Solo Vacations: Group ‘Friend-Finding’ Trips Are Catching On

Rich Harrington had always wanted to visit Europe, but planning a trip with others felt daunting. “It’s hard enough coordinating dinner out with friends,” he said.

Then Mr. Harrington, a 41-year-old animator from Middletown, Conn., discovered group trips that cater to solo travelers, and in 2023, he traveled with the tour operator Exoticca to Italy, where he said he appreciated being able to focus on the experiences and to share them with others in the group.

Finding a companion whose budget, time off and interests overlap with yours enough to plan a vacation together can be tough. Tour operators are responding with trips that bring solo travelers together to forge connections with one another, while leaving the itinerary and logistics to the professionals.

People are seeking “curated trips that turn into multiday friend-finding events,” said Melissa Biggs Bradley, the founder of Indagare Journeys, a luxury tour operator that offers group trips to destinations like Thailand, South Africa, Namibia, India and Morocco.

The demand is growing. Ms. Biggs Bradley estimated that the number of solo travelers on Indagare tours had quintupled since 2019. And surging interest has led G Adventures, a tour operator that focuses on families, young adults and outdoor enthusiasts, to introduce Solo-ish Adventures, group tours with activities “handpicked for turning strangers into a close-knit crew.” Other operators welcoming individual travelers include Contiki, FTLO Travel and Backroads.

There were some downsides to traveling with a group, Mr. Harrington said, like restricted flight choices, early morning meet-ups and stops he wished were longer. But, he said, he liked having the transportation and activities arranged.

Travel providers often make it easier for participants to break the ice by arranging pretrip video calls and welcome dinners, and it’s not uncommon for people who go on the trip solo to find new friends with whom they end up planning future adventures.

Toni Greenberg, 68, of Reisterstown, Md., who lost her husband about a decade ago, befriended two more recent widows on a 2023 trip to Rome with the tour company Road Scholar, and this year, the trio is traveling to Costa Rica together on another Road Scholar trip. “To decide to do your first trip solo takes some guts,” said Ms. Greenberg, but if you are open, “people connect in an unbelievable way.”