Tours for Solo Travelers

If not RS, you might do a little googling https://www.tourradar.com/s/d-singles-europe

No, there are no tours targeted just for solo travelers. However, I travel solo and have enjoyed my 10 tours. On one I agreed to have someone share my room. It worked and my roommate was a lovely person, but I decided I'm happier paying the supplement to have a room by myself. You get a credit for future tours for each one taken, so now my credit goes a long way to offset the extra $$$ of the supplement. I have found that on most tours folks are happy to include a solo in free time excursions or dinners not included. Sometimes you do need to be proactive and ask what others have planned in free time, but I have never been turned down if I ask if I can join them. I find the 'bus time' is a great way to get to know others and find out what they have planned for free time or dinner.

We have done tours with Rick Steves and with Overseas Adventure Travel, there have always been a good number of solo travelers, especially women. Some were sharing a room with someone they met on a previous tour and found they travelled well together, others were on their own. I don't think anyone felt like a third-wheel, especially since most of the activities were group activities anyway.

I've solo traveled on 4 Rick Steves tours to date. I've never felt isolated and always somehow managed to find someone (or a couple of folks) to join for dinner, drinks, museums, cafes, etc.

I travel solo and have taken tours with Rick Steves and Odysseys Unlimited.

I have never been the only single on any tour, have never felt like the third wheel as others have invited me to join them, and I've also enjoyed my alone time.

I've only been on one tour, it was an RS tour, where all of the couples seemed to stick to themselves. Not in groups, to themselves. But the singles on the tour stuck together.

I would suggest not being afraid to take the tour. Study up on what you want to see and do on your free time and you'll probably be surprised how many on the tour want to do the same thing.

I've done 10 Rick Steves tours solo. There are always a few other people traveling solo, and I have never felt like a third wheel. I encourage you to give it a try!

I'm also a solo traveler. I've done a number of OAT tours. They do not charge for single supplement on their land adventures.

Check out https://solotravelerworld.com/. They have a lot of resources for solo travelers, including a newsletter you can subscribe to. They look out for free and low-cost single supplements.

Isabel, Rick Steves does not offer "single only" tours. I agree it would be nice, especially since I'm somewhat introverted (and getting more so with age). I have taken two tours solo and will be doing a third in September and a fourth next June. From my limited experience I think some tour itineraries attract more singles. I noticed you posted about cave art. You might consider the Loire and South of France tour. In 2022 when I took the tour we started with seven single people (Covid hit the tour hard so we sadly ended with four singles out of the 10 left standing). The tour was a good mix of fun, inclusive people.

Road Scholar offers singles tours. I have not taken any so cannot comment. Maybe Pam on the forum will see this to tell us more. https://www.roadscholar.org/collections/solo-travel/
Kathy

PS I will add that on last year's tour, Berlin, Prague & Vienna, I was the only solo tour member. People were nice, some more inclusive than others. That tour is a little more intense because of the region's 20th Century history (just my opinion), but was very interesting and I'm glad I went.

Hahaha...I was just going to comment Kathy!

Yes, Road Scholar does offer some "women only" tours which are probably overwhelmingly solo travelers but might have some women couples on them. I've not done one of them but have done 13 regular RS tours and there are always solo women traveling on them.

I've also done 12 Rick tours with 9 of them going as a solo. I enjoy time to my own so don't usually seek out people to eat with although I have been asked by others to join them.

I'll add that I've never felt like a 3rd wheel on any of my tours although I did have a Rick Steves tour that had a group of 11 traveling together and that completely changed the tour dynamic. They excluded everyone, lol. I was traveling with family on that one. On Road Scholar tours I've gotten along everyone including with the other solos, usually women. Enough so that we often sat together at group meals and when I was going to skip a group meal made sure to tell them ahead of time (as well as the guide) so no one wondered where I was.

My last 2 tours were with Seymour Travels which offers very small groups. The first one, to Northern England, had 5 tour members and 2 guides and the 2nd one to Orkney/Shetland had 10 tour members and 2 guides. On both the guides were very inclusive as were other tour members. I honestly was not sure I would like that very small group format but wound up loving it. I love the unlimited access to the guides and their knowledge. Mark is the kind of guide who loves to give you everything he's got regarding history, culture, geography, etc. I was worried that with the limited numbers there would be someone who is a "pill" as my Mom would have said...or worse..what if "I" was the pill? Yikes. No problem! They are also more active than Rick's or Road Scholar tours so I will continue to do them until I "age out", lol.

I hope you find something that works for you!

I have done 5 RS tours solo. My experience was similar to Laurie Beth's - on three I shared with another solo or rotated roomies when there were more than 2 solos. One tour I got lucky and all other solos had paid the single supplement, so by default I got my own room (you can't count on that though). On my most recent tour I paid the single supplement and was glad for my own space - I will do this in future unless I travel with someone I know.

I've never felt like a third wheel. I believe you get out of a tour what you put in to it no matter what the group composition is. Most people are kind and interesting and I've been warmly welcomed at meals and free time activities. So long as you express an interest, and take cues if it seems people do want to be on their own (sometimes they do), there is no reason to worry about being solo on a RS tour. I have met some wonderful couples (and solos) that I still keep in touch with (hi Laura!).

Hi, Isabel! I’ve taken 5 RS tours as a solo traveler. I’ve enjoyed them all and with just a few exceptions I did not feel like a third wheel. Most tour members are very friendly and outgoing.

I will share my two “third wheel” experiences and then just a few of the many inclusive experiences I have had.

Two negatives and my solution
On my first tour, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I felt left out when dinner arrangements were being made for a night when there was no group meal. What I quickly learned was that I needed to be proactive. If I wanted to have company for dinner, I just needed to speak up and say, “I would love to go to dinner with some others tonight if that fits in with your plans.” Never an issue after that.

Seating. This has only ever happened to me on one tour. The tables, inexplicably, were always for four. It ended up all couples sitting together the first two nights and I was relegated to the table with the three teens by default. Now they were great teens and I enjoyed them, but I realized that unless I took action they were going to continue to be my exclusive dinner companions. Third group dinner, I sat down at a table of four where one couple was sitting and let the chips fall where they may. It was fine. People just flexed a little and I had some adult conversation.

Some of the many positives.
Couples who would choose to split up at group meals so they could get to know others.
Invites without me having to say anything.
Tour members who would share, “ We are going to do X during free time today. Does anyone want to join us?”
Other solos looking for others to do things with as well
Tour guides that were extremely sensitive to group dynamics and made sure everyone felt included.

One challenge of traveling solo is that you can’t expect others to have to entertain you or include you on every activity. You need to respect their time and their experience as well. You can ask if anyone wants to do “X”, but also feel confident and good about doing it yourself if others aren’t interested. A relative shared that she was on a tour with her husband and a solo traveler just seemed to cling to them everywhere. She began to resent it.

Overall, I think the tour experience for a solo traveler on a Rick Steves tour is extremely positive and I would gladly go again. I always do single supplement and am glad I did.

@Carol N-R, you make some excellent points! Yes to everything, especially being proactive with others if you want to be included.