The benefits of solo travel are obvious: uninhibited discovery of a faraway land, doing exactly what you want to do everyday, and indulging in some much needed you-time. What’s not to love?
Find inner peace in St Lucia
Best for: a body and mind reboot
Although many medi-spas are miserable — enforcing raw food and strict regimens — not so with the luxury all-inclusive and adults-only BodyHoliday resort in St Lucia. Located in the verdant hillside overlooking the beautiful Cariblue Beach, it has been tending to the needs of its strung-out guests for 30 years with a happy combination of fitness and fun (there’s a free bar). And with endless facilities and wellness options, including a complimentary 50-minute daily spa treatment, unwinding comes easy.
Details: from $385 per person per night on an all inclusive basis including daily spa treatment, water sports, scheduled classes and activities; bodyholiday.com
Cruise along the Douro
Best for: wine tasting and stunning views
The Douro Valley is famed for its vineyard-covered hills and its world class wine. This tour begins in Porto and includes both a rail journey through the Portuguese countryside as well as a cruise along the river. There is also a day in the highlands at Castro Daire, a trip to Lamego town and a guided tour of the baroque sanctuary Nossa Senhora dos Remedios.
Details: Seven-night escorted tours half-board from £929 including excursions and flights. Trips run from May to October; saga.co.uk
Get arty in Italy
Best for: a secluded artistic retreat
Looking for something a little different? Not In The Guidebooks has a huge range of off-the-beaten-track holidays, spanning cooking, wellbeing, language, sport and creative pastimes. Its Italian painting holiday, based in an artist’s retreat in the foothills of Italy near Bologna, is particularly good value, with at least 30 hours of tuition and a host of excursions to local towns.
Details: From £1,250 for eight days , including tuition, materials, meals and airport transfers from Bologna. Trips run from May to October; notintheguidebooks.com
Discover Colombia: from the Andes to the Caribbean
Best for: Fun-seeking millennials looking to make friends
Get ready to discover Colombia's soul through its history, natural beauty and heavenly beaches — and make some lifelong friends along the way. WeRoad groups young solo travellers together, led by a guide, to incredible destinations spanning all continents, terrains and desires. From the concrete jungles of Bogotá and Medellin to the white-sand beaches of the Isla del Rosario in the Caribbean, this Colombian tour is not one to miss.
Details: from £1,549 for 13 nights, including all internal transport; weroad.travel
Enjoy the splendours of Sri Lanka
Best for: culture vultures and beach lovers
Designed for solo travellers, this two-week tour of Sri Lanka follows the classic circuit from Colombo to Wilpattu National Park in search of wild elephants and leopards, before heading through the island’s green heart via the ancient cities of the Cultural Triangle and tea country. The tour ends with a relaxing two-night stay on a postcard-perfect palm-fringed beach. There is a some climbing and the odd hike involved, so you do need to be relatively agile.
Details: £2,395 for 14 days and 12 nights, including three safaris, meals each day and a cookery lesson; notintheguidebooks.com
Explore the Canadian Rockies
Best for: active travellers looking for a far-flung adventure
Lace up those hiking boots and trek through vast bucolic forests, alpine lakes and mountaintops as you take in the stunning views of the Canadian Rockies and camp under the stars. G Adventures provides a small-group trip that takes you from Calgary to Lake Louise and the Iceline Trail. There is lots of walking involved, so this trip also requires a certain level of fitness.
Details: from £1,399 for seven nights including most meals and all internal travel; gadventures.com
Walk the camino de Santiago
Best for: beautiful views and warm hospitality
Solo travellers planning a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Spain won’t be short of company – every year hundreds of thousands of people embark on the ancient pilgrim routes stretching across Europe, culminated in the tomb of St James in north-west Spain. There’s a strong sense of community among backpackers on the camino de Santiago, and locals often leave water and snacks outside their houses for thirsty hikers. The Camino Francés is by far the most popular path, but the oldest route, the Camino Primitivo, is also good for lone pilgrims.
Details: £440 for six nights including half-board and luggage transfers. Trips run from April to October; caminoways.com
Safari in Botswana
Best for: animal lovers on a budget
EcoTraining offers travellers the chance to take on a Wilderness Trails Skills course — a basic safari at a fraction of the usual cost. The setting is the Mashatu game reserve in Botswana, and sightings may include lions, leopards, elephants and rhinos. You’ll walk up to 10km a day carrying your own supplies, and learn to track animals, navigate, set up camp, make fires and leave no trace. Nights are spent wild camping under the stars.
Details: from £458 for five nights for an all-inclusive course (flights and transfers extra). Next departure August 9; ecotraining.com
Island hop in Croatia
Best for: keen swimmers after a slice of island life
Solo adventurers are more than welcome on Strel’s swimming adventures – around 40 to 50 per cent of participants are lone travellers. Swim tours take place in Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Greece, Turkey and the US. On the Croatian trip, hop from island to island, swim along the coasts of uninhabited islands, explore historical sites and experience the relaxed island lifestyle of the Dalmatian coast. If swimming’s not your thing, there’s always the option to kayak alongside.
Details: from £950 for six nights, including two meals per day; strel-swimming.com
Find your zen in Bali
Best for: yogis who appreciate a spot of pampering
What better way to take a break from life’s daily stresses than to escape to the tropics of Bali and spend two hours a day finding your zen in a female-only luxury yoga sanctuary? This seven-day retreat includes twice daily yoga classes, luxury accommodation with butler service, unlimited spa treatments and chauffeurs on hand to whisk you around the sights of Bali. Both newbies and seasoned yogis are welcome to expand their yoga skills here. We wouldn’t say no.
Details: from £2,150 for six nights; escapehaven.com
City break to Venice
Best for: a culture-filled long weekend
Founded in 1982, Solos is the UK’s first specialist holiday company for single travellers, so you’ll certainly be in safe hands holidaying with them. Today, it has five hotels exclusively for solo adventurers, and holidays including everything from ski trips to tennis breaks. A popular city break option is a relaxed stay along the magical canals of Venice. The itinerary includes guided tours of the city as well as a day in Padua, known for the frescoes by Giotto in its Scrovegni Chapel and the vast 13th-century Basilica of St. Anthony.
Details: £1,279 for four nights over a long weekend, including return flights and half-board accommodation; solosholidays.co.uk
Tour the gastronomic delights of Ireland
Best for: foodies looking to stay local
For far too long, UK holidaymakers have ignored the beauties of the British isles in favour of Mediterranean beaches or far-flung hotspots. But now that the staycation is here to stay, there are plenty of delights to be explored closer to home — and Ireland has plenty to offer the solo traveller. On this nine-day tour, you’ll take your taste buds on a tour of gastronomic delights as you hop from Dublin, to the Wicklow mountains, Cork, Connemara and Galway. You’ll be treated to a private tour of The Burren Smokehouse, where you can taste the local salmon; attend classes at the renowned Ballyknocken House, Farm and Cookery School, and explore the beautiful Connemara National Park, stopping off for oysters, mussels and more.
Details: five nights from £3,929 for dates year round; abercrombiekent.co.uk
Chateau weekend and Monet’s gardens
Best for: countryside, chateaus and culture
The famous gardens of Monet are at the centre of this short break, where your base is just seven kilometres from magical Paris. Explore the stunning gardens of the UNESCO-listed Château de Versailles by day, and soak up the glamour of beautifully-illuminated Paris by night. The perfect combination.
Details: £699 for three nights, including four meals and return Eurostar (justyou.co.uk)
Get your surf on in Lisbon
Best for: surfer vibes and city life
Walking around downtown Lisbon you might be totally oblivious to the fact that dozens of beautiful white sandy surf beaches lie only a five minute car ride away. The beaches pick up all the swells the Atlantic has to offer, making it one of the most consistent surf destinations in the world. Get acquainted with them for five nights in this beautiful Portuguese sea-front summer house. The Surf House in Caxias, a small village only 15 minutes away both from Lisbon´s historical city centre, offers surf lessons for all abilities.
Details: from £308 for five nights including surf lessons; surfholidays.com
