Topic: 'Group Tour' holidays for solo travellers

[Riquende]

Anybody have experience of these kinds of sites/tour operators? I travelled solo last year for the first time and whilst it was kind of fun at first, I found myself feeling pretty isolated and on the third and final night I couldn't be bothered to leave the hotel room, and was very glad to get home*.

Anyway, someone at work pointed me in the direction of holiday tour operators that build small groups of solo travellers and put them together for guided tours, but there are quite a few sites and I would imagine the input from the guide is quite important to the experience, so has anyone used any they'd recommend? I'm pushing 40 and not looking for some 18-30 style lads' outing but something that takes in sights, culture, food & drink etc (and especially wine).

* I was in Dortmund at the time of the home leg vs Porto, when I mentioned I was Liverpool fan to a guy next to me at a bar he said "Ah, Klopp" in a properly wistful way, but otherwise barely spoke English. That was the sum of my non-transactional human interaction for 4 full days! I'm not good at meeting people...

[BarryCrocker]

Anybody have experience of these kinds of sites/tour operators? I travelled solo last year for the first time and whilst it was kind of fun at first, I found myself feeling pretty isolated and on the third and final night I couldn't be bothered to leave the hotel room, and was very glad to get home*.

Anyway, someone at work pointed me in the direction of holiday tour operators that build small groups of solo travellers and put them together for guided tours, but there are quite a few sites and I would imagine the input from the guide is quite important to the experience, so has anyone used any they'd recommend? I'm pushing 40 and not looking for some 18-30 style lads' outing but something that takes in sights, culture, food & drink etc (and especially wine).

* I was in Dortmund at the time of the home leg vs Porto, when I mentioned I was Liverpool fan to a guy next to me at a bar he said "Ah, Klopp" in a properly wistful way, but otherwise barely spoke English. That was the sum of my non-transactional human interaction for 4 full days! I'm not good at meeting people...

I did an Intrepid tour of Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar a few years ago and loved it. A great mix of people from all over the place with ages ranging from 20's to 50's. Very hands on with pitching your tents and helping prep food and clean. Would never have been able to see those sites by myself.

If you want to stick with a group in their 30-40s then Flashpack is supposed to be be pretty decent.

[Too early for flapjacks?]

I used Intrepid and G Adventures to visit Vietnam, Cuba and Morocco. What sort of group you get depends on who you go with and where you go. I think G Adventures is aimed at a slightly younger crowd and when I visited Cuba most people where between 25-35. I went to Morocco with Intrepid and most people where 50+ but with the same tour company most people where under 35 when I visited Vietnam. If you stay away from the budget tours (often described as “on a shoestring”) I think you’ll generally avoid the youngsters on the piss.

[Red Beret]

I've always gone abroad by myself.  Sometimes I've met one or two friends over there, but other than that it's just me.  Nobody I know has the time or the money to go with me.  It does get lonely being by myself, but it's better than being stuck in Liverpool getting cabin fever.  I go to places where I know I will fill my day up, although I always just want to sit in a nice coffee shop and doodle, watching the world go by.

[El Lobo]

I used to work for a holiday company that specialised in single travellers, particularly ‘older’ ones. They used to do these taster weekends at nice hotels in England, I went to one once to try and flog some holidays and it was essentially a swingers weekend! Never knew oldies did so much fucking.

[Red Beret]

I used to work for a holiday company that specialised in single travellers, particularly ‘older’ ones. They used to do these taster weekends at nice hotels in England, I went to one once to try and flog some holidays and it was essentially a swingers weekend! Never knew oldies did so much fucking.

got any details?

[kesey]

Anybody have experience of these kinds of sites/tour operators? I travelled solo last year for the first time and whilst it was kind of fun at first, I found myself feeling pretty isolated and on the third and final night I couldn't be bothered to leave the hotel room, and was very glad to get home*.

Anyway, someone at work pointed me in the direction of holiday tour operators that build small groups of solo travellers and put them together for guided tours, but there are quite a few sites and I would imagine the input from the guide is quite important to the experience, so has anyone used any they'd recommend? I'm pushing 40 and not looking for some 18-30 style lads' outing but something that takes in sights, culture, food & drink etc (and especially wine).

* I was in Dortmund at the time of the home leg vs Porto, when I mentioned I was Liverpool fan to a guy next to me at a bar he said "Ah, Klopp" in a properly wistful way, but otherwise barely spoke English. That was the sum of my non-transactional human interaction for 4 full days! I'm not good at meeting people...

Come away with me for a week .

It'll be life changing .

[AndyInVA]

I used to work for a holiday company that specialised in single travellers, particularly ‘older’ ones. They used to do these taster weekends at nice hotels in England, I went to one once to try and flog some holidays and it was essentially a swingers weekend! Never knew oldies did so much fucking.

this is fucking hilarious

[Riquende]

I like the look of the some of the Flashpack tours (though I don't like how they describe some stops/sights as 'insta-worthy' etc), think I'll start with something European to get a feel for it before plunging halfway across the world!

Thanks for the info.

Come away with me for a week .

It'll be life changing .

Well that's somewhat mysterious...

[stoa]

Well that's somewhat mysterious...

So, how do you feel about sleeping in a bush?

[Welshred]

I'm going to Vietnam with G Adventures on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it but I'm 32 and worried about it being full of early to mid 20 years olds who I have nothing in common with.

[Rhi]

Get off the beaten track with these guys: https://www.lupinetravel.co.uk/ - the last tour I led had an age range of 24-77, and a large % of solo travellers. Great company based in the North West doing some truly amazing things in the travel scene.

If those tours are a bit too mad for you, then Intrepid and G Adventures are a good shout. I've seen Flashpack advertised a lot but never traveled with them.

But generally speaking:
The more expensive the tour, the older the crowd
The more physically demanding the tour, the younger the crowd
But I wouldn't let age concerns put you off any of them. There will be a mix in any group and most people will socialise and have a good time regardless of age.

I'm going to Vietnam with G Adventures on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it but I'm 32 and worried about it being full of early to mid 20 years olds who I have nothing in common with.

See above. You'll be 100% fine and you'll have a blast.

[Riquende]

So, how do you feel about sleeping in a bush?

Depends whose...

Get off the beaten track with these guys: https://www.lupinetravel.co.uk/ - the last tour I led had an age range of 24-77, and a large % of solo travellers. Great company based in the North West doing some truly amazing things in the travel scene.

Some of those look insane!

[Ghost Town]

I think Kesey's onto something. As there are a number of you saying you travel solo but would like to get together with others, wouldn't it be an idea to get a RAWK travel club going? There's a broad mix of ages, backgrounds, professions etc here, and not too many complete twats. And at least we'd have the football to talk about, and songs to sing, if the conversation runs dry - not that there's much chance of that, knowing how gobby we all are.

I might be up for that myself (though don't let that put you off)

[Welshred]

I'm going to Vietnam with G Adventures on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to it but I'm 32 and worried about it being full of early to mid 20 years olds who I have nothing in common with.

I'm back from this now and what an incredible tour with an incredible group of people! I'd highly recommend it, despite the fact my body went into shock on my first day back in work because I hadn't had a Jagerbomb and 3 beers before midday I'm still recovering now!

[Riquende]

I'm back from this now and what an incredible tour with an incredible group of people! I'd highly recommend it, despite the fact my body went into shock on my first day back in work because I hadn't had a Jagerbomb and 3 beers before midday I'm still recovering now!

Ha, good to hear!

I'm booked on a Flashpack tour down Croatia's coast mid-September. I was impressed the other day because apparently it's the first year this tour has been run and they've already made a change based on feedback that a safari in a jeep was boring, so all subsequent tours will be travelling the route on quadbikes instead.

Flights are booked, renewed passport arrives tomorrow, it's going to be a long 2 month wait!

[ianrush79]

I did trekamerica when I was younger (I was about 27 at the time) and it was awesome.  Met some great people and saw some fantastic places off the main tourist tracks

[Riquende]

I'm just a few days away from flying out now, spending this afternoon packing/changing money etc. We've all been briefly introduced to each other via a whatsapp group, it seems to be slightly more US/Canada folk flying over than UK travellers, and 11 girls to just 3 guys. 2 of the US girls have been on a Flashpack trip before so it's a good sign they've booked on another.

Forecast looks like excellent weather there too!

[reddebs]

A friend of mine did a 5 week tour last year, taking in Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand and she was worried about the age dynamic before going.

At 31 she expected it to be predominantly 20 somethings with not much common ground between the group but she coped at being the sensible one [emoji16]

She's off to South America next year going to Peru, Chile and Bolivia.

Not sure which tour group she uses as shes always done it through a travel agent.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk

[kesey]

I'm just a few days away from flying out now, spending this afternoon packing/changing money etc. We've all been briefly introduced to each other via a whatsapp group, it seems to be slightly more US/Canada folk flying over than UK travellers, and 11 girls to just 3 guys. 2 of the US girls have been on a Flashpack trip before so it's a good sign they've booked on another.

Forecast looks like excellent weather there too!

11 girls to 3 guys.

Fuckin ell .

[kesey]

I like the look of the some of the Flashpack tours (though I don't like how they describe some stops/sights as 'insta-worthy' etc), think I'll start with something European to get a feel for it before plunging halfway across the world!

Thanks for the info.


Well that's somewhat mysterious...

Only just seen this. You said that you felt isolated and that you are not good at meeting people. I do like a bit of isolation too in life mate but my solo trips are fucking mental and always seem to meet the right people by just doing my own thing.  A calamity is never too far awy either . My point was if you came away with me for a week you would deffo come out of whatever it is holding you back. I should start my own buisness actually . All that is required is you must have a full medical report as having a dicky heart may not be good for you. Another must is the ' Ah fuck it attitude ' in life.

[kesey]

So, how do you feel about sleeping in a bush?

Haha. I've slept in worse places believe me.

[Riquende]

So I got back from my trip a few days ago and can honestly say one of the best holidays I've been on! I'd highly recommend Flashpack, though not having used any other company I couldn't compare obviously. The activities were a nice mix and having transport laid on everywhere was great. The group had a great dynamic and we came together pretty quickly, my usual anxieties with new people were never an issue. It helped that we had no fussy eaters and all of us were down for drinking most of the time...

I could have done with a bit of down time in the middle of the week as it was pretty full on, there was a free morning scheduled but the tour guide surprised us with a free walking tour of Dubrovnik old town and tickets to the walls/fort which they're considering adding into future trips so wanted our opinion.

Anyway, thumbs up from me, pretty expensive compared to just sorting your own trip but I tried stuff I'd never have thought to look into. Definitely on another one next year.

[kesey]

So I got back from my trip a few days ago and can honestly say one of the best holidays I've been on! I'd highly recommend Flashpack, though not having used any other company I couldn't compare obviously. The activities were a nice mix and having transport laid on everywhere was great. The group had a great dynamic and we came together pretty quickly, my usual anxieties with new people were never an issue. It helped that we had no fussy eaters and all of us were down for drinking most of the time...

I could have done with a bit of down time in the middle of the week as it was pretty full on, there was a free morning scheduled but the tour guide surprised us with a free walking tour of Dubrovnik old town and tickets to the walls/fort which they're considering adding into future trips so wanted our opinion.

Anyway, thumbs up from me, pretty expensive compared to just sorting your own trip but I tried stuff I'd never have thought to look into. Definitely on another one next year.

Well done !

Did you cop off ?

[CraigDS]

Well done !

Did you cop off ?

He did but then some perv was spying on them which put them off.

[Riquende]

Well done !

Did you cop off ?

Err, no. Was I supposed to?





Actually I did get on pretty well with one of the girls on the trip and I'm flying up to Scotland in a couple of weeks to meet back up with her...

[kesey]

Err, no. Was I supposed to?





Actually I did get on pretty well with one of the girls on the trip and I'm flying up to Scotland in a couple of weeks to meet back up with her...

There ya go.