By Richard Eisenberg
Beware of the steep single supplements charged by some hotels, tour operators and cruises
A great joy of unretirement is being able to travel when, where and how you’d like (if you can afford it). One way to do it – and perhaps to step out of your comfort zone – is solo travel.
You can save money when traveling solo if you know how, which is helpful considering how expensive it can be. In a survey of 4,000 travelers, the SquareMouth travel insurance comparison site found that 54% of them expect to pay more to travel this year. SquareMouth said the average cost of a trip in 2025 is projected to be $7,249, up 24% from 2024.
Janice Waugh is the publisher and founder of a website that provides tips for solo travelers. “When I first started the Solo Traveler site in 2009, someone Googled and found us by using the phrase, ‘Is it weird to travel alone?’ That doesn’t happen anymore,” she says.
Two warnings about solo travel
But first, two warnings: You can sometimes get squeezed by hotels, tour operators and cruises that charge solo supplements precisely because you’re a solo traveler. And some restaurants won’t let you make reservations for one.
Solo travel has become pretty trendy lately. “It’s come barreling through the travel industry,” Barbara Talisman of the Where’s BabZ travel site and YouTube channel said on a recent episode of the “Friends Talk Money” podcast, which I co-host.
A recent Kayak.com survey found that 50% of Americans plan to travel alone this year. Another survey from AARP said 11% of people ages 50 and older plan to take a solo international trip this year. “It’s been growing over the years,” says Patty David, vice president of consumer insights at AARP.
Why retirees like solo travel
Traveling solo has grown more popular among people in their 60s and older. “People in their 60s and 70s are retiring and want to fulfill a dream of going to certain destinations, or just the sense of freedom from solo travel,” Waugh says.
Lisa Gottlieb, an unretired nonviolent-communication trainer in Ann Arbor, Mich., is one of them. When Gottlieb travels around the world, she says, “I like to do my own thing.”
Gottlieb favors destinations where nature is the draw and she can decompress. Iceland is a particular favorite.
“There’s no place in the world like it for nature. I’ve been there about half a dozen times, usually two weeks at a time,” she says. “It’s one of the safest countries for women to travel by themselves. It’s very easy to just rent a camper van and go to the grocery store for supplies and then just hit the road.”
But traveling solo doesn’t necessarily have to mean going it alone.
Small-group solo trips, like those offered by tour operators such as NextTribe (for women ages 45 and over), G Adventures, Road Scholar, Intrepid Travel and Solos Holidays, let you spend some time with other solo travelers while also having the chance to explore an area on your own. The companies negotiate lower rates for hotel rooms than travelers could get on their own.
Group solo trips with freedom to wander
“I go to great pains to make sure NextTribe trips don’t feel like group travel. I just can’t imagine going on a trip where everybody’s walking down the street and you can’t veer off,” says NextTribe founder Jeannie Ralston, whose trips focus on experiences and on spending time with local women. “What I say to women on our trips is: ‘You’re all grown women.'”
Women make up the majority of solo travelers, according to a variety of surveys, but a substantial number of men vacation this way, too.
Some solo travelers are married or have partners but prefer to travel without their significant other. “You don’t have to feel obliged to take care of another person and make sure their interests are covered,” says Waugh, who sometimes travels with her husband and other times goes solo.
“When I’m traveling solo, I can do my own schedule,” notes Waugh. “My husband is a poet, and a bookstore has to be the first thing we visit at every new location. I accommodate his desires, but when I’m traveling solo, I can accommodate my own.”
The life-affirming aspects of solo travel
Solo travel in retirement without a group, says Waugh, is often about “rediscovering how capable you are. You are planning, navigating and negotiating everything yourself. That experience is quite extraordinary – life-affirming.”
Traveling independently won’t be lonely if you’re open to conversation. “I just came back from Panama and went to an outdoor café where a group of young women and men saw me looking for a seat and said, ‘Come join us!’ says Waugh. “Cross-generational experiences are one of the thrills of solo travel.”
Here are some tips on how to travel on your own in retirement with an eye toward saving money.
Figure out how you’d like to travel solo. “The first thing I would ask a client is, ‘What style of travel are you interested in?’ That could range from fully independent, where you’re on your own, to a group tour to a cruise,” says Sarah Lang, founder of Foray Travel + Event Design, which is part of the Virtuoso luxury-travel network.
For a group trip, make sure you like the size of the cohort you’ll be traveling with. Group solo travel can be especially smart in a country like China where you might not be comfortable going certain places on your own, says Waugh.
You can also tack on a few days after your group solo trip to continue vacationing independently.
If you favor an entirely independent solo trip, hire a travel adviser who knows the area you’re planning to visit. The American Society of Travel Advisors’ new Verivacation site can help you find pros who specialize in solo travel.
If you prefer a group solo trip, check to see what’s in your price range. Prices for solo group tours vary enormously, depending on their length, location and type of accommodations (the price typically doesn’t include airfare).
Some solo group tour operators specialize in keeping lodging costs low, which can mean sleeping in hostels or sharing rooms, while others book five-star hotels.
Many focus on a middle range, sometimes dubbed “affordable luxury,” such as NextTribe’s three-day domestic excursions for under $2,000, its weeklong European vacations for up to $5,000 and its trips lasting about two weeks and costing $7,000 to $8,000, food included.
Among NextTribe’s upcoming solo group trips is a six-night excursion to Hampshire, Bath and the Cotswolds in England to celebrate the 250th birthday of Jane Austen – costumed promenade and Regency ball included.
The Solo Traveler site lets you search for group tours by destination, type and duration. It also recently began publishing, at a cost of $30 a year, Tracey’s List, a monthly curated selection of five to 10 group solo tours representing what it says is “the best value and experiences for your dollar.”
Consider saving money by traveling in the shoulder season or off season. Shoulder season is a time of year when hotels may cost 25% to 50% less than what they charge in high season. Typically, that means fall or spring.
Costs can be even lower in the off season or low season, but the weather is often the worst then, too.
Shoulder season is also when you can avoid the biggest crowds while the weather’s pretty good. Travel guru Rick Steves says shoulder season is his favorite time to vacation.
Talisman feels the same way. “I don’t travel in high season,” she says. “I often go during off season, when things are a lot cheaper.”
Shoulder-season and off-season deals are getting harder to find, however. “Shoulder season is kind of evaporating, with climate change and the heat spreading throughout the year,” says Lang. “It’s become more of high season in some places.”
In the Zicasso 2024 Luxury Travel Report, 41% of travel specialists surveyed said high seasons are lasting longer, running into what used to be considered shoulder season, and 43% said more places now have no distinct low season.
Don’t vacation during schools’ spring or winter break, when prices, and the number of tourists, rise. “I love being able to have that wiggle room with retired travelers,” says Lang. “My other clients with kids say, ‘We’ve got to go on this day.'”
Think about taking a solo trip where your dollar will go further due to exchange rates. These days, that means places like Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
Try to avoid paying those solo supplements. Many hotels, tour operators and cruises charge solo travelers extra fees that are often as much as 100% over their standard prices.
“Solo supplements are definitely still a thing,” Lang says. “I don’t think they’re going away anytime soon.”
Some ocean cruise companies eliminated solo supplements as they sought to attract customers after the height of the pandemic but have recently brought back the hefty charges. “It’s like solo travelers are off to the side again,” says Waugh.
However, the Solo Traveler site features a list of roughly 100 tour operators and cruises that either don’t have solo supplements or charge less than 20%.
From time to time, companies waive their solo supplements to entice travelers. A good travel adviser will let you know about any available deals, which often sell out quickly.
If you want a cruise, choose one that caters to solo travelers. Ocean cruise lines like Norwegian Cruise Line and Holland America have added solo staterooms in the past few years, although the accommodations can be small and hard to snag. Other companies including Oceania, Crystal and Silversea have trimmed or eliminated solo supplements on some trips.
Certain luxury cruise lines can also match up solo travelers so they can share a room and avoid paying a solo supplement, Lang says.
The European river cruise companies AmaWaterways and Riviera don’t charge solo supplements, and Tauck River Cruises waives this fee for some cabins.
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