Solo Travelers - advice needed?

Girlwonder321

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone has booked a solo travel holiday through flash pack or a similar company and if so would they recommend it to a 31 year old solo traveler? was the experience as unique and off the beaten track as the website suggests?

Thanks in advance

FTA69

Having a look at the Flashpack itineraries for Morocco there and it doesn't seem at all "off the beaten track" - more so the busiest tourist areas interspersed with some hiking and desert drives and charging you the guts of two grand for the privilege. I went to Morocco and I spent 250 euros in eight days and wasn't slumming it by any means at all.

Likewise, while the group dynamic might appeal and being alone as a solo traveller might cause apprehension, if you stay in hostels you tend to meet people anyway rather than being coralled into a tour group with a set itinerary you can't deviate from.

grimm2005

While I can't speak for flashpack or any other company that hosts group holidays for solo travelers, I'd agree with FTA69 that they really wouldn't be my style at all. Very expensive and the idea of following a rigid itinerary with no room with deviation or spontaneity doesn't appeal to me at all.

I do a lot of solo travel and stay in hostels that have great reviews and look very solo traveler friendly and you end up meeting a lot of people in common areas or through hostel dinners and pub crawls or other activities. It also gives you the freedom to do whatever you want to do and see, and you can do so alone or with others and in your own time. The couchsurfing app is also good for meeting locals and travelers who want to hang out.

If I'm going somewhere in Europe, I can usually do a 3/4 night trip for under €150 (for flights and accommodation, spending money varies!).

longshanks

grimm2005 wrote: »

While I can't speak for flashpack or any other company that hosts group holidays for solo travelers, I'd agree with FTA69 that they really wouldn't be my style at all. Very expensive and the idea of following a rigid itinerary with no room with deviation or spontaneity doesn't appeal to me at all.

I do a lot of solo travel and stay in hostels that have great reviews and look very solo traveler friendly and you end up meeting a lot of people in common areas or through hostel dinners and pub crawls or other activities. It also gives you the freedom to do whatever you want to do and see, and you can do so alone or with others and in your own time. The couchsurfing app is also good for meeting locals and travelers who want to hang out.

If I'm going somewhere in Europe, I can usually do a 3/4 night trip for under €150 (for flights and accommodation, spending money varies!).

Ok, this sounds great, throw up a few examples.

grimm2005

longshanks wrote: »

Ok, this sounds great, throw up a few examples.

No problem:

11 - 14 October Budapest: Flights €82 return (Ryanair), 9.7 rated hostel: €47.80 (https://goo.gl/20T4pM - have stayed with this crowd in other cities and I've been really impressed and had a great time every time) Total: €129.80

23 - 27 April Lisbon: Flights €96 return (over with Ryanair, back with Aer Lingus, found on Google Flights) 9.7 rated hotel: €64 (https://goo.gl/AIAXfh - consistently rated among the top 5 best small hostels in the world on Hostelworld) Total: €160

11 - 14 October Prague: Flights €68 return (Ryanair) 9.7 rated hostel: €80.27 (https://goo.gl/XRsjh3 - Have stayed here, same crowd as the Budapest option) Total: €148.27

20 - 23 September Berlin: Flights €68 return (Ryanair) 9.6 rated hostel: €69 (https://goo.gl/rHWIaY) Total: €137

FTA69

Ah you mean excluding getting smashed off your face for four days!? Fair enough, easily doable.

grimm2005

FTA69 wrote: »

Ah you mean excluding getting smashed off your face for four days!? Fair enough, easily doable.

haha, yep, flights and accommodation only, spending money is a whole other factor!

TPD

I'm solo travelling at the moment, and the days I've taken organised group tours have paled in comparison to the days I've rented a bike and done my own thing. I may be (definitely am) at the less social end of the spectrum of travellers, your milage may vary - but the tight timelines, spending too long in some places and not enough in others, wasn't my idea of fun.

Edited to add: the food on the tours has been terrible compared to what could be found with 5 minutes research, and they'll generally shepherd you into a souvenir place at least once a day, which had no appeal for me.

anewme

I'm going to be an advocate for both. It really depends on what you want to do and how confident you are.

I've done organised small group tours with intrepid, exodus, Grand American adventures.

My first one was with intrepid to Vietnam, there's no way I would have done that by myself at the time, I'd have been **** scared, so it was great to have the comfort of the group. We had a fantastic guide, so he really made the difference. But the one I did with exodus to Jordan the guide was horrible and as someone else said, stopping off in routine souvenir shops with hard sell. I've never felt so ripped off in my life. It got to a stage, where if he recommended you to go to one shop, you'd go next door! The hotels were poor too.

I'm not saying flash pack are like that. But their tours are expensive.

Went last year with Grand American adventures. Booked my own hotels for the first and day last nights of the tours, which were miles ahead of where the group were put. I did feel the service provided on that tour was overall very good though and I would travel with them again. The group dynamic is also important. I found that group very different- it was advertised as a hiking tour, and none of them were very fit, so that allowed me take off by myself.

I'm looking at South America for next year, Galapagos, amazon lodge and cloud forest, which I'm planning by myself as its way too expensive to go with a group.

If you are starting off, something like the Camino is a great place to start. So easy to organuse and so many ppl along the way to meet. It's about building your confidence and how social you are.