Hi!
I'm interesting in taking my first solo travel adventure, and was thinking of taking a singles tour of the Greek islands.
I'd really appreciate your suggestions.
Thanks so much.

You might also repost this on the solo traveler forum.

No one over there knows either


Seriously Janey, if you find a good singles tours, please do post the information back on the forum. People are always wondering about this, and no one seems to have much experience to share. Not just for the Greek islands, but any tours that cater to solo travelers, or at least don't hit you with huge dreaded "single supplements".

Isn't Contiki Tours a singles-tour sort of arrangement?

Contiki is age restricted (18-35)but not restricted to singles only. Is budget a factor? I think there would be quite a few singles on Easy Cruise.
http://www.easycruise.com/

www.gapadventures.com has small yacht cruises of the greek isles and will select a room mate. Their website says they match you on most tours, but have a few with a supplement. They aren't strictly singles though it seems like their type of tours attract quite a few singles.

Perhaps the Thorn Tree forum on Lonely Planet web site would have more suggestions.

Why not take the plunge and just go it alone...without a singles tour? I've found that when you travel solo you open yourself up to meeting more (local) people than you would on a tour and you have time to really experience the culture/sights/etc... without the distractions and sacrifices involved in taking a tour.

I was all for taking tours when I first started traveling to Europe. In fact, my first 3 trips were tours. By the 3rd trip I was so sick of dealing with "leisurely" itineraries that meant waking up at 6a.m. and "free time" that was basically lunch time. I was nervous but decided that I had finally had enough and would try it alone. I'll never take another tour again! Just my opinion, of course, but I'd think the Greek Islands would not be difficult to do without a tour.

Explore Worldwide is a company I have used - they're not a singles tour but do get plenty of single people on their tours.

Not specific to singles, but in the travel magazines I subscribe to there are all kinds of ads (and sometimes articles) for tours of all different types (Budget Travel, Conde Nast, etc.).

I think if you could find a good one, it might be fun to do one, if you were single. There are some singles travel organizations, but I think they are usually more local travel clubs.

Here is one singles tours company I've heard of, but have no personal experience. They do have a two-week Greek islands thing in September that sounds pretty good (choice of roommate match-ups or your own room).
www.osolomio.com

I think that obviously if you went with a young age group tour (like Contiki), most people would be single.

Here is a website just on solo travel (Connecting Solo Travel Network) which then lists good tours it finds:
http://www.cstn.org

They do have some osolomio tours in there.

Here is another one that also has a singles Greek cruise but in October, among other offerings. that is a week's cruise, and again you can share or not, as you choose.
http://www.singlestravelintl.com

Great tour companies are Backroads and Wilderness Travel. I know Backroads has some singles tours. They're for very active travelers. I've done a couple with them and I'm single. There are usually other singles (always women) and married people, with whom I've spent some great times. Also check out Mountain Travel Sobek -heard good things about them.

Thank you all for your responses! I was checking out O Solo Mio. It sounds like one of the nicer tours, but it's a little expensive. about $4000 for the tour, not including air and some meals, etc.
I found Gate1 online and it's cheaper, so I'm curious about that one.

Thanks again!
Janey

Some of those Gate1 things aren't tours, just packages. O Solo Mio is only $3000 if you share, but it is $3753 if you want your own room.

That is more expensive than Gate1, so depends what you want -- a tour like you said, or just a package. It can be a good deal, but it may not be as cheap as you are thinking. Gate1 quotes rates without fees/taxes and starts with the cheapest hotels (you pay more to upgrade) and you pay more for single occupancy, of course. Thank it is about $2630 for there 13 day Greek Island package, for example. That is about $1000 less, but it really is one less night's accommodation, and then involves no tours at all, it's just a package. Both include transportation between Athens and the islands. I believe the hotels in the O Solo Mio package are higher grade than the cheapest Gate1 price, also.

So, it isn't really that great a difference in cost considering those things, but Gate1 may be more what you want, if you just want a cheap package.

What is your age group?