The flavours of Morocco
Intrepid Travel’s Real Food Adventures offers the chance to meet travellers with a similar appetite for delving into local cuisine on trips where culture and adventure come with a substantial side of cooking and eating. The Moroccan itinerary includes sipping mint tea on Casablanca’s corniche, eating a home-cooked feast in the “blue city” of Chefchaouen, exploring Fez medina and camping in the Sahara before finishing up in buzzing Marrakech. More than half of those booking these trips are travelling solo, so it’s easy to bond over cooking classes, tastings and street food trails.
From £980, 12 days, various dates, intrepidtravel.com
Packrafting in Croatia
Meet paddleboarding’s adrenaline-fuelled cousin – packrafting. These lightweight, inflatable canoes fold down into a backpack, making it easy to move between land and water, and are forgiving for first-time users. Much Better Adventures’ Croatian packrafting trip is aimed at novices and includes hikes through wild canyons, canoeing rapids and swimming in limpid rivers. Guests stay in hotels or camp in secluded spots in a national park. Groups are of up to eight, with nearly three quarters of participants coming solo.
£534, four nights, dates from May-September, muchbetteradventures.com
Learn to wild camp in the Lake District
For would-be outdoor adventurers who find the idea of sleeping in the wilderness daunting, a Wild Camping for Beginners weekend might be the answer. Adventure Solos, which runs outdoor trips for adults, has a two-night wild camping break in the Lake District. It’s led by an expert who gives tips and instruction, and the price includes a bundle of good-quality equipment, including a tent, a sleeping bag, inflatable mat, stove and a head torch, perfect for the next adventure – perhaps with friends made on this trip.
£695 for two nights, 19-21 May and 14-16 July, including gear and equipment to keep, adventuresolos.com
Tour Europe’s greatest cities
Hostels are by nature sociable places to stay, but on one of G Adventures’ new Roamies tours guests get to hangout with a ready-made group – and don’t have to deal with itinerary planning. These trips use stylish hostels (such as Generator Rome, pictured) in central locations and are aimed at 18- to 35-year-olds. Its Essential Western Europe itinerary ticks off the big-hitters of Amsterdam, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Munich, with a mix of guided walks and free time to explore, and nearly three quarters of travellers come solo.
From £1,037, 10 days, staying in shared mixed or female-only dorms, various dates, gadventures.com
Black women’s hiking and hostelling trips across the UK
Black Girls Hike started life in 2019 as an Instagram page set up by Rhiane Fatinikun to find other members of her community to enjoy the great outdoors with. Now, as well as nationwide group hikes, she runs popular multi-activity weekends for black and mixed-race women, attracting mostly solo travellers across a broad age range. Activities include hiking, kayaking, gorge walking, crafts and yoga, and participants stay in youth hostel dorms.
£285 for Devon activity weekend on Dartmoor on 5-7 May, or Edale Activity Weekend in the Peak District on 8-10 September, eventbrite.co.uk
Road trip through Portugal
Road trips are best undertaken in groups – sharing the driving and map reading, and choosing the tunes along the way, adds to the fun. WeRoad organises trips with a rough itinerary and a light-touch travel coordinator instead of a formal guide – more like an organised friend who has all the paperwork. The Portugal Beach Life tour is a relaxed road trip from Lisbon to the Algarve, with time to lounge and party as well as hike, see the sights and have a go at surfing. Almost all travellers come alone, and share the driving. Trips are aimed at one of two age groups: 25-35 and 35-49.
From £999, nine days, 21 May, weroad.co.uk
Kayak Scotland’s west coast
Scotland’s wild west coast is dotted with secluded white sand beaches in wild landscapes, promising an array of exciting wildlife encounters. On the Trad Music and Kayaking trip with Slow Adventure, guests could spot seals, eagles and even basking sharks and whales as they paddle. Dining will include some very fresh seafood – langoustines at a seaside shack anyone? – followed by live folk music before falling asleep to the sound of the waves outside the tent. The trip is suitable for novices, and 5% of the fee goes to local conservation projects.
From £617, spring and summer, dates tbc, slow-adventure.com
Cycle from London to Paris
Cycling may not be the easiest way to reach the French capital, but it’s the most rewarding. Doing it in a group with operator Adventurous Ewe brings companions with whom to share jokes, aches and pains on the 300 mile-plus journey, and a support crew to transport luggage and fix mechanical problems. There’s a bespoke training programme, and the price covers accommodation, meals, ferry crossing on the way out and Eurostar return. If this is too much of a challenge, shorter cycling options include a two-dayer coast-to-coast across the Lake District.
£1,000, five days, departs 19 June, adventurousewe.co.uk
Plunge into Pembrokeshire
Preseli Venture offers the chance to go kayaking, coasteering and hiking along the clifftops of the rugged Pembrokeshire coast before retreating to the comfort of a rural eco-lodge to sip a local brew and stargaze from around a roaring bonfire. The lodge is in a wooded valley near a sandy beach and close to both the Pembrokeshire Coast Path and the Celtic cycling trail. It welcomes solo travellers, on both standard group adventure breaks and its “singles adventure” departures, which also include surfing and a boat trip out to spot seals and seabirds around Ramsey Island nature reserve.
£795, five days, runs 9 July and 10 September, preseliventure.co.uk
Wine and choucroute in Alsace
Hiking breaks often appeal to solo travellers – around half of Ramblers Walking Holidays’ clients go on their own (and a high percentage are women over 60). Its Wine Villages of the Alsace trip is a week of vineyard and woodland walks on the Sentier Viticole des Grands Crus, passing villages such as Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé, with their cobbled streets and half-timbered buildings. It’s a good one for foodies too, with plenty of great Franco-German fare – and good wine, of course.
From £1,325, including rail travel, accommodation and some meals (single rooms available for a supplement), various dates in May-Oct, ramblersholidays.co.uk
