A Fun Way to Adventure
Whether you’re a solo travel pro or are planning to take the plunge on your first trip alone, traveling by yourself can be a daunting experience! If you’ve always traveled with family or friends, starting your solo travel journey on a group trip is a fantastic way of easing into the adventure, with the added benefits of a structured itinerary and the chance to make new like-minded friends. Even if you’ve traveled solo before, panning everything yourself can often be overwhelming, and not everyone is a social butterfly.
This is where solo travel groups save the day, taking most of the stress out of your vacation. Sometimes, a travel group might even be a necessity in destinations where you don’t feel safe alone and besides, what’s the point of making memories abroad if you don’t have people to share them with? There are some brilliant and trustworthy solo travel groups for everyone, no matter your age, destination or preferred style of travel; check out some of the best below.
G Adventures
G Adventures is one of the best adventure companies out there, offering a great selection of group trips for young people, with no extra supplements for solo travelers. They go almost everywhere, whether you’re looking for a trip close to home, a European city hopping tour or an active vacation in the mountains.
Outdoor and nature lovers will particularly love their trips, however, with lots of hiking, walking and trekking tours everywhere from South America to New Zealand. Trips within the United States include epic road trips, snowy Alaskan hiking, island vacations in Hawaii and wild National Park hopping tours. G Adventures aren’t just designed for young people, although they do have a dedicated 18-35 category of tours, but cater to almost anyone.
If you’re traveling solo, you’ll need to share a room with someone of the same gender – but this is an ideal way of making new friends, as it’s likely the other people who’ve chosen the tour will share the same love of exploring! The company is also perfect for first-time solo group travelers, as the tours offer lots of free time alongside the structured itinerary, meaning plenty of time for your own exploring, relaxation or socializing!
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The Solo Female Traveler Network
This relatively new solo travel company does exactly what it says on the tin: providing group trips for solo female travelers excited to be traveling solo. These trips are always fun and well-planned, organized by women, for women, meaning all the considerations you need are taken care of. As it’s focused on females, this tour company specializes in destinations that may usually be trickier for solo women.
Example destinations from past tours include Mongolia, Egypt and Lebanon. The groups are always small, with a maximum of twenty people, and flexible up to 60 days beforehand, just in case your plans change! With trips an average of 10 days, although some are as long as twenty, The Solo Female Traveler Network is just the ticket for women seeking to explore off-the-beaten-path destinations where you’d rather have some girlfriends around for the journey.
Flashpack
Flashpack is the queen of solo travel tours, which have a whole separate category in addition to their usual tours. Flashpack specializes in trips for people in their 30s and 40s, an age group that often misses out on the limelight of solo travel groups and can be hit by hefty single supplements. Luckily, Flashpack has a solution! They combine fully-planned itineraries in fascinating destinations with a touch of luxury; some of their most popular solo group tours explore Bali, Morocco and Mexico.
The itineraries are packed with incredible adventures, from summiting volcanoes to diving coral reefs, road-tripping through the desert and relaxing on sugar-white beaches. They also include expert guides and accommodation in 3 or 4-star hotels, so you can feel safe, with local information readily available and stylish places to stay along the way while enjoying all the benefits of traveling solo as part of a group.
Intrepid Travel
Intrepid is one of the world’s most famous adventure travel companies, and they hold the impressive statistic that over 50% of travelers on their trips are solo! If you share with someone else, there are no extra charges, or you can opt for rooms all to yourself for an extra fee. Although they cater to every age group, they’re particularly useful for single parents traveling with kids who don’t want the stress of planning a whole itinerary.
They cover every continent, even Antarctica, with incredible and adventurous tours that range from the extreme, such as Everest Base Camp, to the relaxing, like the beautiful coastline of Turkey. The average tour has just ten people on it, so you’re sure to make friends for life, plus, you can choose different trip levels depending on if you want everything planned for you, or you to enjoy lots of free time too. Travelers are generally between 25-65 on Intrepid’s solo travel tours, but tiny adventurers as young as five or retired explorers over 70 can take part; it’s a for-everyone company.