Solo holidays for over 50s, 60s and 70s

Spice holidays are for adults. The minimum age is 18 and there is no upper limit. We do not publish an age mix for each departure, because we would be guessing at it. What we can say is that almost everybody on a Spice holiday has booked on their own, so nobody turns up as the odd one out.

Friends book together too. Two friends can share a twin room at the price shown, and many holidays, including Prague at Christmas, Ski Tignes and New Year in Puglia, also sell a double room to two people booking together.

After a big change. Some people book their first holiday with us after being widowed or divorced, after retiring, or because the friends they used to travel with have stopped going. If that is you, the useful thing we can do is answer the practical questions before you commit: how the transfer from the airport works, what a normal evening looks like, whether there is a single room left. Ring or write to the office and ask. Nothing is booked by asking, and a person replies.

Once you are there, the host travels with the group the whole way. They are the person to tell if you would like a quiet evening in, need a table away from the band, or want company for the walk back to the hotel. If you would rather start small, Prague Christmas Magic is 3 nights in a city hotel with breakfast, and the first-timers' page covers the rest.

We do not grade holidays easy or hard, because one person's gentle stroll is another's long morning. The itinerary on each holiday sets out the days one by one, and the host has done the trip before, so ask them what a particular day involves.

As a rough guide to the main kinds of holiday we run:

• Cruises: Every meal on board is included. The ship does the moving, and you choose how much to do ashore. From £929, 4 on sale.
• Walking weeks: One base for the week. On the WalkWise weeks the guides lead a harder and an easier walk each day, so you pick one each morning. From £999, 4 on sale.
• Ski and winter: The ski weeks assume you can already ski, except Les Arcs, which sells ski school at beginner level. The same page lists city and winter-sun breaks. From £675, 8 on sale.
• Short breaks: Mostly a few nights in a city, such as Paris, Seville, Lisbon, Kraków, Berlin or Athens. From £549, 12 on sale.
• Christmas and New Year: The Christmas markets in Prague early in December, and New Year's Eve in Puglia. Prague from £675, Puglia from £1,139.

If walking is harder than it used to be, a cruise or a city break keeps the distances short. If you would like the walking to be the point, the walking weeks say plainly that they mean long days on uneven ground.

The price on every holiday buys a place in a twin room shared with another guest of the same sex. Sharing costs nothing on top. A room to yourself carries a single supplement, which is set holiday by holiday.

• Twin share: One guest travelling alone, paired with another of the same sex. Some holidays also offer a women-only or men-only twin share. Nothing extra.
• Twin or double for two: Two friends, or a couple, booking together. The double must be booked for two. Usually nothing extra; the holiday page says.
• A room to yourself: Anyone who would rather not share. A single supplement, shown on each holiday.

Single rooms and single supplements lists the figure for every holiday that has one available, and says plainly which have not published one.