10 of the best tour companies for solo travellers
There’s something about going ‘solo’ that still feels a little renegade, so that when people return with tales of their time alone abroad, we sit and listen with a little awe – and so we should. It pops the protective bubble you’d keep if travelling with a partner, friend or family and immerses you completely in a destination.
Until recently it’s felt like tour companies have gone out of their way to make things difficult: slapping on single supplements, imposing extra charges, or asking you to share a room with a stranger. But thankfully, things are changing. A growing number of operators are coming to the market which specialise in single-person travel; whether that genuinely means organising your own solo adventure, as far away from other people as possible, or perhaps joining an organised group of like-minded travellers who just happen to have decided to travel alone. And there’s been a marked rise in options for more mature travellers too, so they no longer have to wait for a partner, friend or family to book an adventure.
One of the great joys of solo travel is that you get to do exactly what you want to do, without having to consider the needs or wants of anyone else — so if you want to focus 100 per cent on hiking, or perfecting your watercolour skills, or learning landscape photography, or the secrets of Italian cooking, you’ll have no trouble finding someone to help you put your plan into action. Here’s our round-up of the best tour companies for solo travellers.
Main photo: on the shore of Lake Pehoe in Patagonia (Getty Images)
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Our travel journalism is written and edited by independent experts to inform, inspire and advise our readers about the best choices for your holidays. We also feature properties and itineraries from a specially selected list of trusted operators. These buttons and adverts are clearly signposted, and provide direct links through to external sites. If you click and buy a product, we may earn revenue.
Mad Monkey Hostel in Phnom Penh
1. G Adventures
Best for local culture
Founded in 1990 by Bruce Poon Tip when he was just 22, G Adventures has championed solo travel for over 30 years and is now the world’s largest small-group adventure travel company. What sets G Adventures apart is its focus on putting money back into local communities and supporting indigenous peoples, women and youth through its non-profit partner, Planeterra Foundation. New for 2025 are their ‘Solo-ish Adventures’ to 13 destinations, including India, South Africa, Costa Rica and Vietnam. With no upper age limit, the first three days are ‘We Days’ front-loaded with experiences designed to turn a group of strangers into a close-knit crew and later balanced with a ‘Me Day’ for free time and space. Plus, they offer 50 per cent off ‘My Own Room’ for travellers wanting their own space.
• Read our full guide to the world’s best adventure holidays
2. Intrepid
Best for sustainability
Carbon neutral since 2010, an early adopter of carbon offsets, and with its own not-for-profit foundation, Intrepid was started in 1989 by two Australian friends, Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester. Thirty years on, 50 per cent of its customers are single travellers and it lives up to its name by heading particularly far-flung areas of the globe, including Samoa, Papua New Guinea and the tiny African country of Djibouti. Intrepid also ventures into the Polar regions too, including voyages on the ice-strengthened Ocean Endeavour, which takes 200 passengers.
Zip-lining in Selvatura Park in Costa Rica
3. Exodus
Best for travellers short on time
When the 1970s hippie trail across Asia was in its heyday, John Gillies and David Burlinson drove an overland truck into the Hindu Kush — word spread and they built three more trucks to take groups from London to Kathmandu. Their motto is that ‘happiness is the only thing that’s doubled when it’s shared’ and that spirit of adventure still informs Exodus trips, which solo travellers are eligible to join. The most popular destinations for singles include Jordan, Sri Lanka and Morocco, but be aware their groups — which are kept between 8 and 16 people — mix solo travellers with couples and existing friends and most itineraries include some form of hiking or cycling.
4. Explore!
Best for adventure
Explore! is a trusted adventure travel company with tours in all seven continents spanning everything from cycling the Amalfi coast to jungle hikes in Jamaica. Roughly half of its customers travel solo, alongside a mix of couples or friends travelling together. The average group size is 12 and trips are graded from “relaxed”, with more free time, to “full on”, with less downtime. While solo travellers can join all tours, Explore! also provides exclusively solo traveller tours that are broken down into categories for those in their thirties, forties, fifties and sixties, as well as self-guided walking and cycling holidays that solos can undertake.
Times Holidays
5. Contiki
Best for 18-35s
In the summer of 1962 New Zealander John Anderson began to organise tours of Europe out of his minivan and Contiki was born. The backpacking spirit is still alive and strong, with the company catering exclusively to 18 to 35-year-olds and visiting a list of destinations that spans six continents. Seventy per cent of their travellers join trips solo and there’s a strong emphasis on “social travel” — group sizes can range from anywhere between 12 and 52 people — to help people forge lasting friendships. As an added bonus, trips can be paid for in instalments and cancelled free of charge.
A tour group in the Rockies
6. One Traveller
Best for mature travellers
One Traveller is a family-run company that hosts holidays exclusively for mature single travellers, ranging in age from 50 to fit 80-year-olds. Group sizes are larger (on average around 25) and the company provides strong European and Asian offerings, as well as a handful of destinations further afield such as Japan, Chile and Morocco, plus ocean cruises and UK holidays. “Scenic” and “Relaxed” tours cater to those with lower fitness levels and most tours include Vox audio guides for those with a hearing impairment.
onetraveller.co.uk
7. Solos Holidays
Best for private rooms
What started as golfing holidays for players whose partners didn’t want to join them has grown into tours for solo travellers on six continents. Holidays are organised by activity: from golf, skiing, tennis and treks to city breaks and cultural “discovery” tours that range from two nights to two weeks and are aimed mainly at travellers aged 40 and above. Unlike many operators, Solos ensure travellers always have sole use of either a single or double/twin room with no extra fees; there is no sharing of twins or single supplements.
solosholidays.co.uk
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Abseiling on Table Mountain in South Africa
8. Flashpack
Best for posh backpacking
Married couple Radha Vyas and Lee Thompson founded Flashpack in 2014 after seeing a gap in the market between off-the-rack tours for single 20-year-olds and those aged 50-plus — they designed adventurous small-group tours with a touch of luxury for travellers split into two age categories, 30–49 and 45–59. Trips are classic itineraries interspersed with “can’t-do-it-by-yourself” experiences such as learning to make pastel de nata in Lisbon or canyoning through hidden caves in Slovenia. And with 80 per cent of “Flashpackers” keeping in touch after the trip, it’s great for making lasting friends.
flashpack.com
• Best destinations for solo female travellers
9. Rabbie’s
Best for the UK
Although Rabbie’s has now started trips within Europe, Robin Worsnopp started his company in Scotland in 1993 with a single Sherpa van. Some trips — especially in the UK — are day trips but increasingly there are also longer versions. Most prices in the UK don’t include accommodation (although Rabbie’s can book hotels for their guests) and welcome children, while European overnight tours include hotels. What’s universal is Rabbie’s fleet of driver-guides and 16-seater minibuses that can head into offbeat and single-track territory with ease. The London to Edinburgh Adventure winds its way through Stratford-upon-Avon, Conwy in Wales, Whitby, the Lake District and the borderlands of Cumbria and Scotland.
rabbies.com
10. We Road
Best for budget
For those in their twenties, thirties and forties, you’ll start getting to know your fellow travellers via WhatsApp two weeks before. Trips are divided into specific themes, including beaches, speedy trips and trekking — all with co-ordinators that you can message directly. At between eight and 15 people, group sizes are small. The “360” holidays aim to cover as much ground as possible (backpacks rather than suitcases are recommended). The Japan 360 trip ticks off all the main cities of Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka plus bamboo forests, bullet trains and the Buddhist temples of Kamakura.
weroad.co.uk
Additional reporting by Sarah Turner and Richard Mellor
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