Solo traveler - hints for finding activity reservations without the 2-person minimum?

What I have done is to contact the person or company actually offering the tour or activity, rather than any third party where you might first see it, and ask if they have any space for one person. My experience with walking tours, for example, has been that they are often happy to add you to an existing group and will tell you how to register and pay outside the online system that requires at least 2. The issue for the service provider is often that the tour or activity will not be offered if only one person signs up. But if they already have several enrolled, then they may be happy to add you to an existing session. if you are somewhat flexible for time and date, that is even easier. As a matter of principle, I would not pay double!

Very interesting question. I travel solo a lot also but don’t often find myself wanting to sign up for classes or tours (not that I wouldn’t - I just haven’t tried often). I think contacting the provider directly is a good answer. Sometimes a website can simply not be set up for all eventualities. And they may not want to advertise for only one person, but be willing to make the adjustment to take one person.

I have found tours I would be willing to pay for 2 people, though, upon rare occasion. And as for the cost, I think about it like 1) a private tour (or class) costs more and I will be getting a private tour (or class); or b) if I were traveling with a spouse, I would be paying double out of the same stash of cash, so not really much different.

*”…a private tour (or class) costs more and I will be getting a private tour (or class)”

Just to clarify, I’m attempting to sign up for a small group day tour, cooking class or bike activity. Even though it’s a group activity - usually about a dozen participants, many of the website links now require every reservation to be a minimum of 2-person signing up per reservation.

I usually wait until a group signs up for the activity and then I join.

On the negative side, I did that once, joining after a group of 2 signed up. Then just before the date, they dropped back out and so the activity was cancelled.

minimum of 2-person signing up per reservation.

Oh, I haven't run into that one!

I do think that a lot of times when this happens it's because they can't run the activity with less than 2. I have had some success with contacting the provider and asking if there's a date or time where they have already met their minimum and can add me on. This may require more flexibility in your schedule.

Oh, interesting. I haven’t run into that either. I have a couple of small group tours booked for August and had a couple last September that allow/ed for just one.

Thought I would try to pull up an example to show because I’ve been running into it with an upcoming trip again. I just picked “cooking classes in Palermo” off Google, and instead of this situation, I found a great cooking class that both shows how many openings per class are left AND it allowed me to sign up as a solo traveler! A win-win! : )

Jean, I haven't had this happen for any day tours or such, but have occasionally had it happen when trying to book a table in a restaurant. In that case, I will sign up for 2 people but when I get there, tell them one had to cancel (or even call ahead of time to tell them it's just one).

I asked one restaurant about this and they said they don't like it, but it's their booking system that does it. So as others have mentioned, I would try contacting them directly and ask them how to book a solo spot.

Jean this is an interesting question. I haven't run in to this situation in my solo travels - I have been a party of one on a food tour in Reykjavik and two different tours in Lima, Peru. I will keep an eye out for it though, and keep the suggested solutions in mind for the future.

I have gone on many tours, walking tours, all day bus tours (in Iceland) and food tours and there has never been any kind extra costs for single people. In fact a good number of people were single.
Air bnb experiences are selling tours from other companies, adding on a hefty commission. I bet if you went to the tour company direct, you would not find those "double" activities.

Interesting topic. I ran into this in Paris on an Eating Europe food tour. I had to wait until someone else signed up to have the minimum tour participants. Fortunately two more people signed up. Frustrating part was I had to keep checking their website to see if the tour was booking. If it hadn’t worked out, I had alternate plans.

Jean, I’m glad you posted this question, it has never happened to me and I do a lot of solo travel but I’m glad to be aware of the possibility. I did a WWll tour in Prague in October and when I showed up I was the only one. Jason, who is a great tour guide by the way, said he made a vow when he started his business he would never cancel anyone who signed up and so I had a terrific private tour.

Being a solo traveler it's never really an issue I've had. The great majority I've looked up or booked with have a minimum tour/activity group size but without a particular requirement for the number in the booking party. I get that – the operator has to have a given number at a certain price point to meet overhead and be profitable.  I usually seek out small group activities and there's always been other solo travelers. Again tours in Iceland being an example.

I have stayed at hotels that have given me a much lower rate as a solo vs the advertised rate.

I was solo on a Rick Steves tour last year that went to Chamonix. My primary desire there was to have cheese fondue. Nearly every place I found required two people for fondue, and I finally decided I was willing to pay for two people to get my fondue! I told the server (who turned out to be one of the owners) that's what I wanted to do and she agreed. When she brought the dish, she said, "Just for you, we made it for one." What a wonderful place/person!

I would email the company if there is a tour you really want to do and explain the situation. All they can say is no.

Janet, that would have been A LOT of fondue, otherwise! LOL!

I’m appreciating everyone’s comments. It can be frustrating if there’s something special, and a lot of extra work is needed to find out how to contact someone, etc. But I did have two wonderful sketching & painting classes while in Bergamo, Italy in 2022 after that extra work to find the exact artist instructor. And then he tailored 2 4-hour private classes for me and even just charged me the participant cost of his normal group rate!

Sarah Murdoch said she had run into this issue sometimes in her past traveling, also.

Rather than using all the energy to convince the owner to take a party of one or wait for others to form a group, I'd rather take my business elsewhere.

I post the name of the vendor on places like this and don’t use them again. If my money is not good enough, then you don’t need it.

I do use one tour guide who requires two people minimum for a tour. If I contact him about a tour, he puts me on a list and as soon as another solo or a couple or anybody signs up then he has a tour so it’s not like I have to find two people. if they’re going to do that I’m OK with it because there does need to be a minimum to make it worth their time. But if they’ve got six people and they’re only going to take couples, then they don’t need my money.