Solo travel : the best tour operators for singles

The travel industry has been slow to catch on to the single-traveller market; this year though, there are more opportunities than ever to strike out on your own, says Gill Charlton

Some of the best holidays I’ve had have been those where I have set off on my own and travelled with strangers. Experience has shown me that I’ll find like-minded companions in any group. Statistics tell us that one in four British adults has never married or is divorced or widowed. Add to these singletons all those keen travellers whose partners either cannot or will not join them, and that’s a potential market of more than five million people. It’s surprising, then, that the single traveller continues to be largely ignored by mainstream tour operators or forced to pay an unfairly high single supplement.

That’s something Telegraph Travel would like to see change. In the meantime, we have created a new channel especially for solo travellers.

Below is a selection of companies that take solo travellers of all ages seriously. Some offer specialist singles holidays, others have departures with no single supplement or help customers avoid the charge by arranging same-sex room shares.