First Time Solo Traveler Looking for Advice

Hi, Susan! I can't help with the tour info, as I travel solo independently but I can tell you that when trying to decide what to do in your free time, think about what excites you. For me, it's history, art and culture so I tend to gravitate to those things, although I also enjoy nature and beautiful scenery.

What I would suggest is that you look through some guidebooks - the DK Eyewitness books have lots and lots of glossy photos to pour through, and you might get some good ideas from those. Another thought is to view some travel videos of Italy. Just go to YouTube and search for some of your destinations. You will find that some of the sights will interest and some may not.

One thing I always do on trips is set aside an hour in the mid-afternoon for stopping at a cafe and getting a cappuccino and some local pastry. I use this time to people watch, write in my travel journal or read a book. I treasure these moments. But really, a lot of it will come to you as you are traveling.

I would also encourage you to reach out to others on the tours - maybe invite another solo person to dine with you or ask a small group if they would mind if you joined them. I'm posting one link here that might be helpful as well. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/france/joining-a-group-tour-as-a-single-person

I'm nearly always a solo traveler, and most of my trips are multiple months long, so I can't be of much help here. However, in general I research my destinations to death and create condensed notes so the sightseeing information I need will be easily accessible. I still miss a few things, but I leave home knowing about most of what's available in my range of interests in the places I might go. "The places I might go" is a universe considerably larger than "the places I will go", because I don't nail my itinerary down before I leave home. Your task will be a lot smaller, since you trip is short and the itinerary is set (unless you add on some extra days before and after the tour).

If you have notes about interesting things (to you) in the places you're going, you may find some of them interesting enough to others that they ask whether they can join you.

If you tell us where you'll be when you have free time on the tour, there are probably folks here who can suggest sights they especially enjoyed.

When I have free time after sightseeing and dinner hours, I spend a lot of time on the internet (primarily on this forum), and I do laundry! I always have a bunch of videos loaded on my tablet, but I haven't watched one of those since 2015. I blame Rick (and this forum) for that.

I’ll address Topic one, lol. I’ve done many tours solo both with Rick and with Road Scholar. I think you are overthinking this. How did you integrate into the group as part of a duo? Probably didn’t even think about it…it was just spontaneous. I do the same on tours. I do try to sit with different folks at meals to get to know everyone. I try to learn everyone’s name right away. On tours where there are free dinners I try to look ahead and see where I might want to eat. If there are other solo women I often will extend a general invitation for anyone to join me.

I’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time and the gelling of the group will just happen naturally.

I have traveled as a solo for the past 6 years after I retired but my husband continued to work. When I am going to be joining a small group tour, I find it helpful to arrive 2-3 days earlier to get acclimated and to start exploring on my own and it can be fun to stay on afterward the tour and continue to explore other places. I second the suggestion about doing your research via tour books and also online forums such as this one and others such as Trip Advisor which can give you some ideas about off-the-beaten-track things to see/do. And use this as a chance to really think about what you enjoy - is it spending time in museums, people-watching in the park, trying local coffee and pastry, window shopping, architecture, etc. I find it helpful to write up a list of ideas of things to do in each town or city I'll be in so I can decide when I get there about what seems interesting. I also agree with the suggestion about asking others on your tour group if you can join them - being proactive, especially the first few days of the tour can make it easier and you will find that others start inviting you along. It's a great chance to meet new people and I've gotten great future travel ideas and tips from my fellow travelers which can also be a good conversation starter. Most of all, enjoy the freedom to see and do what you want without having to worry about what a travel partner wants/doesn't want to do. It can be very liberating!

I am usually a solo DIY traveler, and dis my first solo trip at 19. Though I was married and had kids, I am very independent....the expectations of a military wife, I guess.
However, I do the occasional small group tour and belong to a number of solo women online groups. Your concerns are common, so know you are not alone.
Mardee addressed your second question.
As to the first, it may depend on the target market of the company? Do they target Italians, Europeans or Americans? Approach and integration may depend on that. Also, is it a solo only group, or mixed couples and solos? I found couples more willing to be friendly than friends or mother daughter travelers, but others have different results. I find if I make the first move, I am rarely rejected. It seems to help if you have ideas in mind. For your spare time, plan an activity you want to do, then see if anyone may want to join you. Do it regardless. If there are any times you need to make your own meal plans, research an option and invite some others to join you. Keep in mind you have a common interest to be on that trip, so just make some comments to the person beside you. Some tours have people rotate seats or have a buddy (to be sure they get on the bus) so there is a ready companion. If it works out, plan to video chat with a family member most nights so you can at least share your day with them.
I would also encourage you to start now to do some things by, and for, yourself. When you go shopping, stop somewhere out of the way for lunch....not somewhere where someone you know will join you. Stay alone throughout the meal. Take a book, or a journal to write about your feelings or impressions. You may decide that people watching through a window was fun. Or a book makes the time go by. The purpose is for you to have alone time when you are unknown and start to learn that it is okay to be alone...and that you may learn to like it more than expected.

Susan,

Your trip sounds so much fun. I can’t help on integrating into a tour as a solo traveler as all my solo travel has been on my own. I can provide some things to think about for your free time.

• Plan to see or do something you love that is not on your tour. For me, one of the highlights of any international trip has been to take a cooking class. Food is such a big part of culture and cooking in Istanbul for example was so much fun and I learned how to make some of the delicious food I was tasting on my trip.
• Enjoy your alone time at dinner or lunch. I often dine alone and have had wonderful experiences in just soaking in the local culture. Many times the servers would come by and chat and at other times, some of the diners would reach out and say hello.
• Take a walking tour or tour of a museum, church or cultural place that is not on your tour and focus on what you love, for me it is literature and history.

Enjoy your trip

Hi Susan, I’ve traveled with RS tours with my husband and on tours by myself. I’ve also traveled independently - both with my husband & by myself. Italy is a favorite - 7 times there! : )

Topic 2: This is a chance to really enjoy some “you time”! Personally, I love to take photos in the morning when it’s just a few workers out or people tending their flowers. The hues are more vibrant and just a special time to be out walking.

When I’m traveling by myself, I can stay as long (or as short) as I want in a museum.

I enjoy cooking classes and trying something new. My last trip, I took a couple of private outdoor sketch & watercolor classes - loved it! I see you like art. Maybe bring a small watercolor set or pens & sketch pad to draw what you’re seeing.

Feel like a second gelato? Well go ahead! : )

When I was researching & preparing for my first solo trip to Italy, I found this and loved embracing it on that trip! ”Solo travel is empowering, renewing, intellectually challenging and gives you the opportunity to reintroduce yourself to yourself - much cheaper than therapy and certainly more fun.” As much as you want to fill all of your time with being around other people, take this opportunity to also become comfortable being with you. Stop and enjoy some time at an outdoor cafe or challenge yourself to climb a clock tower that you might have passed by.

Have a wonderful time!

I absolutely love all the support and guidance available on this forum. Thank you all so much. I think that I am combining the stress of soon-to-be empty nester with solo travel. LOL It’s been a long time since I’ve focused on me. I have been researching lots. I live on this website watching and reading – and reading guidebooks too. I find myself so open to new opportunities that I want to do all of it. Choosing will be the most difficult.

We will be staying mostly in one hotel and visiting the following:
Siena, Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano, Florence, San Gimignano, Lucca and Cinque Terre.

We will also be in Orvieto before a day and night.

If you have any favorites spots to people watch, or favorite sites to visits. I’d love to know where/what they are.

Also – I really appreciate that you all take the time to offer your advice. Mardee’s suggestion to set aside an hour in the mid-afternoon for time at a café to people watch and journal is now on my list. And MariaF’s note to know my audience – that’s brilliant. And Pam’s reassurance that I’m overthinking it. Ha thank goodness!

I sincerely appreciate everyone’s encouragement and words of wisdom. I am soaking it ALL in.

I spent considerable time in Orvieto in 2015. The website for the Orvieto City Pass is a quick place to check on the highlights. The pass itself is well-priced but might not make sense for your length of visit; it's valid for a year, but you wouldn't be able to take advantage of the opportunity to see the sights in a leisurely fashion. Should you decide to buy it, it probably makes sense to do that immediately upon arrival, because it seems still to include a round trip on the funicular from near the train station to the upper town.

These were my favorite things in Orvieto (mostly in no particular order)

• Cathedral, especially San Brizio Chapel (the clear #1, I think)
• Cathedral Museum (Opera del Duomo Museum)
• National Archaeological Museum
• Museo Civico Archeologico and Museo C. Faina (co-located)
• Walking around the walls
• Orvieto Underground
• Wandering through the (rather large) historic upper town.

The museums are not particularly large, and I enjoyed them all. It was interesting to see the Etruscan artifacts; there aren't a lot of those floating around. I believe I saw those in the National Archaeological Museum as well as the Museo C. Faina (which is an Etruscan museum).

This looks like the city's tourism website: https://www.orvietoviva.com/en/

Orvieto has a reputation as a good place to eat; I speculate that it's because a lot of the tourists you see there are actually Italian. My favorite spot is no longer in business, but a bit of pre-trip research should allow you to put together a list of potentials.

I’ll add that on your Greece tour with your DH you may have a different perspective regarding the solo travelers on that tour after your solo time. Sometimes, especially if someone is focused on other family members having a good time, you don’t really notice who’s with whom.

I was on a RS tour once with 4 other family members and was appalled when I realized someone was a solo traveler. I’d not noticed and felt bad about that. It was early in my tour “career”, lol and had not done many solo tours myself at that juncture.

NOT that anyone has an obligation to anyone else on the tour!

I love to travel solo, go where you want, stay as long or as little as you want. I end up having conversations with locals way more that when I'm not solo. Your going to Italy: where a whistle around your neck on a chain (REI sells them) and if your ever uncomfortable blow it. I have blown a whistle twice in Italy and pulled it out and shown it to the pickpockets another two times and they moved away. I am not trying to scare you, I love Italy and highly a solo trip there. A whistle is better protection than anything else you could bring. J