Where to go on a solo holiday: six places that suit going alone

The best places to go on a solo holiday are the ones where your days are your own and your evenings already have a shape: a walkable city such as Seville or Kraków, an all-inclusive sun hotel in Fuerteventura, a quiet house in northern Spain, a ship around the Mediterranean, or Cape Town if you want to go far. Spice Escapes runs small hosted group holidays to all of these for people in their 40s, 50s and 60s who travel on their own, with a host who goes with you and a group of around fifteen people, and some reach twenty.

If you have typed "where should I go on holiday on my own" into a search box, you have probably found that the list gets longer the more you read. Most travel advice tells you which places are beautiful. When you go alone, what matters is what a Tuesday will feel like there, at breakfast, mid-afternoon and at eight in the evening. This page is built around that question.

Narrow it down before you look at a single map

People who go on their own and come home happy usually chose the place for how the week would run, not for the photographs. Four questions sort most of the programme in a few minutes:

• How do you want your evenings? If eating alone is the part you dread, choose a holiday where most dinners are arranged.
• Busy days or empty ones? Some people want a plan for every morning. Others want to sit with a book and feel no guilt about it.
• How much time can you take? A few nights in a city is a gentle first try. A week somewhere warm gives friendships time to form.
• What would you never do on your own? A game drive, a cruise or a flamenco show can be awkward alone and easy with a group.

Hold your answers in mind as you read the six below. If none stands out, the team can suggest another. If this would be your very first time, our page for first-time solo travellers explains how a hosted trip works from the airport onwards.

For a first trip: a warm city you can walk, Seville

A city break is where most people start, and Seville is one of the easiest cities in Europe to enjoy alone because the centre is compact and the evenings are long and sociable. Surprising Seville runs for 4 nights, departing 4 Mar 2027 – 8 Mar 2027, from £549, hosted by Jackie Whyte. Places: 24 places left.

The group stays at the Hotel América, a short walk from the cathedral, the Giralda bell tower and the Barrio de Santa Cruz, with tapas bars on the streets all around it. A 48-hour hop-on hop-off bus ticket is included, which means you can see the city at your own pace without having to plan a route. The extras are there only if you want them: a guided visit to the Alcázar and the cathedral, a morning on a Segway, or an evening of flamenco at Tablao El Arenal, which is the kind of night out that feels very different with a table of new friends than it would on your own.

For more cities that work well alone, read European city breaks for solo travellers, city by city, or see every city break we run.

For history and something to talk about at dinner: Kraków

Some places give a group plenty to talk about, and Kraków is one of them. Kraków Discovery lasts 4 nights, departing 26 May 2027 – 30 May 2027, from £589, with Jackie Whyte as your host for the whole stay. Places: 9 places left.

The hotel is the Best Western Plus Kraków Old Town, in a restored 19th-century townhouse a few steps from Main Market Square, with Wawel Castle and the Kazimierz district within an easy walk. The days are left open, with optional trips to the Wieliczka Salt Mine and to Auschwitz-Birkenau. The second is a full and heavy day. Coming back from it to a host and a group who shared it is a very different evening from coming back to an empty room. The optional trips have limited places, so book them with the holiday.

There are more ideas in short breaks for solo travellers over 50.

For sun with every meal already sorted: Fuerteventura

If the honest answer to "where can I go on holiday on my own" is "somewhere warm where I do not have to decide anything", this is it. All Inclusive Fuerteventura Winter Sun & Fun is 7 nights, departing 30 Jan 2027 – 6 Feb 2027, from £1,199, hosted by Steve Dell. Places: 3 places left.

You stay at the Occidental Jandía Royal Level, a four-star adults-only hotel above Jandía Beach, in a sea-view room. All your meals and drinks at the hotel are included, so there is never a moment of standing at a restaurant door wondering whether to ask for a table for one. The days are as empty or as full as you like: the spa, the jacuzzi and the pool for the lazy ones, strolls along the sand, and optional outings to nearby villages, local markets or the south of the island.

The meals take care of themselves and the group gathers naturally around the same pool and the same dinner. Our guide to winter sun holidays for solo travellers covers the other warm options in the colder months, and you can browse the whole Canary Islands page.

For a week of being left alone, with company at dinner: Spain's green north

People who search "where can I go to be left alone" often want quiet in the day and are glad of conversation at night. Read, Relax & Restore: A Week in Spain's Green North was made for them. It runs for 7 nights, departing 5 Jun 2027 – 12 Jun 2027, from £969, hosted by Jackie Whyte. Places: 13 places left.

The group has a large renovated house in Cantabria called Agara to itself. Every room is let for sole occupancy. Some rooms have their own bathroom and the rest share, which works out at practically two people to a bathroom, so ask the team if that matters to you. Breakfast, a light lunch and dinner are provided each day, with wine and beer you help yourself to. In the daytime you choose solitude or company: a book on the patio, a bike from the house, a self-guided walk, or a trip with others to the beach or to Comillas. In the evening everyone comes together for home-cooked food, and there is likely to be a murder mystery and a literary quiz. There are no bars on the doorstep, and that is the point.

For more on the region, read Northern Spain holidays, the green coast and its best beaches, and if you think of yourself as an introvert, holidays for single introverts was written for you.

For several places without packing again: the Mediterranean by ship

A cruise suits people who want to see a lot and unpack once, though many would never book one alone because a big ship can feel very full of couples. Mediterranean Cruising Italian Style with WingsItaly takes that worry away. It runs for 8 nights, departing 6 May 2027 – 14 May 2027, from £1,679, hosted by Claire Dymond with Andrea Moro of WingsItaly. Places: 11 places left.

You fly to Rome a day before the ship sails, so a delayed flight cannot cost you the cruise. WingsItaly meets you at the airport, there is a hosted orientation walk, and on the first evening there is an optional group dinner (at your own cost) prepared by the sisters at Palazzo Lante, close to the Pantheon. The next day you board the Costa Toscana at Civitavecchia, with calls including Savona and Marseilles, and a drinks package and gratuities are included on board. After Barcelona the ship stops in the dark open sea for an hour of stargazing, which is a good moment to have people beside you.

See every cruise we run, or read cruises for solo travellers over 50 and 60 for how a hosted sailing works.

For the far-off trip you would not attempt alone: Cape Town

Some places are on a list for years because nobody would go with you. South Africa Discovery is 10 nights, departing 29 Mar 2027 – 8 Apr 2027, from £3,499, hosted by Sue Giddings. Places: 9 places left.

After the overnight flight, Sue meets you in arrivals and stays with the group for the whole trip. The first day brings an orientation tour of Cape Town and an included late lunch before you check into The Vineyard Hotel, set in gardens on the slopes of Table Mountain, with a spa and pools. Later there is a day along Chapman's Peak Drive to Cape Point and the penguins at Boulders Beach, and an overnight at a private game reserve with a sunrise game drive. These are the days people talk about most afterwards.

If long haul appeals, escorted tours worldwide for solo travellers sets out the other far-off trips.

Where people on their own tend to enjoy themselves less

The holidays people on their own describe as lonely usually share a few things: a big resort where everyone arrived as a pair, or a city where you spend each evening deciding where to eat and then eating quickly. The problem is rarely the place. It is a week with no shape and nobody to share it with.

That is what the host and the group change. The host introduces people on the first evening and makes sure nobody is left wondering where everyone has gone. Most people book on their own, so you are not the odd one out, and friendships often start over that first dinner. For a fuller picture, see our page on solo holidays for over 50s.

A room of your own, wherever you go

Every holiday has a single supplement or a cost for a room to yourself, and it varies by hotel and by holiday. We show it on each holiday's prices rather than hiding it, and the house in Cantabria is let as sole occupancy from the start. Our single supplement page explains what you pay for and why.

Questions people ask

Where is the easiest place to go on holiday alone for the first time?

A short city break in a compact, walkable city is the gentlest start, because there is plenty to do in the day and the group gathers easily in the evening. Seville and Kraków both work well for a first trip. If you would rather lie in the sun, an all-inclusive week takes away every decision about meals.

Where can I go to be left alone without feeling lonely?

Choose a holiday where the days are free and the evenings are shared. Our reading week at a house in Cantabria is built that way, with time alone in the daytime and dinner together at night. Many of our other holidays also leave whole days open.

Should I choose a city or a beach for my first solo holiday?

Think about how you like to spend an afternoon. If you get restless after an hour on a sunbed, a city gives you more to do and more to talk about at dinner. If you want to rest, a sun holiday with meals included is easier than a city where you choose every restaurant yourself.

Do I pay more to go on holiday on my own?

Every holiday has a single supplement or a room-to-yourself cost, and it is shown on the holiday's price list. You do not have to share a room with someone you have not met. The amount varies with the hotel, so ask the team to compare a few for you.

Is a long-haul trip too much for a first holiday alone?

It depends on you more than on the distance. On a hosted trip someone meets you at the airport and stays with the group, which takes away most of the worry about arriving somewhere far away. Some people start with a short European break and save the long-haul trip for later.

Still deciding? Tell us two things and we will suggest one

You do not have to settle on a place before you get in touch. Tell the team how you want your evenings to feel and how long you can be away, and they will suggest the holiday that fits, with the dates that still have room. Jackie Whyte hosts three of the trips on this page and is a good person to ask what a week there is really like.

You can ask "what would you suggest for my first trip?" and get a straight answer, or go to our contact page to send a message or arrange a call. Our beginner's guide to a first group holiday answers the practical questions too.