Solo Holidays

[Unforgettablefire]

Hi all.
Just wondering how many of you go on solo holidays or trips. Where to? And what do you do? Beach holidays because you want to go alone or to places nobody else wants to go to?
The reason I ask is I love bears. There's a bear sanctuary in Romania near Transylvania (I don't want to go to a zoo) and the area looks beautiful.
I'm struggling to find anyone that's up for it so I'm thinking of just going alone. Is that a bit sad or is it something people do?
Would love to hear experiences if anyones done it.

Have you booked OP? I love bears too, very excited for you!

I just booked my first solo trip. A beach holiday to reset and recharge before I start a new job. I was feeling a little scared but I looked up local excursions and now I'm really excited! I'm disabled and it will be nice to do things at my own (very slow) pace without feeling like a burden to any companions.

My friend always hints we should go away together but I know it wouldn't work. She's very fit and active and I can barely walk 100m.

I've been on the Eurostar but the person I went with booked it I wouldn't have a clue!
Also been on the ferry to Amsterdam, sometimes they do two for one offers on the mini cruise it's two nights on the ship and a day in Amsterdam, it's ages since I went and it was only about £40 so probably a lot more now.
A lot of people go for the "experience" to Amsterdam I just loved being on the ship.
I'll definitely post when I've been or when my plan is complete although it won't be for a while yet I'll need to save.

I haven't booked yet @CatJumperTwat (love your username ) but it's a definite, just need to save but from what I can see so far travel abroad is quite cheap, getting out of the U.K. is the expensive part!
Myself, my dd and her partner just came back from a cheapie in Gran Canaria, and the good thing about there being three of us was I'm quite happy doing my own thing and they spent a lot of time doing theirs so everyone was happy. Is that not an option for you? Come with me if you love bears you have a friend for life! Aren't they just beautiful animals, have a look at the bear sanctuary it's called Libearty bear sanctuary, the work they do made me weep. When is your beach holiday?

@Unforgettablefire I love ships too! I never understand why some people think time on a ferry is somehow wasted - for me it's all part of the holiday.
May have to put North Sea ferry on my list of things to do, especially as Amsterdam is my favourite city... I've only done cross-Channel ones before.
Enjoy your planning!

PS Since my last post just now, I'm now getting DFDS Amsterdam mini cruise ads in my MN feed! Ha ha - the power of algorithms 🙂

Well I'm all booked up.
Flying to Bucharest via France then I'll get a transfer to Braşov and stay there for five days. I'll see the bears, go up the mountain in a cable car for the views (you can hike but it would be my luck to be eaten)
Not sure yet what else maybe Bran castle but I've heard it's not worth going inside.
Anyway, after five days I get the sleeper train from Braşov to Vienna. Spend the day in Vienna and get the sleeper train to Amsterdam, have a day in Amsterdam then home from there.
I can't wait! Thank you for giving me the confidence to do this! I'm past myself to visit this sanctuary I'd love to hear if anyone's done a trip like this.

@Unforgettablefire - only just seen this thread but it's so lovely and I got to the end and am so glad that you've booked your trip. It sounds amazing 🤩 I think you'll have to give us regular updates if you can 'bear' it.

That's great news, OP! An impressive itinerary too: plenty of time for the bears and mountains, then two great cities on the way back. Vienna's one of the places I hope to visit one day. Roughly when do you set off? Have a wonderful time and report back, won't you.

Have a wonderful time. We saw bears in the wild in Finland at Arola Bears and it was amazing esp the cubs.

I went to Bran Castle. Can't really remember it all inside......but it's still pretty cool I went. (We were skiing for a week so didn't see any bears). Have a good trip.

Thank you ladies I'll definitely report back.
@Silkierabbit you've just given me a new destination to travel to, just googled it and it looks amazing!

Wow OP that sounds great, I've travelled solo a lot, went round Europe when I was young and have since visited places including Cambodia, Jordan and Canada (where I saw bears).

Have you read the reviews on trip advisor, if you don't already know how to get to the sanctuary then this review might be useful:

Getting there from Brasov: it's possible to do without a car or taxi although slightly less convenient. Take a train to Zarnesti but get off at Tohanu Vechi to shorten your walk. If you get off at Tohanu Vechi, walk out to the street, turn right and walk for a few minutes until you get to a sign on your left for the beat sanctuary (it will be just after you pass an arch leaving Zarnesti). Then you walk up the hill about 20 or 30 minutes depending on your speed and you'll be at the sanctuary! Alternatively, from Brasov you can take a train to Zarnesti and then hire a taxi from the train station. If you get off at the Zarnesti stop it's about 8km walking (1.5 hrs). Also, the walk up the hill to the sanctuary is stunning, lovely views of the Carpathians and the surrounding area.
Be advised that the train stations in Zarnesti do NOT accept card payment, so either have cash, buy a round trip ticket from Brasov, or use the app to purchase your ticket.

Have an amazing time!

you can go just about anywhere on your own - there are hostels everywhere where you can meet other people...

Sounds brilliant op.I always follow these threads and at the end they don’t do it. But you are you are!! Well done you it looks amazing.I don’t think you will be alone if you don’t want to either. I’m sure there are exhibitions for groups and things.and even just seeing people doing the same as you are and starting conversations. Just keep smiling and people will be bound to gather you in if you need or want it.

Go go.go! Also companies like Explore, Exodus, Intrepid you can join a group tour.

Arola Bears was lovely, it's a Finnish couple who do bear safaris and you stay there, ours was a chalet with sauna and they also gave us a rowing boat to use on the river and it was all homemade Finnish food and juices from the Finnish berries like cloudberry. Bears are from mid April to mid July and you walk around 0.5 miles through the forest and wait in cabins to watch them. We saw 8 Bears very close up evening we went out including 2 cubs who were only a metre or so in front of our cabin. It is quite remote and on Russian border so needed a hire car to get there and flight was with Finnair to the nearest regional airport. If you travel a bit there are also moose safaris a bit further north. And we loved there were more reindeer on the roads than people including a few white ones. I think there are places in Sweden too.