Friendship Travel alternatives: two ways of travelling alone in company

If you are looking for Friendship Travel alternatives, Spice Escapes is a UK tour operator that runs small hosted group holidays for people who travel on their own, with a host from start to finish and a group of around fifteen people, some reaching twenty. This page sets out fairly how each company works, who each suits, and four of our holidays for people who enjoyed travelling with Friendship Travel.

Spice Escapes has no connection with Friendship Travel. Every fact about them below comes from their own website, read this week.

Friendship Travel, in their own words

Friendship Travel says it was founded in 1999 and is owned by Colum McLornan, its Managing Director, and his mother Sheila. Its holidays are for people who are single or would otherwise be holidaying alone, and its FAQ says it welcomes everyone from the age of 25 with no upper limit. A few things they describe stand out:

• A room of your own. Their FAQ says all of their holidays provide a single or a double or twin room for sole use, with no single supplements, apart from some room sharing on ski holidays.
• Dinner together. They say the group comes together for dinner every evening, except on the host's day off, when you can try a local restaurant with your fellow travellers.
• A small hotel, not a crowd. Their first-time page says that instead of being a special group in a large hotel with families, they take over or help organise a small and friendly hotel.
• Plenty of choice. Their site lists beach, sightseeing, cruises, walking, painting, pottery, reading and houseparty holidays, plus skiing and Christmas and New Year breaks, across Europe and further afield.

They also state that they are ATOL protected for flight-inclusive holidays. If a room for one with no extra charge decides it for you, you may be happier with them, and we would rather you knew that now.

Where Spice Escapes takes a different road

Every Spice holiday has the same backbone: a host travels with the group, and most people have booked on their own. Groups are around fifteen people, and some reach twenty, so by the second evening you know everyone's name. We run trips for people in their 40s, 50s and 60s, and our flight-inclusive holidays are ATOL protected.

To be plain about cost, every Spice Escapes holiday carries a single supplement or a cost for a room to yourself. Our single supplement page shows how it is worked out and what it pays for,.

People who come to us from other companies usually notice how much the host shapes the week, knowing when to gather everyone and when to leave you to a quiet hour. Our page on what makes a Spice Escape different goes into this, and our over 50s solo holidays page shows the full range.

A New Year hotel that is ours for the week: Puglia

If what you liked about Friendship Travel was having a small hotel feel like your own, New Year in Puglia with WingsItaly is the closest thing we run. Spice Escapes and WingsItaly have the hotel rooms at the four star Hotel Tesoretto in Poggiardo to ourselves, with two bars and a private walled courtyard. WingsItaly meet you at the airport and the first evening starts with a welcome aperitivo and dinner of Puglian food and local wine.

The days take in Baroque Lecce, lit up for the festive season, and the towns of Specchia and Galatina. New Year's Eve is a private five-course gala dinner with a bottle of wine each, and a local celebration runs next door, so people drift between the two. It runs for 5 nights, departing 28 Dec 2026 – 2 Jan 2027, from £1,139, hosted by Claire Dymond with Andrea Dal Moro. Places: 15 places left. More from the country on our Italy holidays page.

A painting week in a house, with tuition: Cantabria

Ours feels more like a house party than a hotel. Spanish Drawing and Painting Break with Tuition is based at Agara, a twelve-bedroom house in northern Spain with a very friendly resident dog and local wine and beer you help yourself to. Dale Scott teaches every level, sketch pads and a canvas are provided, and the days move between seascapes at Comillas, the bridge at Barcena Mayor and a picnic on the pass to Carmona.

Most rooms share a bathroom, and an ensuite room carries a supplement, so ask us which is free. 7 nights, departing 25 Apr 2027 – 2 May 2027, from £929. Places: 9 places left. We wrote about the house itself in our piece on Agara.

A reading week where company is optional: the same green north

If you have enjoyed a reading holiday, Read, Relax and Restore: A Week in Spain's Green North is built around time with a book and the choice of solitude or company in the day. Every room is sole occupancy, and with most sharing a bathroom it works out at about two people to each. Breakfast, a light lunch and dinner are provided each day, with wine and beer in the house. There are bikes and self-guided walks, and on a fine day the group can take its books to a beach.

7 nights, departing 6 Jun 2027 – 13 Jun 2027, from £969, hosted by Jackie Whyte. Places: 13 places left. See our Spain holidays and other chillout and relaxation weeks.

A shorter first try, for sightseers: Athens

Ancient Athens starts with the group walking to a local restaurant on the first evening to get to know each other. After that you can explore on your own or join the optional guided visit to the Acropolis and Ancient Agora with a licensed guide, and there is an optional food tour with more than eighteen tastings.

4 nights, departing 10 Mar 2027 – 14 Mar 2027, from £579, hosted by Jackie Whyte. Places: 16 places left. More in our Greece holidays and culture and discovery trips.

How to choose between the two

If you want the widest choice of destinations, a room for one with no supplement, and dinner as a group almost every night, Friendship Travel describes exactly that. If you would rather a smaller group, a host you get to know by name, and holidays set in a house party or a hotel we have to ourselves, try us. Plenty of people travel with both kinds of company. If this would be your first trip without a partner or a friend, our guide for first-time solo travellers walks through the first day.

Questions people ask

Is Spice Escapes part of Friendship Travel?

No. Spice Escapes is an independent UK tour operator with no connection to Friendship Travel. We run our own hosted group holidays, and our flight-inclusive trips are ATOL protected.

Do I have to share a room on a Spice holiday?

No, you can have a room to yourself, and that carries a single supplement or a room cost that we show before you book. On the two weeks at Agara in northern Spain, most rooms share a bathroom, so ask us if an ensuite matters to you.

Where can I read Friendship Travel reviews?

Their reviews are best read on the review sites themselves. We do not summarise another company's reviews, and would rather tell you plainly how our own holidays work.

Will I eat on my own in the evenings?

Not unless you want to. The host gathers the group for dinner, and on the house weeks in Spain dinner is cooked and served at the house. Most people find the evenings are when the friendships start.

I have travelled with Friendship Travel for years. Will I fit in?

Yes, and you will already know how a hosted group works, which helps on the first evening. Most of our guests book on their own, so you will not be the only new face.

Tell us what you enjoyed last time

Tell us which holidays you have loved elsewhere, and what you would change. Rob Thompson, who owns Spice Escapes and still hosts holidays himself, or Jackie Whyte, who hosts the reading week and Athens, can tell you what the first evening on each trip looks like and what places are left. When you are ready, get in touch with the team by phone or email.