casseopia

Hi there,

I wonder if I can pick the powerful Fodor brains out there? Do you know of any good women only holidays? A bit of background: I am a gay woman in my fifties, fairly recently emerged from a 20 year relationship. So I'm having to discover the joys of solo travel after a long time of travelling with my partner. As part of the life changes I moved to a new area, a new job and have just settled into a new home. I have been lucky to make some great new friends but am feeling a bit isolated from my women's community - not many women "who wear sensible shoes" around where I am! So I am looking for some holiday ideas where I can meet up with other sensible shoe wearers - I have been checking out some walking holidays in Europe and have found a possible for November but the irony is that no-one else has booked on it yet and the idea is not for me to be on my own again! Anyway I would be most interested in any ideas, contacts etc. I love being outdoors so a walking holiday is high on my list. Probably in Europe because I am in the UK and don't have loads of money for holidays. I'll be interested to hear from you!

suze

Casseopia, Welcome to the forum! I'm sorry I don't have any ideas for you, as I travel solo and have never done a group sort of activity. Hopefully others will chime in with some ideas. I just wanted to say welcome, and that your post is so sweet and made me smile. Wishing you all the best in your new adventures, Suze

casseopia

Thanks Suze - that's a really nice welcome! I am looking forward to new adventures and hope there may be a few ideas out there!

SeaUrchin

I put your question into yahoo.com and this site came up, looks like it will be a good place to start.

http://www.transitionsabroad.com

Maybe you can contact a group that specializes in women with your same background for some tips. Maybe put this question on the Europe board too, there are more postings there.

Good Luck!

suze

Definitely cross-post here at Fodor's onto the European board.

Also I recommend going to The Lonely Planet website, their forum similar to this one called The Thorn Tree. They have various forums in cluding Western Europe, gay/lesbian traveler, i think a solo branch also (not sure on the last one).

cheribob

I know of two women only tour outfitters:

Adventure women

http://www.adventurewomen.com/

Gutsy women

http://www.gutsywomentravel.com/?sou...FQstWAodrhwoBQ

If you google "women only tours" I am sure others will pop up.

suze

www.journeywoman.com is another possible resource

casseopia

Thank you all so much for these suggestions - I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. I will check them out and report back on any trip I manage to arrange.

pambrown2

Two other walking tour companies that have some women's only tours are www.countrywalkers.com and www.thewayfarers.com. They're not cheap though and aren't specifically for gay and lesbians. I did a wayfarer's women's only trip last fall in Umbria and loved it, but it was upscale and some of the participants definitely were not sensible shoe types. Pam