10 of the best tour companies for solo travellers (2024)

Single supplements, hidden extra charges, being made to share a room — sometimes solo travellers feel as if they’re being penalised. Not any more. We’ve put together a list of the top tour operators that offer solo traveller holidays and have adventurous trips ideal for meeting new people and immersing travellers in local culture, no matter their age. And solo doesn’t always have to mean single. Perhaps your partner is unable to travel at the same time or has different interests, perhaps you’re a single parent, or a teenager looking for life-defining experiences. Heck, even if you do have a travel buddy, the trips offered by these tour companies make solo travel look so good you’ll be tempted to leave them at home.

Main photo: on the shore of Lake Pehoe in Patagonia (Getty Images)

1. G Adventures

Best for local culture
Founded in 1990 by Bruce Poon Tip when he was just 22, G Adventures connects travellers with local people in the countries they visit and is now the world’s largest small-group adventure travel company. Tours are hosted in over 100 countries and run the gamut from classic and 18–30 tours to wellness, rail and local living tours that base travellers with a host family. Most of the trips do not have a single supplement and accommodation is based on a twin-share basis with another traveller of the same sex. 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. It supports more than 80 community development projects globally and 90 per cent of travellers visit a social enterprise project on their tour.

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.

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. That spirit of adventure still informs Exodus trips and solo travellers are eligible to join, with the most popular destinations for singles including Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Costa Rica. They also provide Exodus Edits — bite-size, adventure-packed trips for people in their thirties and forties that are designed to eat into annual leave as little as possible and allow travellers to take multiple shorter trips in a year.

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.

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.

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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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 tours with a touch of luxury for travellers in their thirties and forties. 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

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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

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Take me there

Inspired to do some solo travelling, but yet to book your trip? Here are the best options with Jet2Holidays and Tui. Alternatively, try a solo tour with one of our preferred partners here.

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