Saga alternatives for people who travel on their own: a fair comparison

If you are looking at Saga alternatives because you travel on your own, Spice Escapes is a UK tour operator that runs small hosted group holidays where most people have booked alone, so the whole group starts out on the same footing. Saga is a big, well-established name with a lot to recommend it, and this page sets out plainly what each company offers, who each one suits, and which of our holidays answer what Saga travellers tend to value.

We are not connected to Saga. Everything we say about them comes from their own website.

What Saga does well

Saga's holiday pages describe their trips as holidays for over 50s, and their river and ocean cruises as exclusively for over 50s. A few things stand out from what they publish:

• Getting to the airport. Saga says a return nationwide shared chauffeur service to and from the airport is included on every holiday. If the drive to the airport is the part you dread, that is a real draw.
• Help for people travelling solo. On their solo holidays, Saga says each has a dedicated Saga host or tour manager who will help you connect with other guests, with welcome drinks, group activities and a farewell dinner.
• Rooms for one. Saga states that you pay no single supplement on selected tours and hotel stays, and on its dedicated solo departures.
• Meals and extras. Saga says half-board meals and gratuities are included on its tours, and that its ocean cruises include a chauffeur to the port and speciality dining as standard.

If a chauffeur from your door, a large ocean ship or a solo departure with no supplement matters most to you, Saga may well be the better fit, and we would rather you knew that now.

What Spice Escapes does differently

Spice Escapes is smaller, and the shape of every holiday is the same: a host travels with the group from start to finish, and the group is made up mostly of people who have come on their own. Groups are around fifteen people, and some reach twenty. You learn everyone's name by the second evening.

We run trips for people in their 40s, 50s and 60s rather than drawing a line at one birthday. Our flight-inclusive holidays are ATOL protected. And to be straight with you, every Spice Escapes holiday carries a single supplement or a cost for having a room to yourself. Our single supplement page explains how that works and what you get for it.

What people tell us they value is the evenings. Eating alone is the moment most solo travellers worry about, and on a Spice holiday the host gathers people for dinner, so the question of where to sit answers itself. If this would be your first trip without a partner or friend, our guide for first-time solo travellers walks through the first day, and what makes a Spice Escape different covers the rest.

If you liked Saga's escorted touring: Crete

Crete Discovery is the closest thing we run to a classic escorted tour. After a direct flight from the UK you meet your Tour Manager and stay in just two bases, three nights in Aghios Nikolaos and four in Rethymno, so there is no packing every morning. It is half board throughout, both hotels have two pools and a spa, and one day includes a home-cooked lunch at a family taverna up on the Lasithi Plateau.

It runs for 7 nights, departing 5 Oct 2027 – 12 Oct 2027, from £1,499. Your host is Lauren Fawkes. Places: 13 places left. More from the island on our Greece holidays page.

If you liked Saga's cruises: the Mediterranean with two hosts

On Mediterranean Cruising Italian Style with WingsItaly you fly to Rome a day before the ship sails, so a delayed flight cannot cost you the cruise. WingsItaly meet you at the airport, there is a hosted orientation walk, and an optional first group dinner at Palazzo Lante near the Pantheon. On board the Costa Toscana your drinks package and gratuities are included, and Andrea Moro and Claire Dymond host throughout. One night the ship stops out at sea, away from city lights, so everyone can gather on deck under the stars.

8 nights, departing 6 May 2027 – 14 May 2027, from £1,679. Places: 12 places left. Our other sailings are under cruise holidays.

If you want to go further afield: Cape Town

Long haul on your own is where a host earns their keep. On South Africa Discovery, Sue, our local host, meets you in arrivals at Cape Town and stays for the whole trip. One full day covers Chapman's Peak Drive, Cape Point and the penguins at Boulders Beach, and there is an overnight at a private game reserve with a sunrise game drive.

10 nights, departing 29 Mar 2027 – 8 Apr 2027, from £3,499, hosted by Sue Giddings. Places: 9 places left. See also South Africa.

If the airport is the part you would rather skip: Ypres by Eurostar

We do not offer a chauffeur from your door, but World War I, A Journey of Memory and Meaning with Wings starts at St Pancras on the Eurostar, so there is no airport and no flight. Claire Dymond and Andrea Dal Moro of Wings meet the group, and you stay at the family-run Albion Hotel in Ypres, run by Christiane and her daughter Ruth. A local guide takes you to Tyne Cot and the trenches at Sanctuary Wood, and the Last Post sounds at the Menin Gate each evening, minutes from the hotel.

3 nights, departing 8 Apr 2027 – 11 Apr 2027, from £1,019. Places: 14 places left. More trips like it under culture and discovery.

If you would like more time to yourself: Kraków

Kraków Discovery leaves the days open, with Main Market Square and Wawel Castle at your own pace, and optional trips to the Wieliczka Salt Mine and Auschwitz-Birkenau, which are best reserved when you book. You stay at the Best Western Plus Kraków Old Town, a few steps from the square, and a Spice Escapes host is there all four nights, so there is company at dinner whenever you want it.

4 nights, departing 26 May 2027 – 30 May 2027, from £589, hosted by Jackie Whyte. Places: 10 places left.

Questions people ask

Is Spice Escapes part of Saga?

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

Do you charge a single supplement?

Yes, every Spice Escapes holiday has a single supplement or a cost for having a room to yourself. We show it clearly on each holiday so there are no surprises when you book.

Do I have to be over 50 to travel with you?

No, our holidays are for people in their 40s, 50s and 60s. Most people who book come on their own, so you will be joining a group of people in the same position as you.

How big are the groups?

Groups are around fifteen people, and some reach twenty. That is small enough for the host to know everyone and for dinners to feel like a table of friends rather than a crowd.

Will I be left to eat on my own?

Not unless you want to be. Your host arranges for the group to meet up, and most evenings people go to dinner together.

Talk it through with us

If you have travelled with Saga and are wondering whether a smaller hosted group would suit you, the easiest way to find out is to ask. Tell us what you enjoyed last time and what you would change, and we will suggest the holiday that fits and tell you what places are left. Rob Thompson, who owns Spice Escapes and hosts trips himself, and the rest of the team are happy to talk by phone or email. See our over 50s solo holidays page and your first group holiday. When you are ready, get in touch with the team.