Holidays with optional walks, for people travelling on their own

Holidays with optional walks suit anyone who enjoys a good walk but does not want every day of the week built around one. Spice Escapes runs hosted small group holidays for people travelling on their own where a walk is there when you want it, and a book, a swim or a long lunch is just as welcome when you do not. Below are three weeks, on a Croatian island and in Cantabria in the north of Spain, that sit at different points between a lazy week and a walking week, with how going alone works on each.

Why not simply book a walking holiday?

A walking holiday asks something of you every day. The worry many people have before booking one alone is being the slowest on the path, or taking a rest day and being the only person left at the hotel. If that sounds like you, a week where walking is offered rather than expected is a better fit. You still join a group, you still have a host, and the evenings are still shared, but what you do between breakfast and dinner is your choice.

If you do want walking to be the whole point of the week, our page on walking holidays for solo travellers over 50 covers the guided walking weeks, and our walking holidays page lists every one we run. This page is for the walker who packs boots and a paperback and decides each morning which to pick up.

An island spa hotel, with a hill to climb if you want it

Croatian Chillout takes the group to Lošinj, an island in the northern Adriatic, for a week of sea, sunshine and a slower pace. You stay half board at the Vitality Hotel Punta beside the harbour town of Veli Lošinj, a health and fitness hotel with a spa, an infinity seawater pool and outdoor group training sessions, so breakfast and dinner are taken care of.

The suggested plan for the week has plenty of walking in it for anyone who wants it. There is a coastal path towards quieter coves, a walk or cycle of about 3km into Mali Lošinj and its Apoxyomenos museum, and a morning through pine forest up to Saint Ivan Hill for views across the Adriatic and its islands. For a quieter day there is a boat trip around the archipelago with a chance of dolphins, or a long lunch and a book by the sea.

The week is 7 nights, 1 May 2027 – 8 May 2027, from £869, and your host is Jackie Whyte. Places today: 15 places left. One honest point: the transfer from Pula to the hotel takes about three hours, broken by a ferry crossing, which makes a good first chance to get talking.

A reading week where the walking is entirely up to you

Read, Relax and Restore: A Week in Spain's Green North is the gentlest of the three. You stay at Agara, a large renovated house in Cantabria, and the week is built around time to read, time to talk and time to explore at a leisurely pace. Nobody has to be an avid reader, and nobody has to walk.

If you do want to walk, the house has self-guided routes and bikes to borrow, and depending on what the group wants, the host will arrange some guided walks as well. A picnic lunch comes with you on a walking day, and lunch is served at the house if you stay in. Plans stay flexible, and the group decides together whether to head for a beach or a nearby city.

The evenings bring everyone back to one table for home-cooked food, with wine and beer to help yourself to, and the plan includes a murder mystery and a literary quiz. Every room is let to one person only, and most share a bathroom, which works out at about two people to each. It runs for 7 nights, 6 Jun 2027 – 13 Jun 2027, from £969, hosted by Jackie Whyte. Places today: 13 places left.

More walking, at a sociable pace

If you would like to walk most days but are nervous about keeping up, Cantabrian Walking Week is the step up. It is a walking holiday, with walks on at least four days, and you will need proper walking kit. It is deliberately more easy going than our guided walking weeks, balanced between walking, sightseeing and socialising.

Your hosts, Jen & Jim, are volunteers who have been walking with Spice members for almost twenty years. They have walked the area and chosen the routes, and you are invited along. Jen keeps a more leisurely pace and Jim is happy to go a little further or faster, so the group can split and come back together. You stay at Agara, the same house as the reading week, with every meal included and local wine and beer at the house. A room with its own bathroom carries a supplement.

The week is 7 nights, 9 May 2027 – 16 May 2027, from £999. Places today: 7 places left. For more on this corner of the country, see our page on solo holidays in northern Spain and our holidays in Spain.

Going on your own when the group goes different ways

What makes a week like this work when you travel alone is that the group comes back together. Some walk, some read, some head for the beach, and everyone meets again over dinner. You are never the odd one out for skipping a walk, because skipping it is normal.

The host is the person who holds it together. They know who is doing what, and they are someone to sit with on the first evening when you do not yet know anyone. Most people book on their own, and groups are around fifteen people, and some reach twenty. If this would be your first holiday with a group, our page for first-time solo travellers answers the questions people ask before they book, and our page on holidays for single introverts suits anyone who likes company in measured doses.

You can browse other weeks with the same slower rhythm on our chillout and relaxation holidays page, our holidays in Croatia, and our solo holidays for over 50s.

What a room of your own costs

Every holiday we sell has a single supplement or a cost for a room to yourself, and the figure is different on each one. We publish them all on our single rooms and supplements page so you can see the cost before you choose.

Questions people ask

Do I have to join the walks?

On Croatian Chillout and the reading week in Cantabria, no. Walking is one choice among several, and you can spend any day reading, swimming or exploring a town instead. Cantabrian Walking Week is a walking holiday with walks on at least four days, although it is balanced with sightseeing.

What if I am slower than everyone else?

On the Cantabrian week the hosts walk at two paces, with Jen more leisurely and Jim a little quicker, so the group can split. On the other two weeks you decide whether to walk at all and how far to go.

What should I pack for the walking?

For the Cantabrian week you need full walking kit, including boots and waterproofs. For a day's walk on the reading week, bring boots and sensible kit for changeable weather, and on Lošinj walking shoes for the trails and water shoes for the pebbly beaches.

Will I end up eating on my own?

No. Breakfast and dinner are included at the hotel on Lošinj, and in Cantabria the meals are cooked at the house and eaten together.

How big is the group?

Most Spice Escapes groups are around fifteen people, and some reach twenty. Most people book on their own, and the host travels with the group the whole week.

Ask us which week suits your walking

Tell us how much walking you enjoy at home and we will point you to the right week. Rob Thompson, who owns Spice Escapes, and the rest of the team can talk you through each week, who is hosting and which rooms are left. Send a question through our contact page, and nothing is booked by asking.