Solo Mature, Female traveler in Europe

Yes your dream is definitely doable. I'm a 58-year-old woman who has enjoyed several solo trips in Europe starting from the age of 22 and on up to just this last October. You will want to do your homework first and do some planning to be sure you're not attempting an itinerary that is too difficult or makes no sense. But the great thing about traveling solo is that at any given moment you can change your plans and do something different. Public transportation (i.e., trains) are plentiful and you can pretty much do whatever makes sense in the moment, if you find that one of your initial plans is not working out or has proven too difficult to pull off. And while it's helpful to have hotel reservations (not sure if you can reserve a hostel) nothing has to be carved in stone and you can always find accommodations on the fly, assuming you're not competing with a royal wedding or other such event that has hotels sold out. Read Rick's Europe Through the Back Door and start formulating your plans! Happy travels!

Thank you Gwen. I have always traveled with set reservations.
I am happy to hear from you that I could do things"on the fly". How do you do that and not be concerned about finding no room at the Inn?

I have personally only run into the problem of "no room at the inn" once in all my travels. What I did was just move on to the next town. This did not happen in Paris or London- it was a smaller town and a 15 minute train ride got me to another town. Maybe others have experience with this and can pipe up here. I've traveled a lot both with and without reservations. There are advantages both ways. If you think traveling without reservations would make your trip too fraught with anxiety, then make reservations. But that locks you into a set itinerary and keeps you from changing your plans on the spur of the moment. I think once you get to Europe and see how easy it really is to do, you will be fine. Oh and in case you can't tell by my advice, I believe that being flexible is an essential ingredient of any successful trip.

Frances, if I were you, I'd begin by planning my itinerary very soon, especially since you plan to visit major tourist centers. In my opinion, the first major decision is what country/airport you want to fly into and from where you want to fly home. Then plot your trip from points A-B-C etc. You can still retain some flexibility once you're in a city or town but I think it is very important that you have reserved accommodations well in advance, especially in hostels. Cheaper overnight places fill up very quickly and stay full, especially in the spring and summer. I believe that most of them accept reservations. A lot of times you can also reserve train or bus tickets in advance to get a cheaper price. I'm no expert on this but several people on this board are. As to the routes, make your decision by pulling up a map or getting a planning map of Europe from Triple A or buying a map in a bookstore and pinpointing the places you want to visit and then lay out a logical progression. You're going to be all over the map of France. You might consider saving Florence and Venice for another trip, if you want to go to the Riviera. You could fly into Paris and out of Nice. You're going to spend a lot of time on trains and quite a bit of money on train tickets. If it were me, I'd start in Paris, go to La Rochelle, from there to Lyon; I'd skip the Riviera and go from Lyon to Venice and Florence and fly home from there. Once you've definitely decided where you want to be, you could come back to this board and ask for recommendations for cheap overnight stays. You might get the "Let's Go" books for Europe and/or France and Italy from the library or bookstore. They're written by students for students and will have the latest word on cheap lodging etc. Good Luck!

Only comment is tom echo the suggestion- if you are on your own and find a "no room in the inn" situation, take a train to the next big town along the way. It has worked for us a number of times (although we usuually reserve weekend sat least in advance)

frances, As the others have said, your "dream trip"is easily possible! If this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend pre-reading the Guidebook Europe Through The Back Door as that will answer a lot of your questions (read the "Rail Skills" chapter carefully!). In order to provide ideas on the best route, it would help to have some idea on which other places in France and Italy you'd like to visit? I'd suggest starting in Paris and working towards Rome. Using "open jaw" flights would be best, in to Paris and return from Rome. Regarding the French Riviera, Nice makes a great "home base" for that area. There are some great Museums and it's an easy day trip to Monaco and Monte Carlo, as well as Villefranche and possibly Eze. As I recall, the Bus fare from Nice to Monaco is only €1.00. I also travel solo (at least when not on a RS tour) and always prefer to pre-book my accommodations. That allows me to not only the area of each city to stay in but also the price range. I don't like arriving in a new and unfamiliar city with a 50 lb. Backpack and having to wander around looking for a place to sleep! Once you've planned which cities you want to visit, the details and route will be easy to work out. One point to mention is that it's important to allow adequate travel times between cities. 3-4 weeks is not a long time for travels in Europe, so good planning will avoid wasted time. Cheers!

frances, I'm not much a a "beach person" anymore, but I'm sure the others will have some good suggestions (if I appear on the beach in a bathing suit, I'm always worried that someone will call out the Harpoon squad!). However, you might consider the beaches in Nice, although those in front of the Promenade des Anglais are a bit "rocky" but would be tolerable on a lounge chair. Another possibility is Monterosso in the Cinque Terre (which is not far from Nice so could easily be worked into the Intinerary). One comment on the best time-of-year for your trip. Generally speaking, travel in Europe is best in either the spring or fall "shoulder seasons" (May / June or Sept. / Oct.). July and August are not the best months for travels in Europe. Cheers!

Thank you all for your sage advice! You have put me on the right track in planning this vacation. I would like also to end my journey with a few days on a warm beach with a good book to decompress and absorb it all before returning to my rather hectic life in NY. Any ideas for this?

If you are in or near Nice, there is a nice beach in Cap Ferrat which you can get to by bus, Plage du Passable. Rent a chair and it's a very pleasant way to while away an afternooon. It's listed in Rick's Provence book.

The beach at Vellefranche-sur-mer is just along from the train station and the Welcome Inn is nearby

If you want to end your travels on a beach and you finish your journey in Italy, the Amalfi coast or Cinque Terra would be good choices. The latter is close to Florence. If you speak Italian then you can find lots of great beaches on the Adriatic side; you don't need to speak Italian to travel there, but it definitely helps to have a few phrases since English is less common on that side.

frances, The tentative Itinerary you posted looks quite reasonable. A few additional thoughts. The trip from Paris to La Rochelle is very easy, about 2H:50M via TGV. The trip form La Rochelle to Lyon is somewhat longer, about 6H, with at least one change (depending on which train is chosen). The trip from Lyon to the next destination is much longer by train. You'll have to decide whether you want to fit the French Riviera in at this point or leave it until the end of the trip. In this situation I'd take an EasyJet flight from Lyon to Venice. It's an easy train ride from Venice to Florence and also from Florence to the Cinque Terre. A few questions though - how "senior" are you and are there any mobility issues? I'm well over 50 and I've hiked the trails without difficulty (albeit a bit slower than the younger crowd). Monterosso (the most northerly of the five villages) is relatively flat, easily walkable and has a nice beach. If you don't wish to hike between the towns, the local train is quick and cheap, and boats operate at certain times of the year also (subject to weather). You have a couple of different options. You could head to Nice after Lyon, then the Cinque Terre, Florence and Venice (fly home from VCE). The alternative would be the flight from Lyon to Venice and then travel back to Florence, the C.T. and Nice. From there you could try to find a flight home from Nice (possibly changing in Paris), or TGV to Paris and fly home from CDG. There are many possible ways this could be arranged. Good luck with your planning!

I am exploring all of your thoughtful and interesting suggestions. Here is my very tentative route for your ideas on how to improve on it.
I could start in Paris, then on to La Rochelle, then Lyon and Florence, Venice and ending on a warm beach on the French Rivera or Cinque Terre. (Perhaps too much climbing there for me, I am very senior). I seem to be doing a bit of back tracking at the end. I am very open to your thoughts.

Regarding hostels... Do you want to stay in a dorm style room (this could be anywhere from 4 beds up to 12+ beds in one room) and use a shared bathroom/shower room down the hall, or are you hoping to score a private room with your own bathroom? If you are hoping to get that private room, you will want to book as far in advance as you can (especially if you are travelling during the peak summer season). Even the big chain hostels (like Hostelling International/YHA) only offer a small handful of private rooms, and not every private room has it's own bathroom. Private rooms in hostels are also not necessarily a great bargain if you are traveling solo. You can often get your own room in a small pensione, budget hotel, guesthouse, convent/monastery lodging, etc. at a similar price. But maybe you want to experience a hostel as a way to chat with other solo travelers or have access to a kitchen or laundry facilities. As you said you are "very senior", be aware that if you choose a dorm style room, most likely the room is full of bunk beds and there is never a guarantee that you will be able to get yourself a lower bunk. Even in my 30s I hated having to climb up/down from a top bunk in the middle of the night to use the bathroom (bring a headlamp!), and I've stayed in a lot of hostels where the bunks didn't even have ladders so if you are a shorter woman (like me), you wind up kind of hanging like a monkey by your arms off the top bunk while your toes search for a foothold on the frame of the bottom bunk. Do your research ahead of time on any hostel you plan to get a room at. Read reviews at websites like Hostelworld.com, Bugeurope.com or Hostelz.com. See what others have to say about the amenities, location, safety and cleanliness. And be careful you aren't choosing a party hostel that caters to drunken backpackers if you are hoping for a bit of quiet late at night.

frances, A few more comments regarding Hostels..... You'll probably find that the HI Hostels are more suitable, as the facilities are fairly consistent from one property to another. They're not usually "party Hostels" although at times they can be filled with school groups. If you're going to be staying in HI Hostels, you might want to get a Membership as that will provide slightly better rates and preferred booking over non-members. You might also check the Guidebooks for the areas you'll be visiting, as budget Hotels are sometimes not much more than Hostels, and the privacy is nice to have on occasion.

Thank you for helping me re-think my routes and transportation options. I am a working RN at 72 young. I have been on Easy Cruise, so Easy Jet is a very good thought. I want to keep my budget in check and I will take planes, buses, trams, boats, trains and cable cars. It is part of the adventure. I will take a backpack and carry on wheelie. I would like a private room in the hostels and see now, that I have to reserve early. I want to stay about 3 nights in each area. I will check out Hi Hostels, reviews, and the membership option. Ideally, I would like to find Hostels quite close to public transportation and beaches when near the coasts Thank you all again for your help and Rick Steves for providing this site.

frances, "I have been on Easy Cruise, so Easy Jet is a very good thought". One point to mention regarding EasyJet (and the other Euro budget airlines, especially RyanAir) is that while they provide very low fares (often dependent on how early these are booked), they also tend to have very restrictive baggage limits, both in terms of size and weight. In addition, most Euro airlines will allow only one carry-on item. That doesn't mean one plus a "personal item", it means ONE ONLY. As you'll be travelling with a Backpack and a small wheelie bag, you'll have to check one, which will probably incur a fee (which could be "steep" if it's over the weight limit). The hassles with air travel are one reason I usually prefer rail travel, and the "tipping point" for me is whether the trip is ~8 hours or more by rail. Even for longer trips, I find rail travel less stressful. If there's no one to chat with, I switch on the iPod and enjoy some music while watching the scenery glide by. As a retired Paramedic, I have much respect for R.N.'s. It's great that you're still working. Cheers!

a thought for you to consider is the 1-bag approach espoused by RS. I've been on a RS tour where they enforce it, and people do just fine. As do many travelers on this site who have just a single carry-on. It makes getting around on public transit (trains, buses, etc) much easier if you just have one bag to keep track of. Also if you're thinking of a discount carrier like Easy Jet, keep in mind they not only charge extra for an additional bag but they also have a strict carry-on size limit (sometimes weight also, depending on carrier). If you decide to go with 2 bags, then you're much better off paying for the extra bag when you book your ticket since it is less expensive than at the airport. We flew EasyJet on 2 legs this summer and the flights were ok; think Southwest flying in Europe. Lastly, I would suggest more than the 3 nites in each location you've planned on if you want a more relaxing vacation. Since you'll spend about 1/2 a day getting place to place when you take it all into account, an extra day or two can make a big difference in how rushed a trip feels. I try for 4 in each location.

I want to thank all of you for your good thoughts on how to make my France/Italy trip better. I have incorporated many of your suggestions into my itinerary which is still a work in progress. The biggest issues now are: Not enough time to do all I want to on this trip and still have time to sit back and just relax. The other issue is: I have 7 train travel days out of 27 in Europe. Perhaps I should scale down. I will be talking to Paul at the Rick Steves office tomorrow AM. I am hoping that he will help with these and other questions.. Thank you all again.. Fran

Hi Frances, Good advice is growing on your thread. I've taken a few trips with both purse and bag (wheel-less, but that's not the point), and remembering to keep track of 1) purse, 2) bag, and likely 3) coat .. a big pain! Just one bag has been pointed out in case you fly an airline that requires it. I'm suggesting just one bag for ease of travel from Your point of view (small purse inside bag to pull out later is okay). How much to take? Try for 13-15 lb. Seriously. You'll likely be carrying more home anyway. Hmm, those weights are easier with a wheel-less bag. Well, I do recommend a small bag even if wheeled, just 19". You can do with just 2-3 days of clothes in the bag by washing or using laundrettes along the way and buying some clothes as souvenirs. Do watch out for shingles .. not the virus .. taking items from beaches. I know some locations make that an offense with a fine. Do take the idea of 3-4 nights per location seriously. Too many short stays is tiring. When you're tired, you're more likely to get sick. Been there, done that. It's No Fun! Cheers!

Thank you Betsey for your sage advice. Many of you who posted to my plea for help agree with you and so I am staying 4 nights in each city. The only places that I am staying 3 nights is when I visit with friends and am accepting their hospitality. I recall hearing long ago that fish and company do the same thing after 3 nights. The final Itinerary is: New York to Paris, La Rochelle (with friends),
Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre, Nice, La Palisse (with friends) and back to Paris to return home. I need to find a place to stay overnight in Paris to get to the CDG airport early AM. Any ideas on this? I am booked in almost all except Florence at this writing. I will be staying in hotels, a B&B, a Hostel dorm, a private home and perhaps a convent. How is that for variety? I hope to take a Segway tour in Paris. What a hoot that will be! I'm taking a Rick Steves carry on wheelie and a day pack. I like your idea of buying some things to wear on route if needed. Thank all of you who responded to my original entry on the Travelers' Help line. I hope that I can return the favor to others in the future. Fran