Solo Holidays: 12 Travel Themes for Going Alone

Train trips are great for solo travelers.

For some travelers, there is no need for a solo holiday theme. They just want to get away.

For others, a focus for their travels is important. They build their trips around specific activities or interests. I love to hear about these various themes as it suggests new ways of entering a destination when I travel.

For this post, I have gathered together the many themes Tracey and I have used as we've traveled solo.

Perhaps one of them will interest you to explore your next destination in a new way.

There are plenty of walking/hiking destinations that are safe for solo travelers. This is Zion National Park in Utah, USA.

12 Solo Holiday Themes

1. Hiking/Walking Holidays. I discovered that I love walking/hiking trips way back in 2009 when I first started Solo Traveler. I have since hiked in Chile, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Hong Kong, Italy, the United States, Canada, France, Germany, and I am sure there are more. Read Solo Hiking: Top Tips for Walking Holidays
2. Group Tours. Group travel is great for solo travelers. It is solo, because you are leaving behind all who you know and expect you to behave a certain way day-to-day. Like independent solo travel, it frees you to explore interests you may not be able to pursue with a friend or partner. In a group, you also have the pleasure of other people's company as well as their expertise. I have often enjoyed the knowledge that fellow travelers have shared while on a tour. Check out our Solo Travel Deals for trips with low or no single supplements.
3. Road Trips. I love a road trip and judging by the popularity of the two recommended reading posts at the end of this listing, so do our readers. Road trips are synonymous with freedom. Take the main roads or detour down the back roads just to see what's there. Personally, if there is an end to the road, I like to go there. This usually takes me to a small village by the seas. Read Best Solo Road Trips: 10 Routes, All Solo Traveler Tested and A Road Trip Alone: Top 10 Tips to Prepare.

Food is a great theme for travel. These are fava beans in olive oil with cheese, eaten in season. Absolutely simple, delicious, and a new taste sensation for me.

4. Food & Wine. This is Tracey's territory. She is our food and wine writer. It's not that I don't enjoy delicious treats of my destination along the way, it's that Tracey makes it the focus of her travels. To learn how she plans her food and wine trips read Culinary Travel: Top Tips for Food and Wine Travel Planning.
5. A Great Music Scene. Whether you're traveling in a language you know or not, music is a great focus for travel. It can be enjoyed in any language and it attracts locals as well as tourists. Festivals, small clubs, and concert halls all present great opportunities for enjoyment. Read La Fete de la Musique: A Summer Solstice Festival in France and How to Go to a Bar Alone: Best Music in Nashville.
6. River Cruises. River cruises allow you to unpack your bags once and travel the back country, visiting cities large and small. Like most cruises, they move at night and arrive at a new port in the morning. The thing about river cruising is that the new port is often a small town or city that you would not normally visit. It's off the beaten path. And, unlike ocean cruises that tend to let off thousands of visitors in cities already suffering from over-tourism, river cruises may hit one or two of those popular cities along the way. It's a luxurious, close-to-the-ground kind of travel. Read Life on a River Cruise? Here’s What It’s Like.
7. Popular Cities. There are some cities in the world that just have to be seen. These are cities that have cultures unto themselves. London is unique in the UK. Rome offers different things than Italy. Amsterdam is in the Netherlands but is not the Netherlands. You get the idea. The same goes for Paris, New York City, Berlin, and others. To help you tour some of these cities, use the search box in the green bar above and read Rome and Paris in One Trip, Solo Travel London on a Budget, and Affordable New York City.

Sights such as the Colosseum in iconic cities like Rome have to be seen at least once.

8. History. It is often the history of a destination that attracts me to it. I want to put my historical knowledge into geographic context, for geography is important. I want to see what things are like now and try to connect the dots with the past. Read On Seeing History As You Travel and Contemplating History in Nuremberg. Museums are great places to learn about history. I cannot recommend the The Canadian Human Rights Museum strongly enough.
9. Circular Trips. I've circumnavigated Lake Ontario and the Adriatic Sea by car – two different trips, of course. I've traveled around the edges of England by train in one big circle, leaving from London and returning back again. On my 10-month trip in Europe, oh so long ago, I focused on the middle first and then toured around the coast line from Italy, through France, parts of Spain, Portugal, France again, Belgium, and then the Netherlands. I find something particularly satisfying in a circular trip. Planning a Road Trip Around the Adriatic: Slovenia, Croatia & Italy.
10. Self-guided, Supported Travel. I have taken two trips in which the planning and logistics were managed for me. I was picked up at my point of contact and taken care at every move from one place to another yet I was left free to explore the destinations on my own. Read the last section of Rome and Paris in One Trip: Two of Europe’s Top Destinations and Travel Solo on a Self-Guided Walking Tour: Seeing France Slowly.
11. Go to Run. You don't have to run marathons to enjoy running. And you don't have to do the Boston to turn a love of running into a wonderful trip. Whether you join a running crew for a one-time jaunt or a team in a relay race covering the weekend, it will connect you to locals and others for a social, solo trip. Read Solo Travel, Running and Run Crews.
12. Train trips. British Columbia by Train: Budget or Luxury. It’s Your Choice. Taking the Night Train Alone: Five Mini Adventures and Train Travel: Best Way to Book Tickets – Europe

From whence wine comes! In this case, Niagara’s Two Sisters Vineyards.