10 of the best group trips for solo travellers | Travelling solo
The flavors of Morocco
Intrepid Travel’s Real Food Adventures offer the chance to meet travelers with a similar appetite to delve into local cuisine on trips where culture and adventure come an essential side of cooking and eating. The Moroccan itinerary includes sipping mint tea on Casablanca’s corniche, eating a home-cooked feast in the “blue city” of Chefchaouen, exploring the Fez medina and camping in the Sahara before ending up in bustling Marrakech. More than half of those who book these trips travel alone, so it’s easy to connect over cooking classes, tastings and street food trails.
From £980, 12 days, various dates, intrepidtravel.com
Packrafting in Croatia Photo: Mark Oates
Meet paddleboarding’s adrenaline-fuelled cousin – packrafting. These lightweight, inflatable canoes fold into a backpack, making it easy to move between land and water, and are forgiving for first-time users. Much Better Adventures’ Croatian packraft trip is aimed at beginners and includes hiking through wild canyons, canoeing and swimming in clear rivers. Guests stay in hotels or camp in secluded spots in a national park. Groups are from to eight, with almost three-quarters of the participants coming alone.
£534, four nights, dates May-September, muchbetteradventures.com
Learn to wild camp in the Lake District
For would-be outdoor adventurers who find the idea of sleeping in the wilderness daunting, a Wilderness Camp for Beginners weekend may be the answer. Adventure Solos, which offers outdoor trips for adults, has a two-night wild camping break in the Lake District. It’s led by an expert who gives tips and instructions, and the price includes a good quality kit including a tent, a sleeping bag, inflatable mat, stove and torch, perfect for the next adventure – perhaps with friends made. on this trip.
£695 for two nights, 19-21 May and 14-16 July, including equipment and gear to keep, adventuresolos.com
Tour Europe’s greatest cities Generator Rome residence.
Hostels are naturally cozy places to stay, but on one of G Adventures’ new Roamies tours, guests can hang out with a ready-made group – and don’t have to deal with itinerary planning. These trips use stylish hostels (like Generator Rome, pictured) in central locations and are aimed at 18- to 35-year-olds. The essential Western Europe itinerary ticks off the big hits of Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Munich, with a mix of guided walks and free time to explore, and nearly three-quarters of travelers come alone.
From £1,037, 10 days, accommodation in shared mixed or female dorms, various dates, gadventures.com
Black women’s walking and boarding journeys across the UK Photo: Tom Bailey
Black Girls Hike began life in 2019 as an Instagram page set up by Rhiane Fatinikun to find other members of her community to enjoy the outdoors with. Now, as well as nationwide group walks, she holds popular multi-activity weekends for black and mixed race women, mostly attracting solo travelers across a wide age range. Activities include hiking, kayaking, gorge walking, crafts and yoga, and participants stay in youth hostels.
£285 for Devon Activity Weekend on Dartmoor on 5-7 May, or Edale Activity Weekend in the Peak District on 8-10 September, eventbrite.co.uk
Road trip through Portugal
Road trips are best done in groups – sharing the driving and map reading, and choosing the tunes along the way, add to the fun. WeRoad organizes trips with a rough itinerary and a light travel coordinator instead of a formal guide – more like an organized friend who has all the paperwork. The Portugal Beach Life Tour is a relaxed road trip from Lisbon to the Algarve, with time to sit and party, as well as walking, sightseeing and surfing. Almost all travelers come alone and share the row. Trips are aimed at one of two age groups: 25-35 and 35-49.
From £999, nine days, 21 May, weroad.co.uk
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Scotland’s wild west coast is dotted with secluded white sand beaches in wild landscapes, promising a variety of exciting wildlife encounters. On the Trad Music and Kayak excursion with Slow Adventure, guests could spot seals, eagles and even basking sharks and whales while paddling. Meals will include some very fresh seafood – langoustines at a sea shack anyone? – followed by live folk music before falling asleep to the sound of the waves outside the tent. The trip is suitable for beginners, and 5% of the fee goes to local conservation projects.
From £617, spring and summer, dates tbc, slow-adventure.com
Cycle from London to Paris Photo: Brian McGarry
Cycling may not be the easiest way to reach the French capital, but it is the most rewarding. Doing it in a group with operator Adventurous Ewe brings companions with whom to share jokes, aches and pains on the 300-mile-plus journey, and a support team to transport luggage and solve mechanical problems . There is a bespoke training programme, and the prize covers accommodation, meals, ferry on the way out and Eurostar return. If that’s too much of a challenge, shorter cycling options include a two-day coast-to-coast across the Lake District.
£1,000, five days, departs June 19, adventurousewe.co.uk
Dive in Pembrokeshire a bay off Ramsey Island. Photo: Image Broker/Alamy
Preseli Venture offers the chance to kayak, cruise and hike along the cliff tops of the rugged Pembrokeshire coast before retreating to the comfort of a rural eco-lodge to sip a local brew and from around a roaring bonfire to to look at the stars. The lodge is in a wooded valley close to a sandy beach and close to both the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and the Celtic Cycle Route. It welcomes solo travelers, on both standard group adventure breaks and its “solo adventure” diversions, which also include surfing and a boat trip to see seals and seabirds around Ramsey Island Nature Reserve.
£795, five days, runs July 9 and September 10, preseliventure.co.uk
Wine and choucroute in Alsace
Walking breaks often appeal to solo travelers – around half of Ramblers Walking Holidays’ customers go on their own (and a high percentage are women over 60). The wine towns of the Alsace trip is a week of vineyard and forest walks on the Sentier Viticole des Grands Crus, passing villages such as Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé, with their cobbled streets and half-timbered buildings. It’s also a good one for foodies, with lots of good Franco-German food – and of course good wine.
From £1,325, including rail travel, accommodation and some meals (single rooms available at a supplement), various dates May-Oct, ramblersholidays.co.uk
