Group Trips for Women: Traveling Solo Doesn't Have to Mean Traveling Alone!

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On this episode, we are joined by Susan Heinrich from Midlife Globetrotter. Susan is a Canadian writer living in Denver, Colorado. She is passionate about travel and supporting women in tourism. In 2020, she created Midlife Globetrotter, a website and platform that helps women over 40 follow their travel dreams to new places, with destination guides, practical tips and stories of her own adventures. Susan is passionate about reframing midlife as an opportunity, and explores themes of reinvention and self-discovery in her work. You can follow Susan on Instagram and Pinterest.

In this episode, we talk about group tours and group tour operators, especially those that offer group trips just for women.

To learn more, see Susan’s blog posts about:

Women’s tours around the world: https://midlifeglobetrotter.com/womens-tours/
How to select a small group tour: https://midlifeglobetrotter.com/how-to-select-a-small-group-tour/
Croatia group tour with Adventure Women: https://midlifeglobetrotter.com/a-womens-sailing-trip-in-croatia/

Episode Highlights

Some things to think about when choosing a group tour include:
- What is the pacing of the trip — is there any free time, how often do you switch hotels?
- What is the group size? Small group tends to be under 14 people. Small groups have advantages in terms of the type of accommodation and the size of the tour group when exploring cities
- What is the activity level? Some companies like Adventure Women and Adventures in Good Company specialize in active trips and offer detailed explanations of the activity level involved in the trip
- If you are traveling solo, you can also look for tours that are only solo travelers
When you are evaluating a group tour, be sure to read the itinerary in detail.
You can also call the tour operator and see if they can give you any information on how many solo travelers there might be versus those traveling with a friend or relative.
Also look at what the single supplement is. Some companies like Girls Guide to the World have private rooms by default but typically group tours are priced based on double occupancy and if you want your own room they charge a single supplement.
Some companies will pair you with another solo travel as a roommate if they don’t charge a single supplement.
Be sure to read through the documents to understand what is included in terms of transfers and meals
Understand who is guiding the trip — is it a local or a U.S.-based guide
Make sure you understand the cancellation policy and buy travel insurance
If you aren’t sure if a group trip is for you, opt for a private room, start with a shorter trip, feel free to opt out of activities, and maybe start with a trip in the U.S. that doesn’t require a more expensive airfare.
If you just want to relax or if you don’t like having scheduled activities, then a group tour may not be a good fit
Good tour operators for budget travelers include G Adventures (now have tours for women and certain age groups) and Intrepid Travel (who have women expeditions to places where you can meet and interact with locals in a way that you couldn’t if there were men on the trip)
For a luxury trip, Girls Guide to the World is a good fit and Insight Vacations is upscale and have women-only trips
For nature and wildlife, Natural Habitat Adventures partner with the World Wildlife Federation and are known for wildlife trips and have women’s only expeditions
Adventure Women is one of the first companies to get into women only tours and typically offer four-star accommodations with active adventures
Backroads is known for cycling and hiking tours and offers some just for women and they have trips that accommodate a variety of activity levels each day
There are also group tour operators focused on certain destinations like Viking Women in Iceland
Another themed tour is the British Book Club Tour: https://thebookclubtour.com
Susan is also co-hosting an art-history based trip to Paris this spring