Empty nest holidays: the trips you postponed, with a host and a small group

The best empty nest holidays are the ones you put off while the children were at home, and you can take them now even if your partner would rather stay put. Spice Escapes runs small hosted group holidays for people travelling on their own, so you book a place for yourself, a host travels with the group, and you go with company from the first evening.

For years the calendar belonged to other people. School terms, half-term prices, then the car loaded to the roof every autumn. Somewhere in a drawer there is a list of places you meant to see "when the kids are older". They are older. The bedrooms are tidy and the house is quieter than you expected, and if you share it with someone who is perfectly happy with the garden and the sofa, the list is still waiting for you.

The quiet house, and the trips you parked

Empty nesters tell us two feelings arrive together. One is a sort of freedom, a sense that the next twenty years could be about you for a change. The other is inertia. After two decades of planning around everyone else, it is oddly hard to plan around yourself, and easier to say "maybe next year" again.

Then there is the partner question. Some partners simply do not share the travel bug. That is fine. It does not mean the safari or the river cruise stays on the list forever. Plenty of couples settle on a happy arrangement where one of them goes and the other enjoys a quiet house of their own for a week.

What a hosted group takes away is the part that keeps people at home: arriving somewhere unknown with nobody to eat with. Groups are around fifteen people, and some reach twenty. Most people book on their own, so you are not the only one without a partner at the table. Your host makes the introductions, runs the meet-ups and keeps an eye on everyone. If you have not been away without the family in a very long time, our guide for first-time solo travellers walks through how the first day tends to go.

The far one you always said "one day" about: South Africa

If the postponed trip on your list is a long-haul one, this is it. South Africa Discovery is 10 nights based in Cape Town, with your host Sue Giddings meeting you at arrivals and staying for the whole trip. You fly out overnight, so you land with the day ahead of you and a group lunch already arranged.

One day takes in Chapman's Peak Drive, Cape Point and the penguins at Boulders Beach. Another goes out to Franschhoek in the Cape Winelands. There is an overnight at a private game reserve with a sunrise game drive, which for many people is the moment the whole list was written for. Home in between is The Vineyard Hotel, set in gardens on the slopes of Table Mountain, with pools and a spa for the slower afternoons.

Dates: 29 Mar 2027 – 8 Apr 2027. From £3,499. Places: 8 places left.

The one that needed a fortnight free: India by river

Some trips never fitted between term times because they needed the best part of two weeks. India: Kolkata and The Lower Ganges River Cruise is several nights, a Spice Escapes charter aboard the RV Kalaw Pandaw, a boutique river boat with just 18 staterooms and an all-inclusive drinks package. Your host is one of our hosts.

You start in Kolkata, with an early visit to the Mallick Ghat flower market and a private visit to Raj Bhavan arranged for Spice Escapes guests. Then the boat heads up the Hooghly to the Danish colony of Serampore, to Kalna for a rickshaw ride to a Shiva temple ringed by 108 shrines, and to Matiari to watch brass pots being made. A small boat suits a first big trip without your partner: you see the same faces at every meal, and by the third day they are friends.

Dates: dates to be confirmed. From price on request. Places: ask us.

A gentler first go: Lake Como at your own pace

If a long-haul trip feels like too much for a first time away, start closer. Lake Como Discovery is several nights in Como itself, at Hotel Como, ten minutes' walk from the historic centre, with a rooftop pool. Your host is one of our hosts.

The shape of the days suits someone relearning how to please themselves. Your host gathers everyone over breakfast to talk about plans, and ferries run to Bellagio, Varenna and Menaggio whenever you fancy a day out. Go with a few of the group, or take the funicular up to Brunate for the view on your own, then meet everyone in the bar in the evening to swap stories before dinner. More of Italy is on our Italy holidays page.

Dates: dates to be confirmed. From price on request. Places: ask us.

A week that is finally about rest: Croatia

Not every postponed trip is an adventure. For some empty nesters the thing they have missed most is a proper week of doing very little, with nobody needing a lift. Croatian Chillout is 7 nights on the island of Lošinj, hosted by Jackie Whyte, at Hotel Punta on half board, so breakfast and dinner are taken care of.

There is a boat day round the Lošinj archipelago, with swimming in quiet coves and a chance of dolphins. Mali Lošinj and its Apoxyomenos museum are a 3km walk or cycle from the hotel, and the hotel has an infinity seawater pool for the days you want to stay put. Browse more chillout and relaxation holidays if this is the mood you are in.

Dates: 1 May 2027 – 8 May 2027. From £869. Places: 13 places left.

Money, rooms and the small print

Every room on these holidays comes with a single supplement or room-to-yourself cost, and we would rather you knew that now. Our single supplement page explains how it works and why it varies from trip to trip. Flight-inclusive holidays are ATOL protected under licence 9046. For a wider look at going away on your own at this stage of life, see our over 50s solo holidays and what makes a Spice Escape different.

Questions people ask

Is it selfish to go on holiday without my partner?

Most couples who try it find it suits them both. One of you gets the trip you have waited years for, the other gets a quiet week at home, and nobody spends a fortnight somewhere they did not want to be.

I have not travelled without the family for twenty years. Will I cope?

Yes, and the host is the reason. Someone meets the group, knows the plan and makes the introductions, so the hard parts of travelling alone are already handled.

Will everyone else be in a couple?

Most people on a Spice Escapes holiday book on their own. You will be one of many travelling without a partner, which is exactly why the groups mix so easily.

Should my first trip be short or long?

If you are nervous, a shorter European trip is a gentle start. If the long-haul trip is the one you have dreamed about for years, plenty of people go straight for it and are glad they did.

Can I bring a friend whose children have also left home?

Of course. Friends often book together and then spend half the week with new people from the group, which is half the fun.

Take the first trip off the list

The hardest part is the first phone call, so make it a short one. Tell us which trip has been on your list longest, and we will tell you who is hosting, how the days run and what places are left.

Ask for Sue Giddings about South Africa, Jackie Whyte about Croatia, or anyone on the team about the rest. Get in touch with us here and we will talk it through with you, with no pressure to book there and then.