Solo travel in Spain

After a few days of exploring Barcelona on my own, I joined a small group tour – the most popular option for our solo travelers. We piled into a minivan, bagsied a seat, and headed north into the Pyrenees as the guide described what we were passing (the Camino, cherry farms and Montserrat) and what lay ahead (walking, sleepy off-season ski villages and some seriously beautiful hotels).

I was expecting the mountain hikes and spectacular scenery. I wasn’t expecting to share so much laughter and have so much fun. The camaraderie – and the fondness that went with it – was there from the get-go.

We walked through bright gold beech forests and to waterfalls so tall they disappeared out of sight, but the chats and shared sense of achievement were just as memorable. In fact, the sense of awe seemed to increase when surrounded by similarly amazed people. We feasted on fideuà (a pasta paella), fig salads and melt-in-your-mouth mountain stews, but it’s the memory of sharing stories and laughter (and a really good bottle of monastery-made wine) that really sticks.

There are more perks to joining a small group tour as a solo: if you want your own space, you’re welcome to wander – but group meals are the norm, so you never have to worry about eating alone. Two days in, and every meeting and meal felt like rejoining a group of friends. We already knew who would be first and last to breakfast, who needed at least two cortados before starting their day, and who knew that day’s itinerary (not me).

“I think what surprises me is the number of guests that have remained in contact with other guests that they’ve made friends with on our vacation,” says Simon Woollons, who runs our top small group tours in Spain with partner Lucy from their Pyrenean farmhouse. “I’ve found that really satisfying... And that goes back to feeling a sort of community almost from the word go.”

“When people sign up with us, we get them to fill out a questionnaire for various reasons, but one of them is, ‘What are your aims on vacation? What would you like to do on vacation?’,” adds Lucy. “Even the couples say we’re looking forward to meeting new people. They’re always open... Everyone’s coming hoping to make friends.”

There’s another reason why Spain is so popular with our solo travelers – we have a wealth of special interest vacations, focussing on everything from learning Spanish and cooking to yoga and photography. They’re often popular with solo travelers keen to learn new skills and hobbies or brush up on old ones.

“People come on our vacations because they’re interested in particular things,” says Lucy. “You’ve got that common interest: I’m into hiking; I’m into cooking. By the first or second night you hear everyone chatting away about all the places they’ve travelled to; they automatically get on because they’ve got that common factor.”

Some of our top Spanish trips have so many single travelers attending that they’re often designed for solos from the ground up. That means no single supplements, rooms with private bathrooms, and guides who are experts at making sure no one is left out.

“We get a lot of solos on our yoga adventure,” says Ian Hassell, from our partner Adventures in Unspoiled Spain. “We offer a subsidised shuttle service from the airport – good for solo female travelers.”

Wherever you go, our yoga vacations will connect you with the place: whether that’s staying in a restored farmhouse, invitations to local fiestas and celebrations, or eating locally grown seasonal food – and then being given the time to absorb it all.