First solo holiday abroad at 45 - in October. Ideas needed!

[ShatnersWig]

I've only been abroad twice before - Lake Garda (2012) for a week which I loved and Brussels (2013) for a long weekend which I also loved.

I hate flying but really, really need a holiday and have no one to go with. Don't want to do any sort of solo but on a group holiday. I've exhausted UK and Ireland over the years so I've just got to do it. But there are very few places I actually have any desire to go to.

I'd love to do New York (pricey) and New England in the Fall one day. I'd like to go to Norway and try to see the Northern Lights one day. And I'd like to go back and do more of Italy.

I've got 11 days off in mid- to late-October off so looking for a week in one place or 10 days if split over two places.

I don't like lying on beaches for long but adore the sea/coast while at the same time liking lots of buildings, architecture, museums etc to look at. I also have a slightly restrictive diet so lots of fish available is perfect.

Budget upto £1000 (which sounds reasonable but not obviously as it's just me it's not as much as it could be if I had a companion).

Please - I need your ideas!

Lake Maggiore is lovely, lots of places to stay on the lake but Stresa is my favourite. You can do boat trips to the islands and have a nice time exploring the local towns.

bella Unfortunately not - the Isole Borromee will be closed by the time I get there and a lot of the ferries stop as it's out of season and, as with Amalfi Coast, many of the hotels and restaurants close down.

Venice might work and October is nice time to visit. Can get cheap flights there, probably under £100 return with Easyjet or Ryanair. Then get vaporetto (water bus) ticket for a week to go round. There's a beach on the Venice Lido (5 mins on water bus to centre), we stay at Villa Edera there which is lovely. Hotels are pricey but with cheap flights can balance out. Lots of fish. Beautiful architecture and museums. Can visit the islands of Murano, Burano.

Venice very well connected by train so easy to combine with another Italian city if you want.

Penguins I did wonder about going back to Venice, I did enjoy the two days spent there last time but I think I'd like to look at other parts of Venice first, experience a bit more of the country.

We went to Norway in summer - you can get day cruises round the fjords there e.g. Alesund to Gerainger with three fjords but weather is October won't be great. Its also seriously pricey, absolutely stunning though. AirBNBs are reasonable but food is crazy prices, £15 for noodles from a supermarket car park van. Unless you love petrol station hot dogs they are £1.50 across Norway

Penguins Yes, well out of my £1,000 price range

Years ago we did Rome-Florence-Pisa by train and think they also connect up with Venice. The train prices were quite reasonable though Italy can be pricey (nothing compared to Norway but starts to add up). Might be viable though as flights are cheap.

Taormina in Sicily is really nice. This B&B looks nice and says £374 for a week in October and beach nearby. They do wonderful stuffed swordfish kebabs in Sicily. Lots of history and weather should be good. Not sure of flight costs but cheaper airlines fly there. May need to check if need car or can do by train. We hired car but heard of people doing by train but will need to take care on location more then. Only place we didn't like was Palermo.

www.booking.com/hotel/it/b-amp-b-sottocoperta.en-gb.html?label=gen173nr-1DCAEoggI46AdIM1gEaFCIAQGYAQm4ARjIARTYAQPoAQGIAgGoAgS4Avu_2OsFwAIB&sid=e805b1f817ecb867f0ada871ae18c5a3&all_sr_blocks=67140005_206522464_0_1_0&checkin=2019-10-14&checkout=2019-10-21&dest_id=-130467&dest_type=city&group_adults=1&group_children=0&hapos=7&highlighted_blocks=67140005_206522464_0_1_0&hpos=7&no_rooms=1&req_adults=1&req_children=0&room1=A&sr_order=popularity&srepoch=1568022695&srpvid=85b84553af190048&ucfs=1&from=searchresults;highlight_room=&tpi_r=2#hotelTmpl

What about Valleta (Malta) and then a few days in Gozo? Three world heritage sites in a small distance, great fish market in marsasloxx, Grand Harbour....there is lots to keep you busy! Also a lovely theatre in Valetta. Getting around by bus is easy if you dont want to hire a car. Food is great.

What about a TUI cruise like this one www.tui.co.uk/cruise/deals/october-cruises

Unfortunately when you change that Tui cruise from 2 guests to 1, you see what the OP means about the price!

There's this cruise which might be in budget if can get a cheap flight to Rome with Ryanair etc. It is a solo thing though.

www.solosholidays.co.uk/holidays/norwegian-epic-western-mediterranean-rome

I’d second @PenguinsRabbits Sicily option. We did get the train to Taormina from Catania (3 hour flight from the U.K. - a number of the low cost airlines fly there and there is a great view of Etna as you come in). It’s a 30 minute journey from memory. Taormina is perched on top of a hill and is picture perfect pretty with a stunning Greek amphitheatre and beach at the bottom of the hill with a small attached island with gardens created by an English Victorian who fell in love with the place. My personal preference would be Syracuse (we travelled there from Taormina - you have to go back into Catanaia then out again). It was the Eastern headquarters of the Greek Empire before being conquered by the Romans and both have left a lot of remains in the way of catacombs, theatres and temples. Ortigia (attached to Syracuse by bridges) is stunning and completed surrounded by the sea for your sea fix! It’s also cheap to stay there and the food is very good. Give it a google - beautiful place and one of the few places I’d happily go back to!

Ah yes I see I thought I’d put one guest in @Myimaginarycathasfleas

Lisbon - lovely city and small enough to get to grips with quickly. On the river so there's water for you (take a ferry to the other side and then a bus to the Cristo Rei). Museums, architecture, good food. I second (or third!) taking the train along the coast for a day or half-day to Caiscais, which is an interesting train ride to a pretty seaside place.

Porto is fabulous too and also on a river - you could perhaps plan to take a train from Lisbon to Porto mid-week - a two-centre holiday! Loads of architecture in Porto, a very interesting city indeed (though hilly.)

Penguins Unfortunately that cruise leaves Rome on my last day at work, which can't be changed, even assuming I could have got the necessary return flights for £79 (unlikely) and you'd probably find that the "from £921 price" is in a shared cabin with someone you don't know. I know you're only there for sleeping, but really, when you're spending £1,000 on a holiday, you don't really want to share a room with someone you've never met before. Well, I don't anyway.

Getting There you are, you see. The number of cruises under £1,000 if you're single are negligible. Even if that was the single price, only two of all those cruises leave and get back in my 10-day window.

Cruises appeal because you can leave from Southampton and don't have to worry about flying. While I'm determined to try and get on a plane by myself, my brain thinks it's really odd to fly somewhere to get on a boat!

Sicily sounds a good shout. What's the public transport like compared with the rest of Italy? I found mainland trains to be excellent, buses don't seem to stick to timetables (!). I'd rather not hire a car if I don't have to.

I do appreciate all this everyone. When you've never done anything like this solo it's quite daunting in a way.

Italy?

Verona is nice then you can get a train to Venice. Florence and Rome for a different pair.Sorry I haven't been to Rome.

I went to Verona one February, the locals, particularly the children were in coats and scarves, I was in a leather jacket and sitting outside to drink coffee.

sashh I've done Verona and Venice as part of the Garda holiday (I should have put that at top rather than later down the thread, sorry). I found Verona really dull, sadly.

Verona is lovely but inland obviously - Venice is about one hour 20 on. We usually travel about by train in Italy - it can be booked easily (and cheaper in advance) on the Trenitalia site. Mainland trains are better than on Sicily (which are slower and more irregular) - having said that, we did Catania/Taormina/Syracuse all by train with no issues.

Spain is your best bet, I think. I like the itinerary suggested by @elQuintoConyo.

You could do it differently, Ryanair cheap as chips flight to Malaga, Local train along the coast to Fuengirola, or any of the other stops along the route for the beach bit of your holiday. Then when you're bored with the sun you can spend a couple of nights exploring Seville/Córdoba, reached by train from Malaga.

Why don't you get the ferry to Santander or Bilbao?

Sorry, I meant spend a couple of days, with overnight stays, in Seville. I'd also say a trip to Granada if you can get tickets for the Alhambra.

We hired a car in Sicily so no experience of trains - this is the train map:

www.thetrainline.com/trains/italy/sicily

Catania is much closer than Palermo to fly into for Taormina - didn't like Palermo very much but rest of Sicily we saw was really nice. You need to make sure hotels are by stations but looks like most bigger places are covered by train route. To see everywhere a car is better but probably not worth expense on your own and there's plenty to see in cities for a week. We did about 3 days in Taormina in September and its very beautiful.

I love Palermo, much preferred it to Catania, horrible dirty place.
From Palermo you can go south by train (around 2 hours) to Agrigento and the valley of the temples - outstanding!
Taormina is lovely, although a bit pricey. The amphitheatre has an amazing view of Etna, which is often smoking.
Friends recently went south to Syracuse and visited a place called Pantalica (spelling?!) which they loved.

I live Barcelona-ish, so if you need any advice, pm me.

Our experience of trains in Sicily was that with the exception of Catania, the stations were on the outskirts of town so I’m not sure I’d go for a hotel by the station. In Taormina & Syracuse the journey to the centre of town by taxi was about 10 minutes. Taormina I’d agree is stunning - we had 5 days there which for me (the DH would disagree!) was a couple of days too many - there was more to do and Syracuse. It’s bigger, has more historical sites and museums. Depends on how much mooching time you want though!