 per cent on the bucket-list Africa: Across a Continent by Private Jet adventure.
Try The nine-day South Africa & Victoria Falls package, from $16,970 ($5485 single supplement).
Conservation and cultural tours
British company Martin Randall Tours makes a point of welcoming solo travellers and usually has several among the 10 to 20 participants on each trip, the focus of which ranges widely from Viennese opera, Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture and life on the Mekong in Cambodia. Although the hotels where its groups stay often charge a single supplement, the operator doesn’t add more to this fee.
Australian cultural operator Renaissance Tours has also become a magnet for singles, who account for 75 per cent of guests on any of its outings. It, too, passes on the single supplements charged by hotels, but doesn’t otherwise mark up its tariffs.
Crooked Compass, another local, offers conservation-focused and cultural tours for small groups in some of the world’s most inaccessible (and some might say unlikely) places – among them Nauru and Tuvalu, the “lost islands of Socotra” (in the Indian Ocean Republic of Yemen) and the “three Guianas”, Suriname, Guyana and French Guiana in South America. Visiting tribal festivals in Papua New Guinea, Bougainville and Madagascar are experiences that would be virtually impossible to organise independently. Singles can avoid supplements by sharing a room with someone of the same gender, and the operator is running a solo, women-only, 12-day trekking trip to Georgia in 2024. If you don’t fancy sharing, rest assured the charge for having your own room contributes to supporting the traditions of the local communities visited.
Try: Martin Randall Tours has a 12-day tour of Japanese gardens that encompasses Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara and Hikone Castle on the shore of Lake Biwa; November 9-20; from £7990 ($13,910) for solo travellers.
Fares and special offers are subject to change and availability.
Additional reporting by Penny Hunter.