AH, the holidays. The perfect time of year to be with the one you love the most: yourself.
If you are unmarried, divorced, widowed or simply apart from friends and family this holiday season, no need to wallow. Because while others are stuck in traffic on the way to Grandma's house, you, dear reader, have the opportunity to be cosseted in a Venice cafe. Or learning Spanish on a Costa Rican beach.
And chances are, you won't be the only one. While there is no data showing precisely how many people travel alone during the holidays, solo travel overall is a growing trend, say travel professionals. Internet searches for "solo travel ideas" are up by more than 50 percent and searches for "solo travel destinations" are up by more than 60 percent year over year, according to Google.
Tour operators, like Abercrombie & Kent, are seeing more interest from solo travelers. The company, whose group luxury tours have traditionally attracted couples and families, has had a 29 percent increase in the number of solo travelers this year compared with last year.
Some of these travelers are striking out on their own; others are meeting up with friends. Those looking for romance are joining singles tours or — for company minus the come-ons — group tours open to all. Peggy Goldman, president of Friendly Planet Travel, said that the number of unmarried travelers seeking general group tours (as opposed to strictly singles tours) is on the rise, especially around the holidays. "It gives them camaraderie and companionship when they want it," she said, "and the ability to be by themselves when they want to be by themselves."
When planning a tour, keep in mind that the phrase "solo traveler" typically refers to people traveling on their own, be they married or unmarried. That means tours for solo travelers draw not only eligible singles, but also people with no romantic ambitions whatsoever. "Singles" tours, on the other hand, are generally just for those seeking love connections.
Not sure where to go? Maybe the following ideas, culled from conversations with a variety of travel experts, tour companies and friends, can help you decide. No list like this can include everything, but perhaps it will spark an idea or two. Whether you want to ski moguls in Vail or ease into geothermal seawater in the Blue Lagoon, there's a trip that will make you glad you won't be home for the holidays.
City Escapes
Solo travelers like big cities for obvious reasons: top-notch museums, restaurants, theater and night life. Usually walkable and often made more accessible by mass transit, cities can keep costs (and stress) low. Mind you, this kind of trip is for travelers who feel comfortable navigating a strange city, who know when to exercise caution and when to let go (see advice on safety at the bottom of this article).
"I like the European cities in winter," said Anne Banas, a practiced solo traveler and executive editor of Smartertravel.com, a vacation deals and guides site. "It's off-season. It's cheaper." And many travelers say they have a more authentic experience in the winter because the locals are not away on vacation. Winter also means holiday markets, shorter lines at museums and an excuse to kiss the day goodbye in a cafe.
For those looking for a contemplative escape, Alison Bing, who has written 40 books for Lonely Planet, suggests Venice in winter, where the only traffic you'll hear is footsteps. "You cannot find a more serene place," she said. Winter coats and boots are a must though, especially if you're there on acqua alta (high water) days, when tides and winds cause the Venetian Lagoon to rise, leaving everyone ankle-deep in water. "Venetians love going out to bars when it's high water," said Ms. Bing, who has made the trip on her own and adored it. "Everybody takes the opportunity for an early happy hour."
But isn't Venice, to which this reporter has been in both summer and winter, a bit romantic for a solo trip? Ms. Bing dismissed the thought. "It's kind of an exquisite melancholy," she said. Her advice: go out to lunch and take along some local literature or a copy of Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities," about an imaginary conversation between Marco Polo and Kublai Khan. "A couple of years ago I was reading 'Invisible Cities' alone, and oh, my God, if I had wanted to pick somebody up," she said, "I couldn't get people to stop interrupting me."
STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM writes the Getaway column for the Travel section.
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