Holidays in Spain for singles over 60: the first trips of retirement, hosted

If you are in your sixties, on your own and keen to see more of Spain, the simplest way to do it is with a small hosted group, and that is what Spice Escapes runs: a host who travels with you, the hotels and transfers sorted, and a table of good company waiting each evening. You pick the week, and the organising is already done.

Retirement, or a new chapter after years of travelling as a couple, tends to bring the same two thoughts. The first is that there is finally time for the trips you kept putting off. The second is that arranging them alone, and then eating alone once you get there, is not how you pictured it. Our groups are around fifteen people, and some reach twenty. Most people book on their own, so you are not walking into a room of couples. If this is your first trip of the kind, our guide for first-time solo travellers explains how the first day works.

A first year of retirement, season by season

Spain suits a newly free diary because it changes so much with the calendar. The Canaries are warm when Britain is grey. Andalucía is at its kindest in spring. The green north is at its best as summer arrives. Below are five Spanish weeks we run, in the order the year brings them, so you can see how a first year of proper holidays might look.

Winter sun in Fuerteventura, with nothing to arrange

The All Inclusive Fuerteventura Winter Sun & Fun week is the gentlest start we can offer. It is 7 nights at the Occidental Jandía Royal Level, an adults-only hotel above Jandía Beach in the Canary Islands, with all meals and drinks included. You have a four-star sea-view room, a spa, a jacuzzi and a pool for the days you want to do nothing at all.

All-inclusive matters more than it sounds when you travel alone. There is no bill to split, no menu to puzzle over by yourself and no wondering where everyone has gone for dinner. Optional trips to nearby villages, local markets and the south of the island are there if you fancy them. Your host is Steve Dell. Dates: 30 Jan 2027 – 6 Feb 2027. From £1,199. Places: 3 places left.

Early spring in Seville, at your own pace

Surprising Seville is a city break of 4 nights for anyone who has always meant to see Andalucía properly. The hotel is minutes from the cathedral and the Barrio de Santa Cruz, and a 48-hour hop-on hop-off bus ticket is included, so you need not walk yourself into the ground on day one.

Everything beyond that is optional: a guided visit to the Alcázar, the cathedral and the Giralda, a flamenco show at Tablao El Arenal, a morning on a Segway. You can join all of them or none, and the last day is free. Your host, Jackie Whyte, knows the city and keeps the group together in the evenings among the tapas bars around the hotel. Dates: 4 Mar 2027 – 8 Mar 2027. From £549. Places: 23 places left. More short city trips are under city breaks.

Late spring: learn to paint in northern Spain

Plenty of people promise themselves a new skill once work stops. The Spanish Drawing and Painting Break with Tuition gives you 7 nights to start one, with lessons from Dale Scott, who teaches all levels, and sketch pads and a canvas provided. If you have no kit, we can order a beginners set for you to collect when you arrive and take home.

The base is Agara, a twelve-bedroom house in Cantabria rather than a hotel, with local wine and beer to help yourself to and a very friendly resident dog. A room with its own bathroom carries a supplement. Days move between the coast at Comillas, the old bridge at Bárcena Mayor and still life back at the house. Dates: 25 Apr 2027 – 2 May 2027. From £929. Places: 9 places left.

Early summer: a week of books and good conversation

Read, Relax & Restore: A Week in Spain's Green North is 7 nights at the same house, and it was made for people who want rest without solitude. Every room is sole occupancy. Breakfast, a light lunch and dinner come each day, with bikes at the house and self-guided walking routes. Days are yours, to read on the patio, take your book to a beach or join a trip to a nearby city.

The evenings bring everyone together for home-cooked food, a murder mystery and a literary quiz. For anyone whose evenings at home have gone quiet, that long table is often what they remember most. Host: Jackie Whyte. Dates: 6 Jun 2027 – 13 Jun 2027. From £969. Places: 13 places left. Our article on green Spain and Cantabria describes the region.

High summer: a total eclipse in Andalucía

Some trips are worth building a year around. Chasing the Eclipse is 7 nights in Vejer de la Frontera, a whitewashed town in the path of the total solar eclipse, in the company of Dr Matthew Bothwell, the University of Cambridge Public Astronomer at the Institute of Astronomy. You stay at the Hotel Tugasa Convento San Francisco, a restored seventeenth-century Franciscan monastery.

Around the eclipse itself there is time for Jerez, its sherry bodegas and flamenco, the old town of Cádiz on the Atlantic, and a guided walk around Vejer with a local guide. Watching something that rare with a group, rather than on a screen at home, is the kind of story a first year of retirement ought to produce. Host: Rob Thompson. Dates: 31 Jul 2027 – 7 Aug 2027. From £2,899. Places: 18 places left.

What travelling with us takes off your plate

• The arranging. Hotels, transfers and the shape of each day are planned before you leave home.
• Arriving as a stranger. Your host makes the introductions, so by the first dinner you know a few names.
• Eating alone. Evenings are spent together, and nobody is left to find a table for one.
• Being the odd one out. Most people come on their own, so being single is the usual thing here.

For more on how we look after travellers in this stage of life, see our solo holidays for over 50s, or browse the rest of our holidays in Spain and the slower chillout and relaxation weeks.

Questions people ask

Will I be the only one who has come alone?

Very unlikely. Most people on our holidays book on their own, and the host is there to bring the group together from the first evening.

Do I have to pay a single supplement?

Yes, every holiday carries a single supplement or a cost for a room to yourself, and each holiday page sets it out clearly. Our page on the single supplement explains how it works and why we show it up front.

How active do I need to be?

That depends on the week you choose. The Fuerteventura and reading weeks ask very little of you, while Seville and the eclipse trip involve walking around towns and cities, and the optional extras are always optional.

What does the host actually do?

The host travels with the group, makes the introductions, keeps the plans on track and is the person to turn to if anything goes wrong. They are there to make the holiday sociable, and they will never push you into anything you would rather skip.

Is my holiday protected?

Our flight-inclusive holidays are protected under ATOL licence 9046. Ask us about the holiday you are considering and we will explain exactly how it is covered.

Have a chat with Jackie

The easiest next step is a conversation, with no form to fill in first. Jackie Whyte hosts both the Seville break and the reading week, so she can tell you who the host is on each trip, what a typical day looks like and which week suits someone starting out. Tell us which season appeals and what has held you back so far, whether that is the cost, the travelling or not knowing anyone. Get in touch with the team and ask for Jackie, and we will come back to you with places and dates.