Turkey Gulet Solo Holiday

[SweetcornFritter]

Thinking of booking my first post-divorce solo holiday and liked the sound of a week on a gulet sailing around the Turkish coast. Has anyone here been on such a holiday and if so would you recommend it? My main concern is being stuck on a boat with 7 other solo holiday makers for a whole week, some of whom I may not get on with…

I’ve done this type of holiday years ago with a friend and we made friends with two other ladies that we kept in touch with. But it’s a complete luck of the draw situation.

We joined the party for the second week and the first “weekers” felt ownership of the gulet and weren’t keen on sharing the space with new arrivals. It’s a small space with all communal meals and no means of escape apart from to your cabin.

It all depends on the others onboard. They may be great, or not. But it’s the restricted space and not being able to just separate that other holidays offer that is limiting. There’s a considerable amount of time on board that’s the limiting factor in my opinion with people you don’t know. Fine to pick a solo holiday with others in the same position, but personally I’d pick one land based that offers more choices of mingling, some private time of doing your own thing and then joining for evening meals and having the choice of being together in the daytime with those you like if you want to rather than the enforced nature of a gulet holiday.

However much promotional material highlights the space of a gulet, and we went on a bigger one, the space is small and there’s a lot of time spent in a very confined area without any scope to wander off on your own and then rejoin when it suits you.

Thanks @friendlycat that’s very helpful and confirms some of my own worries about it. I wonder if you have any specific recommendations for solo holidays? This will be my first one and I have a limited budget (ie under £2k). Any advice gratefully received…

This is not a specifically solo recommendation but Tui do a very good sounding one and is under your budget. It’s under the Tours section on their website and include all meals.

I'm looking at solo holidays and love to join a group, but for me the gullet is a bit too close confines. I've done some great group tours with both Exodus and Explore.