Solo travel at 60 and beyond: you are not too old, and you need not go it alone

Solo travel at 60 is not too late, and it does not have to mean working everything out on your own. Spice Escapes runs small hosted group holidays for people travelling on their own, so you book your own room, a host travels with you, and there is a table of people to eat with from the first evening.

If you have been telling yourself that you have left it too long, you are in good company. Plenty of people only start travelling alone at 60, or at 70, because life did not leave room for it sooner. The question is rarely whether you are too old. It is whether the trip suits the way you want to travel now.

What "too old" usually means

When people tell us they feel too old, they rarely mean their birthday. They mean one of these, and each has a plain answer.

• Getting there. Airports, transfers and finding the hotel feel like more effort than they used to. On a hosted holiday the arrangements are made for you, and the host is the person you look for when something is not right.
• Keeping up. You do not want to be the one holding the group back. Pace differs from holiday to holiday, and our team will tell you honestly how much walking each one involves before you book.
• Fitting in. You picture a group of people half your age. Spice Escapes holidays are made for people in their forties, fifties and sixties, and what people share is wanting good company and a room of their own.
• Evenings. Eating alone in a restaurant is the bit most people dread. The host gathers the group, so dinner is something you join rather than something you face.

If this is your first time going away on your own, our guide for first time solo travellers walks through how a hosted trip runs from booking to the flight home. You may also like what joining a group of strangers is really like.

Start small: four nights in Athens with dinner on the first evening

A short trip is a good test of how you feel about travelling again. Ancient Athens is 4 nights with Jackie Whyte as your host, and the first evening is a walk to a local restaurant to get to know the rest of the group. That one dinner settles most nerves, because by the next morning you have faces to say good morning to.

The days are flexible. You can explore on your own, or join the optional tour of the Acropolis and Ancient Agora with a licensed guide if you want the history explained. The hotel is a short stroll from the Acropolis walkway, which matters when you would rather save your legs for the sights.

Dates: 10 Mar 2027 – 14 Mar 2027. From £579. Places: 16 places left. More trips to Greece are listed on the destination page.

A city at your own pace: Kraków

Some people worry less about company and more about being rushed. Kraków Discovery leaves the days open, so Main Market Square and Wawel Castle happen at whatever speed suits you. The hotel is a restored townhouse a few steps from the Main Market Square, so you are never far from somewhere to sit down.

There are optional trips to the Wieliczka Salt Mine and to Auschwitz-Birkenau if you want them, and your host, Jackie Whyte, is with the group for all 4 nights, so there is company at dinner. Dates: 26 May 2027 – 30 May 2027. From £589. If a few nights in a city appeals, our short breaks are the gentlest way to try a hosted trip.

A slower week by the sea: Croatian Chillout

If what you want is a proper rest with people to talk to, Croatian Chillout takes the group to the island of Lošinj for 7 nights. Half board at Hotel Punta means breakfast and dinner are taken care of, which removes the nightly question of where to eat.

One honest word on the journey. The transfer from Pula is about three hours, broken by a ferry crossing of roughly forty minutes where you can stretch your legs. Ask us if that matters to you. Once there, there is a boat day round the archipelago with a chance of dolphins, and Mali Lošinj is a three kilometre walk or cycle away if you feel like it. Host: Jackie Whyte. Dates: 1 May 2027 – 8 May 2027. From £869.

The trip you thought you had missed: Chasing the Eclipse

Sometimes the best answer to feeling too old is something genuinely new. Chasing the Eclipse is a week in Vejer de la Frontera in southern Spain, in the path of a total solar eclipse, with Dr Matthew Bothwell, the University of Cambridge Public Astronomer, along for the week. Your host is Rob Thompson, who owns Spice Escapes.

Around the eclipse there is time for Jerez, its sherry bodegas and flamenco, a day in Cádiz, and a guided walk of Vejer itself. You stay in a restored seventeenth century monastery with a reception open around the clock. It is 7 nights. Dates: 31 Jul 2027 – 7 Aug 2027. From £2,899. Places: 18 places left.

Your own room, and what it costs

Travelling on your own means a room of your own, and every holiday carries a cost for that. We set it out clearly before you book, and our page on the single supplement explains how it works. If you are weighing up whether a hosted trip is worth it at this stage of life, our page on over 50s solo holidays covers the whole programme, and holidays for over 60s looks at the trips that suit retirement.

Questions people ask

How old is too old to travel alone?

There is no age at which travelling alone stops making sense. What matters is how far you can comfortably walk, how much organising you want to do, and whether you want company. A hosted group answers the last two, and our team will be honest with you about the first.

Will I be the oldest person in the group?

We do not publish the ages of the people who book, and groups vary from trip to trip. What you can count on is a host whose job is to bring everyone together, so nobody is left on the edge. Most people find they stop thinking about ages by the second evening.

What if I cannot manage much walking?

Walking levels differ by holiday, and some involve far more time on your feet than others. Tell us what you can manage and we will point you to the trips that suit. Asking first is always better than finding out on the first morning.

Do I need travel insurance?

Yes, insurance is required, and Spice Escapes does not sell it. Look for a policy that covers your age, any medical conditions you have declared, cancellation and medical treatment abroad.

How big are the groups?

Groups are around fifteen people, and some reach twenty. That is big enough that you will find people you get on with and small enough that the host knows everyone by name.

Talk it through before you decide

If the idea of solo travel at 60 or beyond still feels like a big step, the easiest next move is a conversation. Tell us what worries you and how far you are happy to walk, and we will suggest the holidays that fit. Rob Thompson, who owns Spice Escapes and hosts the eclipse week, and the rest of the team are happy to talk it over before you commit to anything. Get in touch with the team and ask whatever you like.