Going it alone: 25 life-changing solo holidays for 2019

An increasing number of travellers are opting to go it alone, according to an annual travel report published by Abta in October last year. The survey revealed that more than one in six people now holiday solo – up from 12 per cent in 2017 and up by almost one third since 2011.

This rise stems from people’s growing desire for independence. What joy to travel without having to compromise on choice of destination, itinerary, activities and excursions. No need to worry if your partner is going to be bored to tears if you stayed another hour at the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao. You won’t be ridden with guilt either if you prefer lounging by the pool and reading the latest Elena Ferrante novel over canoeing or paddleboarding with a friend.

Interestingly, today’s solo traveller is no longer defined by relationship status. Whether single, partnered or happily married, more and more travellers choose to head off on solo adventures to get some hard-won “me time”.

The Abta survey stated: “Having the opportunity to do what they want is the most common reason why people travel alone, with more than three in four (76 per cent) saying this was the case – up three per cent on last year – and rising to nine in 10 (92 per cent) of 35 to 44-year-olds.”

Adventure is top of the bucket list for most Brits. According to another report on solo travel published in October last year by market research firm Mintel, solo getaways tend to be more active and less focused on rest and relaxation. Solos also take a significantly high number of special interest breaks, with 25 per cent having taken a holiday to pursue a hobby in the last five years.

With all this in mind, we’ve selected some of the most exciting solo escapes as well as inspiration and tips to help you gear up for your next adventure.

Trisha Andres

Follow the call of the wind

1. Ends of the earth

Do you dream of becoming an explorer? Wild Frontiers’ brand-new Siberia Explorer recce enters one of the most sparsely populated places on the planet. You’ll start in the Altai Mountains, whose sacred valleys are home to shamans and snow leopards, ride the Trans-Siberian Express to Irkutsk, visit Unesco-listed Lake Baikal and navigate the jaw-dropping Chuysky Tract road. More than 70 per cent of its passengers are single travellers, so it’ll waive a premium if you share a room with a fellow same-sex traveller.

The 16-day tour costs £5,495 including accommodation, meals, transport and guide. Excludes international flights and visas. Departures July 11 2019. Wild Frontiers (020 8741 7390, wildfrontierstravel.com).

2. King of the Jungle

Walks Worldwide has a brand-new small-group guided Cambodia Jungle Trek through Virachey National Park led by an indigenous park ranger. Carving your own paths – occasionally with machetes – you’ll be overnighting in hammocks or staying with locals, wild swimming and making campfire dinners. There’s time to explore Angkor Wat, too. Not something you can easily execute on your own; and it has kept single supplements low.

A 10-night trip costs from £2,549, including flights, accommodation, most meals, transfers and guide. Excludes visas. Departures March 3, Oct 16 and Nov 27 2019. Walks Worldwide (01962 302085, walksworldwide.com).

3. Affordable Arctic

Cruises to the polar regions can be extremely pricey for solo travellers, but Aurora Expeditions partners you up with a cabin mate so you don’t have to pay single supplements. Set sail on its new Iceland, South Greenland and East Coast Canada tour to discover Inuit culture and Viking history, and have a good chance of seeing Aurora Borealis.

The 21-day expedition usually costs from around £8,000, but there’s a 15 per cent discount on bookings if you’re quick. Departure Sept 23 2020. Aurora Expeditions (0808 189 2005, auroraexpeditions.com.au).

4. Italy on an e-Bike

An older traveller in search of action? Explore the Tuscan castles and olive oil presses of Umbria on an e-bike. Groups are small – no more than eight – with 40 per cent of guests joining unaccompanied, and guides are older too (average age 60). This isn’t a holiday for gym bunnies – it promises a sedate pace of around three hours’ cycling per day proven suitable even for octogenarians.

A seven-night break costs around £2,000, including accommodation, activities and most meals. Excludes flights. Departures May–Sept 2019. Inspired Italy (01733 865443, inspireditaly.com).

5. Cruising along the Zambezi

Jules Verne drops its single supplement on a selection of hand-picked tours. This year that includes a combo Zimbabwe/Botswana trip with highlights such as a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River, a helicopter flight over Victoria Falls (optional) and an early morning game-viewing in the Okavango Delta aboard a mokoro (traditional canoe).

An 11-night trip costs from £3,995, including flights, accommodation, some meals and a local guide. Departures Feb 4 and 18, Nov 18 2019. Jules Verne (020 3733 2951, vjv.com).

Join the pack

6. Oman for over-50s

Wild swim in glass-clear wadis while staying at four- and five-star hotels on a new Oman tour offered by One Traveller, a family-run tour operator offering escorted holidays specifically for single travellers over 50. Add-on perks include an optional “pre-holiday get together” so you can get to know your fellow travellers ahead of the trip.

An 11-night tour costs £3,990 per person and includes accommodation, guide, most transport and meals. Excludes flights and visas. Departure Nov 8 2019. One Traveller (01760 614842, onetraveller.co.uk).

7. European wild card

Moldova is currently the least-visited country in Europe according to the website Traveler’s Digest, so Explore’s new Moldova Short Break is a quirky opportunity to visit the capital city of Chisinau, have a tipple of Kvint brandy and see Tiraspol – the capital of the breakaway territory of Trans-Dniester. There’s no single supplement and travellers vary in age from 20 to 60.

The five-day trip costs from £880 per person, including flights, accommodation and meals. Departures April 4–Oct 5 2019. Explore (01252 883761, explore.co.uk).

8. Jungle booking

Exploring the three Guianas – Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana – is rather tricky as a solo traveller due to limited access that requires expensive light aircraft, four-wheel drives and dugout canoes. However, KE Adventure’s new Hidden Guianas tour puts it all within range, with no single supplement fee. Some of the highlights include the staggeringly high Kaieteur Falls, the world famous Papillon penal colony, and Georgetown’s food markets.

A 14-night trip costs £5,275 including all flights, accommodation and excursions. Departures March 28, Sept 26 and Nov 7 2019. KE Adventure (01768 773966, keadventure.com).

9. Unknown Nakhchivan

Ever heard of the Nakhchivan Republic? It’s an autonomous exclave of Azerbaijan – bordering Armenia, Iran and Turkey – reputed to be the home of the tomb of Noah (of biblical fame). This pioneering tour takes in the Kahf Caves, a site of pilgrimage referenced in the Koran, as well as 12th-century monuments and a museum dedicated to Heydar Aliyev, the KGB officer who rose through the ranks to become known as the president of Azerbaijan.

The six-day tour costs £1,520 (extra for single supplement), including flights, accommodation, all meals and activities. Departure April 8 2019. Regent Holidays (020 7666 1244, regent-holidays.co.uk).

10. Borneo to be wild

Flash Pack tours are designed specifically for solo travellers aged 30 to 40. Its brand-new Borneo adventure takes you into the remote Ulu Ai region, where you’ll spy big-nosed proboscis monkeys and pygmy elephants from a longboat, forage for a rainforest supper, spend time with the Iban community of Nanga Sumpa, go caving at Mulu National Park, visit the sun bear sanctuary in Sandakan and finish with a bit of luxury at Tanjung Aru Beach.

A 12-night trips costs £2,549, including all activities, internal flights, accommodation, transport and most meals. Excludes international flights. Departures Feb 1–Oct 25 2019. Flash Pack (020 3856 3903, flashpack.com)

Solo soul breaks

11. Sun salutations in Scilly

Want a private-island escape without spending major pennies? Tresco in the Isles of Scilly, 30 miles (48km) off the coast of Cornwall, is the base for Iyengar yoga tutor and massage therapist Lucy Aldridge, who runs a summer retreat that includes a complimentary aromatherapy or Kundalini massage.

A five-night break costs £750 per person, including breakfasts and dinners, six yoga classes and inter-island transfers. Departures May 18–23 and Aug 31–Sept 5 2019. Tresco Yoga Retreats (01720 422849, tresco.co.uk).

12. Fasting near Faro

Have all those Christmas parties taken their toll? Treat your liver to a supervised juice detox at the new Wild View Retreat. It is located just 30 minutes from Faro in Portugal and set inside protected mountain wilderness. It offers 360-degree mountain views, no neighbours and an infinity pool. Guests can enjoy three carefully designed juices and soup each day to support the fasting process. This is the place to mingle with others of mixed ages as much, or little, as you like.

A seven-night detox course costs around £1,500, including accommodation, juices, yoga lessons, guided walks and nutrition lectures. Excludes flights, transfers and massages. Departures May 11, June 8, July 27, Aug 17 2019. Wild View Retreat (00351 965 104 892, wildviewretreat.com).

13. Colombian ceremony

A twist on traditional wellness retreats, this combines a yoga class with a street-food tour in Unesco-listed Cartagena, a day hike through the Tayrona National Natural Park with a spa treatment, a guided meditation beside the spiritual Aluna Springs and a ceremony with an indigenous elder. Aimed at 18–40-year-olds.

The eight-day trip costs from £1,349 per person (single supplement an extra £335), including accommodation, breakfasts, yoga classes, and excursions. Excludes international flights, visas and other meals. Departures July 20, Nov 9, Dec 14 2019. G Adventures (0344 272 2060, gadventures.com).

14. Yoga Pilgrimage

A bespoke yoga pilgrimage following the Camino Mozárabe – a little-known branch of the Camino de Santiago. There are three sections to the trail: the first takes yoga pilgrims from Málaga to Córdoba; the second into more remote regions including the ancient towns of Mérida and Unesco-listed Cáceres, to Salamanca; then finally to Santiago. Guests walk seven to 10 miles (11–16km) per day on average. Along the way yogadeva Erin Fleming incorporates Yin Yoga and meditation into the adventure.

A nine-night pilgrimage (one part of the trilogy) costs £4,530 including single supplement, accommodation, most meals and guide. Departures: April 23–30, May 2–11 and May 11–21. Toma & Coe (0034 650 73 31 16, tomaandcoe.com).

15. Back to the source

The birthplace of yoga, India guarantees mind-body transformation. Aimed at youngish professionals, Intrepid Travel’s new Mind, Body, Spirit tour will have you mingling with local pilgrims at Sri Chamundeswari Temple, studying Ayurveda at a homestay in the Western Ghats, and learning the history of yoga from a local guru in Mysore.

A nine-day trip costs from £1,020 per person, including accommodation, transport, activities and some meals. Excludes flights and visas. Departures June 17 and Nov 8 2019. Intrepid Travel (020 3308 9753, intrepidtravel.com).

Be a culture vulture

16. Dracula’s Castle

Transylvania is starting to attract adventurous travellers for more than just Bran Castle, the putative residence of Count Dracula, which is just one of the highlights on this Much Better Adventures trip. Others include exploring the cobbled streets of Brasov’s Old Town, which is ringed by medieval Saxon walls and set in the forested Carpathian Mountains, and a night sleeping in the Ice Hotel on the shores of 6,673ft-high Lake Balea. There are zero single supplements on all its trips.

A four-night break costs from £349 including accommodation, breakfasts, and activities. Excludes flights and other meals. Departures Jan 18–March 23 2019. Much Better Adventures (020 3826 8256, muchbetteradventures.com).

17. Free reign in Ireland

Looking for the security of group travel with the option of doing your own thing whenever you want? Cosmos Lite itineraries, including the brand-new Ireland Explorer trip, allow you to pick and choose from a range of excursions, such as the Cliffs of Moher and photogenic Ring of Kerry drive, and pay only for those – essentially touring à la carte. There’s a tour director on hand to guide and offer recommendations, but you’re free to explore on your own too using their CosmosGo app.

A seven-day trip costs from £933, including accommodation, flights, transfers, private-home pickup service and some meals. Departures April–October 2019. Cosmos (0330 058 8237, cosmos.co.uk).

18. Russian Royalty

Explore St Petersburg in the company of Princess Katya Galitzine, part of one of the oldest noble families in Russian history. Over three days, you’ll delve into the Hermitage vaults uncovering gems not on public display, see Fabergé eggs at the new Shuvalov Palace museum and visit wonder-of-the-world Catherine Palace.

The five-day Jewels of St Petersburg itinerary costs from £2,295 per person, including full-board accommodation, guide and transport. Excludes flights. The £250 single supplement will be waived for the first two solo travellers to book. Departure Feb 27 2019. Steppes Travel (01285 601050, steppestravel.com).

19. Sail away

Single supplements on luxury cruises can be prohibitively expensive, but Silversea has opened up its Lisbon to Barcelona sailing – with stops at ancient Cádiz, the traditional fishing villages of El Palo and Pedregalejo, and artistic Livorno – at just 25 per cent of the standard supplement rate. Plus, you’ll have a private butler to keep you company.

The 10-day itinerary costs £5,375 per single occupancy of a Vista Suite on an all-inclusive basis, including business-class flights, transfers, unlimited Wi-Fi and a butler. Departure April 15 2019. Wexas Travel (020 7838 5892, wexas.com).

20. Turkish Delight

Although it is perceived primarily as a summer destination, Turkey offers a lot in winter – you won’t be surrounded by holidaying families, and famous sites, such as the volcanic rocks of Cappadocia and Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, are delightfully crowd free.

A 10-day trip costs from £935, including accommodation, transport, activities and some meals. Excludes flights and e-visa. Departures Oct 19, Nov 16, Dec 14 2019. Intrepid (020 3308 9753, intrepidtravel.com).

Walk on the wild side

21. Birdwatching with the Berber

Swap souks for a chance to see white-rumped swifts and Barbary ground squirrels amid the High Atlas mountains of Morocco. Starting in Marrakech, you’ll embark on Naturetrek’s relaxed ten-day trek, staying at gîtes and mud-brick villages of the indigenous Berber, and tucking into campfire tagines in the company of like-minded twitchers in their twilight years.

A 15-day holiday costs £2,090 (including single supplement), with accommodation, meals, guide and return flights from London. Departs May 15 2019. Naturetrek (01962 733051, naturetrek.co.uk).

22. Snapping sea lochs

Embark on a slow-travel photography course exploring the Isle of Mull in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides. Under the tutelage of Niall Benvie you’ll learn how to capture the light and landscapes of the wild coastline and sandy bays, as well as its otters, puffins and shaggy-haired Highland cattle. 

A seven-night trip costs £2,050 per person, which includes the £100 single supplement as well as accommodation, all meals, transport and guiding. Departure May 10–17 2019. Wild Photography Holidays (01630 647828, wildphotographyholidays.com).

23. Dive between continents

Guests are provided with a dive buddy on this long-weekend break to Iceland to explore the Silfra fissure – the divide between the Eurasian and American tectonic plates and one of the world’s top cold-water dive sites. You’ll need a dry suit qualification – but you can defrost in the geothermal pools afterwards.

The four-day trip costs from £945, including flights, accommodation, and full equipment. Departures June–Sept 2019. Dive Worldwide (01962 302087, diveworldwide.com).

24. Mountain ghosts

You’ll need deep pockets and a healthy ticker, but seeing snow leopards in the mountains of Ladakh – also known as “Little Tibet” – is one of life’s top wildlife experiences. Most operators take you to overcrowded Rumbak Valley, but Real Holidays operates in the less touristic Ulley region. It includes a homestay with your Ladakhi tracker’s family.

The 12-night itinerary costs £8,482, including flights to Delhi, full-board accommodation, permits and activities. Excludes visas. Departures March 15 and April 5 2019. Real Holidays (020 7359 3938, realholidays.co.uk).

25. Namibia with the experts

Namibia is ideal for a four-wheel self drive. Aardvark’s new Namibia Under Canvas Safari not only provides companions, but also introduces you to the world-renowned AfriCat Foundation conserving Africa’s large cats and arranges for you to track black rhino with Save the Rhino Trust.

A 10-day trip for solos costs £3,547, including accommodation, transportation, safari guides, park fees, excursions and all meals and drinks. Departures April–Nov 2019. Aardvark Safaris (01980 849160, aardvarksafaris.co.uk).

Emma Thomson