Lodging Recommendations for Mature Woman Traveling Solo

Muriel, I think you will get much better advice if you are a little more descriptive about your plans. Are you saying that you will be gone for between 6 and 9 months on one trip? What does "for the first 6-9 months of travel" mean? (Schengen rule applies to Spain.) How many different places do you plan to stay, and for what durations? Do you want to cook, do your own laundry, and so forth?

There are options besides hotels and AirBnBs. You have stays in university dorms, monasteries, hostels, VRBO and other brands that are not AirBnB. You can sign up for a home exchange program where you list your home for possible home stays when you are not there and then in return you are able to stay in someone's home in Europe when they are not there. You could couchsurf, although that is certainly not something I would recommend for us "mature" women.

I've stayed 101 nights in Europe, almost all in hostels. If you can stand young people, this is really something to consider because of the money savings. The other underappreciated aspect of hostels is that if you will be away from home for a long time, hostel stays can help prevent loneliness; there is always someone around in a hostel to talk to. Regardless of budget, you should try to forecast whether you will have a loneliness issue.

I'm somewhat adventurous as a traveler but in no way would I want to leave my accommodations to chance or until the last minute. I've even altered my itinerary a bit when I couldn't find lodging I liked in a good location at a price I wanted to pay. Also if you make advance reservations and pay for some lodging or a deposit on lodging well before you leave on your trip, you have the advantage of spacing out when all of the accommodations land on your credit card bill.

Others will come along with other ideas or disagreements with what I've said. Good luck to you.

I agree with nancycantravel, you haven't given us enough information about what your 6-9 months look like. I also agree with Nancy for looking into alternative lodgings, hostels, monasteries, host-a-sister programs, shared accommodations, etc...

If you live in a town where there is a travel meetup group, it might be beneficial for you to join up with them and ask around with some seasoned travelers. I have gotten so much great information from my local travel meet-up groups.

I also second Nancy's advice on the loneliness factor; you may want to consider lodging where you can meet a few new people.

On another note, Spain is wonderful, and we got around just fine with public transportation. Scotland is the only UK experience I have and it was amazing too, Edinburgh has a lovely hostel right on the Royal Mile; The CODE. I'll be going to London and parts of England in April/May, so I'm really looking forward to seeing more of the UK.

Your question is posted in the “Rick Steves tours” category. You may get more responses if it’s posted in the Destination Q & A page under the Spain and UK categories. Sounds like a great trip!

Ladies, Thank you so much for your replies! I very much appreciate them. I will be doing the Schengen Shuffle. I'm planning on arriving in Spain in either April or June and will stay in Northern Spain for three months, go to the UK for three months, and then go to Southern Spain for three months for the winter. I very much try to work around the high-tourist season wherever/whenever I'm traveling. Cooking isnt't that big of a deal to me. My MO is to eat out for breakfast or lunch and then have something light that I can keep in a refrigerator for dinner. I will be doing laundry, of course, and it would be nice to do it onsite, but I could survive doing it in a laundromat. In Northern Spain, I plan to stay in Santander (with a trip to Comillas), Bilbao, and San Sebastian. I'll also make daytrips to Madrid and Lograno. In Southern Spain, I'll start in Valencia for several weeks, then Alicante for several weeks, several days each in Almeria and Motril, several weeks in Granada, and finish up in Madrid. The UK is still sketchy at this point. With regard to hostels, I've never stayed in one, and my first thought about them is that they aren't particularly clean, there's no privacy, and I'd be the onlly old person there (I'm 64) :-) However, I'm open to new ways of thinking! Do you have recommendations for resources where I can get information on hostels, dorm rooms, and monasteries? Truth be told, I've been reading posts in many groups for a year now, and those options haven't been mentioned.....maybe because most of the groups I belong to are those with people who are looking to retire to Spain and want to rent or buy. Thanks again for your replies and any other info. you can offer!

Lodgings during a RS tour are part of what you pay for. I suppose you might want to consider paying extra for the single supplement. Before or after the tour, check out your tour book for good ideas. Personally, I like to stay in a regular hotel that provides a breakfast for stays under 5 nights. Less fuss. I have looked at Airbnb places but they either are not well located or have all sorts of fees added on to the nightly rate.

I also travel solo a lot. I book a combination of apartments, hotels, bnbs, with an occasional hostel. The hostels I have enjoyed the most are those in which I can get a private room. It’s true that they are generally the least expensive and provide occasions for social interaction at whatever level you are interested in. That being said, I often prefer an apartment - for both cost and additional space. Every city is a little different. I have had some delightful apartments in Andalucia, as well as a merely adequate one or two.

Booking.com and AirBnB are my primary sources. And there is sometimes a discount for a longer stay like you are looking at. Sometimes I just look on Google Maps for ”hotel” or “apartment”. The process does consume some time for sure. But like you, I prefer to have lodging lined up ahead of time - I can always change it.

Be careful not to overstay the 90 day limit in the EU, also depending on your timing you might need to get an ETIAS, for your return to the EU. It is supposed to go into effect sometime this year.

Sounds like great fun!