1st time traveling alone

[Cat]

My husband passed away in November last, followed six months later by my mother 's passing. I have been totally overwhelmed, and feel I would like to get away for a break. I haven't traveled alone before, and I am very nervous about it, I seem to have lost all my confidence. Is there anyone on the forum in the same circumstances who has used the Solo travel experience, who might be interested in sharing the experience? I would need to fly from a regional airport, and am uncertain how to proceed? Thank you.

[Riviera Travel]

Hi Cat,

Don't worry, there are many people in a similar situation to yourself who travel on our solo holidays. I think if you have a read around some of the recent threads on this forum you will see that most people's advice is to just take the plunge and go for it. If you have any specific questions about the holidays then please just ask - we are here to help!

Hope to see you on one of our holidays soon!

[Starbright]

Don't worry - Riviera will look after you very well and, of course, all the people on the Solo Travellers trips are alone too. You'll soon feel like friends!

[Jane]

Just wanted to reassure Cat and say hello. It must be so daunting for you but it is good that you have written it down on the forum and it must mean you are ready to go ahead and book something. The trips seem a good length of time, if only a handful of days you can hardly regret it! Afterwards you will feel so glad you did it plus it will never be as "bad" as you imagine, just different if you are used to being with someone else all the time. Remember you are never the only person to feel how you do. If I were on your trip I promise you I would look out for you and be friendly and I hope everyone else would be the same. xx

[Julieren]

Hi Cat !
I've just joined the forum as I've never gone abroad alone either. I would be flying out of Edinburgh. My circumstances are exactly the same as you and it would be lovely to hear from you. By the way I am 61 and love holidays.

[Maggi]

Hi I also lost my husband 18 months ago and after great indecision have just booked my first solo holiday sailing round the Dalmation Coast in May. I am 65 and flying from Edinburgh down to Gatwick and then out to join the criuise. I go between being nervous to really excited. Would love to hear from other solo travellers about their experience.

[Jen123]

Hi Cat

I am in a similar situation. I find myself in a position where I love to travel but have no one to accompany me. I love Italy, having visited Lake Garda and Venice with my daughter and keep trying to go back but my daughter now has very restrictive holidays as she works with children and also she has a boyfriend now who she will obviously want to travel with.

I also have 2 grown up sons, one of which has said he would like a family holiday but he is now off to New York for 2 weeks so has blown his budget. My other son is buying a property with his girlfriend so no funds for holidays for a while.

I have a lot of close friends but all have partners, children and responsibilities, or restricted holiday allowances. I work for the NHS so have 27 days plus 8 bank holidays a year to use up.

Anyway, enough about me. I really want to go back to Italy in May/June, can anyone recommend anything and tell me a little more about how solo travel works. Is it a heavy itinerary or can you also do your own thing and relax. I do enjoy meeting people and exploring but I love lazy days, drinking in cafes and just enjoying the view so don't want a rigid timetable.

Sorry for hijacking your thread Cat

x

[Erik RivieraTravel]

Hi Jen,

I shall try and answer your question with regards to how solo travel works (at least with us at Riviera) before moving on to perhaps suggesting a couple of tours that we run that may be of interest.

As far as itineraries go we do try and include a good amount of excursions and visits on our tours so that people do not feel obliged to purchase extra add-ons to be getting the most out of their holidays. Our included excursions are not obligatory and you are more than welcome to do your own thing should you so desire, either staying in the environs of the hotel, traveling on the coach to a destination with the group but exploring it independently, or striking out on your own one day (our tour managers are a great source of ideas and information that can help with all sorts of planning).

With regards to food on every tour without exception the first evening's meal will be included, as will a little drinks reception, so that you can get to meet your fellow travellers. From then on it varies from tour to tour, so you may have all dinners provided and the groups dine together, you may be free to choose where to have dinner yourself, or some combination of the two. Where there is no dinner provided the tour manager will provide a number of recommendations for dining out and will be only too happy to help book tables for small groups of travellers to dine together.

So you see there is a lot of flexibility as to how you spend your time on a solo Riviera tour: we can provide a substantial programme where most things are taken care of for you, or you can do your own thing with help from our tour managers to help you get the most out of your time - the choice is up to you.

As far as recommending a tour for you we have a number of tours to Italy departing in May and June, such as our Classical Italy tour, the Sicily: Classic and Undiscovered tour, or our Lake Garda and the Best of the Veneto tour for you. I would suggest you contact our highly trained reservations team (the number can be found on our website and our brochure) to discuss your preferences, days when you are free, and which airports you would like to depart from and they will be only to happy to advise you.

I hope this helps,

Erik.

[Jen123]

Thank you for the detailed response Erik, I have received the brochures from Riviera Travel through the post today so will be having a long look through them and then taking the plunge and booking one. I will let you know what I choose, thanks again for your helpful and prompt reply

[marawat]

I've just joined this forum and am in exactly the same position. I would like to carry on seeing the world but i now need to find a new way of doing that.
I'd really like to do a solo group tour in September. Maybe somewhere in Europe as a first trip.

Hoping we can all find this works for us.

Mara