Solo trip at 60. Too old or too young for the options?!

[Lumpycat]

Thinking about booking a solo holiday. I am a divorced 59 year old woman. Very active and sociable and am confident in travelling and life in general. I work full time. Live in London.
I live with my adult children and have zero interest in a new relationship.

Want to book a trip to ‘somewhere’ in September to celebrate my 60th. Thinking culture and history and beautiful landscapes and great food. So have decided Italy might work. Tuscany/Florence area.

As I want to explore the area and only have a week it might be useful to go on an organised tour. So the logistics and travel are handled and the itinerary organised in a logical way.

Might be nice to have some company for some of the trip such as mealtimes and then have my own room to retreat to and free time to fill how I want.
Am a bit unsure about the organised aspect of it though. I have always travelled independently before or with friend or family. I have visions of being herded by a tour guide and the time being over controlled.

Was almost ready to book when I saw on a review that a guide might meet me at Heathrow to help with the journey. Really don’t need that level of support! I know people are all different and it might just be an option for more anxious or disabled people.

I would also need to pick from a very limited range of options as the tour groups obviously have a few departure dates. In fact I can only find one option for the date and region I want. It’s around £2300 for one week Heathrow to Pisa. That is fine but I could obviously do it more cheaply and flexibly myself.

Anyway. Thoughts on how to travel solo as an independent person but with some elements of an organised tour? There will be local companies offering day trips and excursions but less likely to have company at mealtimes and get to know people.

The G adventure type places seem to run much younger and I don’t want to be 40 years older than everyone else!

I’m so glad you decide against the group tour. I’m sure they are the origin of the saying ‘he’ll is other people’ alongside regular loo break which for a coach load of people can take an unconscionable time.

My parents always do Explore holidays and the groups are maybe 60-75% made up of singles travelling on their own. Everyone always joins a WhatsApp group at the end and they have a great time. My parents are 60 and 63 so similar age to you.

I have indeed backpacked solo all around the world when younger. Including very challenging destinations. Have lived abroad. Just at a different stage now and after a bit more comfort and have less time to spend on aimless wandering.

This could be me. Did a lot of independent back packing when younger. I am now 60, divorced and starting to plan semi retirement travel and deciding how to do it!

To be honest the slight problem I have is due to my divorce I seem to have more autonomy over money and so can spend more on holidays than some of my friends, especially the married ones. Only yesterday one friend said to be she would like to travel with me but would wait to discuss it with her DH when he was in a good mood!

I think you have made the right choice about Italy. Regarding cruises, just like you I’d always hated the idea and imagined being cooped up with a boat full of Trump supporters or something. However I’d did a 36 berth Croatia cruise in the Spring and I was astonished. We had quiet mornings swimming, lovely food and then explored interesting quieter Croatian islands in the afternoon.
There were plenty of places on the deck to sit and read quietly or talk to a small group if you wanted to.

Perhaps it was just luck, but the boat had mostly Aussie, Kiwi and a couple of nice Americans. They were all 50’s and 60’s, well travelled former back packers, interested in history, photography, local cuisine etc.

Really, it’s very hard to explain but I felt like my style of travelling had been suspended in my late 20s due to family etc then resumed in my 60s. It was as if the exact same interesting people I had met backpacking in my 20’s had gone away, had families and we all had reunited for a reunion on that cruise. It was as if I knew them, even though I didn’t. So don’t rule out all cruises provided you pick a small berth boat I think! And Happy Birthday!

To be honest you’ll be in Italy. As long as you are open, friendly and gracious, likely you’ll get chatting to plenty of local people if you stay in the same place for the duration.

Both in Naples and Como I was on chatting terms with local shop keepers on day 2.

What about booking small local tours also, even something like Airbnb experiences?

My mum loves guided group stuff, I really don’t. However we did Pompeii in a group of 5 and it was a really nice and personal experience, much more interaction with other guests.

Also, I’ve previously booked a 1-2-1 guide/ driver, which again was lovely, as you’re spending the day with someone but have total control over the schedule, breaks etc, and have transport. it may be a bit expensive in Italy but depending on your budget, I’d day £100-200 for a day might do it.

Oh and there was no dressing up (although one of American couples did).

I’ve done a few explore and exodus group trips, and very wide age range on them. People travelling on their own with it would dip in and out of organised stuff. There’s usually days you can do your own thing. And it was smallish groups. Also did some cycling organised trips where you go at you own pace and meet up in the evening for drinks or dinner if you want.

Also used get your guide a lot and found single travellers using them for the day to see particular things.

i always look for small group tours on get your guide, so a small minibus at most, or book a one to one tour.

I do a lot of solo travel and for evenings, food tours work for me, though would involve wine https://www.streaty.com/street-food-tours/florence-night-tour/. I thnk you can - at a cost - do evening tours of the Uffizi with a small group. I think you'll have a brilliant time. (Also, you can get to thermal spas easily from Florence if that appeals)

If you’re in Florence the British Institute run cultural events https://www.britishinstitute.it/en/whats-on/cultural-programme I think you can sign up as a one off. The programme starts again in September.
(I’ve added this to my retirement bucket list!)

Explore Worldwide do an italy food and wine trip (and one in France too!) ... G Adventures, Intrepid, Exodus .... loads of active holidays for a mix of solo and couples.

This looks fantastic! I’ll be starting to solo travel in the next year or two so will be bookmarking this thread. So many good ideas and links!

Major zip-wire and riding envy! I’m going to Romania for 3 weeks in October and have already checked out the thermal baths in the various areas but hadn’t thought of zip wiring.

I’d also say posh hostels - the ones with bars and (crucially for me) single/double en suite rooms can be brilliant because they tend to be sociable. I’m a real fan of the Generator in Venice. It’s on Guidecca, next to some eye-wateringly expensive hotels…

I’ve been on a few trips with Exodus and Explore since my late 40s. It definitely skews older, it’s usually spread from 50s - 70s for the cultural tours, probably younger for cycling. I wouldn’t use them for Europe though, I’ve done a lot of solo travelling and would be fine for that. It’s more for further flung places where it’s useful that they have a minibus that will take you to the places that are hard to reach on public transport / driving yourself.

You’re restricted to their itinerary but I found enough free afternoons built in, and going to dinner with everyone else is optional.

Just bookmarking. I've done a lot of short trips alone but thinking of a more expensive group holiday in the future.

Potent niche but do you swim? Swimtrek is amazing for a solo traveller. Amazing holidays and you meet lovely people. You can choose how much you socialise with the group outside of the organised activities.

How fascinating! Exodus were a group of overland trucks in Africa when I was backpacking decades ago. Great to know everyone is still out there exploring!

Thanks so much to all. Very encouraging and feel behind the curve with so many people already doing this for years. Since divorce I imagined travelling alone but have never managed to get to travel alone because children or a friend always wanted to come.
One of the DC is already hinting she wants to join me but I really think it’s time I just pleased myself.
Love this post above. Yes. I want to meet up with all those old backpacker friends now we are all middle aged and many of us are single.

Good choice to DIY but no need to use Get Your Guide, just use local companies.

If you find the search results are GYG dominated, it usually says who the provider is so you can Google to book direct.

They'll thank you for not having to give a chunk of their takings to a middle man who holds all the power.

Ah thanks. No. I can run and lift and all that but swimming is a pathetic breaststroke 😁

I've recently been on a G Adventures trip & 90% were over 60. It was one of their higher end ones, so maybe that's why? I have to say, it was brilliant

68 yrs old here and was late to the solo game, but haven't looked back since I started about 5 years ago. I like my own company the best! I do it all independently, maybe because I am significantly deaf (hearing aids help), so on the one guided trip I did take, it was not a success for me, I found it very difficult to follow the guides and dinner times with a group were isolating, so I didn't repeat it. That's my story!

When I go away it is usually to places of interest to me, historical, Roman, Greek remains, architecture, that kind of thing. If I think I'd benefit from a guide I'll get a private one on one, so I can hear them, and that has worked out well, but I usually self guide with information from the tourist office/site I'm visiting.

I go off the beaten track slightly, so I don't stay in the major cities, too crowded and accommodation is usually quite expensive. However I do like to be in the centre of action for proximity to everything including public transport/ubers/taxis etc. and for my own peace of mind. I wouldn't stay in a remote area or anywhere that involves a daily bus trip to get to the nearest town, that kind of thing. So for example recent trips to Italy had me stay in Ostia Lido on the coast where a 25 minute train took me into the centre of Rome, and ten minutes to the Ostia Antica site by train. That was just perfect. For Venice I stayed in Padua, gorgeous little city with the Scrovegni chapel and St. Anthony, and the University etc. yet within half an hour by train to Venice. Another great choice. There are many more.

Do it, experiment with what works for you and FGS enjoy! Happy Birthday soon too....

Hard agree. I do try and support local and avoid the middle man scalpers that make life hard for people. I usually take a wander on first day in new place and book via a roadside business. Thanks for the reminder.

I was going to suggest this but also just to say I have met several older travellers who have been on G Adventures trips ....I think they may even state age ranges, no personal experience but those I met were v positive - just for future ref.
Enjoy your holiday!

Interesting. My DC have all used GA a lot and the groups are 18-30. Where was that? Am thinking Galapagos or something (would love to go there one day)

When using Get your Guide it’s worth researching the company’s that actually run the trips as it is a third party booking party and has a surcharge. I have used them though for ease.