INTHE MOOD FOR LOVE!
Find your perfect match with the help of our irresistible guide to the best solo holidays
SET YOUR PULSE RACING
JOIN The Slow Cyclist on one of its twowheel breaks to Transylvania. No special fitness required, but expect to cycle up to 25 miles a day in Dracula’s homeland, visiting villages such as Viscri, where Prince Charles owns a home, and Sighisoara, birthplace of Vlad the Impaler.
Get to know each other round a big table at mealtimes in local houses and B&Bs, and bond over activities such as wine-tasting.
Expect live music and a chance to dance to a gipsy troupe in a Transylvanian wildflower meadow. Last year, one cyclist found love with the slowest female in the group, because he waited for her and kept her company. ROMANCE RATING: DETAILS: A five-day break in July and September costs £875 pp (excludes flights, but includes full board, bicycle and helmet hire). Theslowcyclist.co.uk, 020 7060 4487.
EMBRACE BURMA
VICTORIAN writer Rudyard Kipling was so dazzled by Burma when he visited Rangoon in his 20s that he noted: ‘When I die I will be a Burman . . .’ Now Myanmar ( Burma) is opening up to tourists, it’s a great time to discover its hinterland on a journey that begins in Mandalay and ends in Yangon (Rangoon).
Walk through stilted Shan villages and boat on Inle Lake with its backdrop of green hills and extraordinary ‘leg-rowing’ f i shermen showing off their acrobatic technique.
It’s ideal for solos, as you meet fellow travellers and the tour leader before leaving. Nor is there a single room supplement and group meals are taken in local restaurants. ROMANCE RATING: DETAILS: Classic Myanmar Tour departs monthly from February 27 from £1,339pp (excluding flights). Includes a train through the Shan Hills, a boat ride on Inle Lake. Tucantravel.com, 0208 896 1600.
GO ON A FILM FLING
IN HER memoir-turned-film Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert takes a journey of self-discovery through Italy, India and Bali, where she tries new things and ultimately falls in love.
Vi dados c overs all t hr e e destinations on its activity holidays; they’re all about learning together and each starts with a welcome dinner.
On the Italian cooking and gelato tour, Rinaldo the fisherman will teach you how to reel in a catch (of fish) as he navigates the coves and reefs along the Trabocchi coast in Abruzzo. ROMANCE RATING: DETAILS: A six-night food-fest of cooking, wine-tasting and gelatomaking in Italy’s Abruzzo region costs £ 1,084 pp ( i ncludes all t he f ood you can eat, but excludes flights).
In India, you can nourish your soul with some yoga, partake in ceremonial rituals in the Ganges and visit the Taj Mahal f or £1,657 pp (excluding flights) for 14 nights.
In Bali, where Elizabeth finally finds the man of her dreams, you can detox, rejuvenate, and learn to love yourself if you don’t find your soulmate. Prices: Vidados.
com, 020 3750 2455.
IT’S SNOW OR NEVER!
IF THE ice doesn’t break over pre-dinner drinks, it will over the four-course meal with lashings of wine, or during breakfast and afternoon tea the following day. The solos-only chalet ski holiday in Val d’Isere is ideal for finding love in a cold climate.
The resort only has some 300km of pistes, but you’ll find one of the liveliest apres- ski scenes in the French Alps. Chalet hosts encourage guests to buddy-up with each other on and off the slopes. ROMANCE RATING: DETAILS: A solo skiers’ seven-night chalet holiday in Val d’Isère costs from £699 pp (including flights, transfers and half board) with no single-room supplement. Next departure April 16. Inghams.co. uk, 01483 791 114.
LOVE IS IN THE STARS
CAMPING in Bedouin tents under the stars and learning about the wonders of the universe are ideal conditions f or sparks to fly between travellers on this Moroccan adventure. Following an old caravan route from Marrakech across the High Atlas mountains into the vast stretch of the Sahara, the journey includes a night of star-gazing and treading across the dunes on a camel. ROMANCE RATING: DETAILS: Star-gazing in Morocco costs £799pp excluding flights,
departing April 30. Intrepidtravel. com, 0808 274 5111
EASY DOES IT
If you like a party, head for the Greek i sland of Zante, where friendship Travel will be hosting ‘ house parties’ f or single travellers aged 25-plus for the first time this summer at the two-star A poll on Hotel and four-star Ionian Hill Hotel.
Nervous novices can get to know their fellow mature travellers beforehand via friendship Travel’s online chat room.
And to put you even more at ease everyone is met by the travel host, whose job is to make sure nobody feels left out. ROMANCE RATING: DETAILS: A seven-night stay costs from £595pp, including flights, transfers and half-board accommodation in your own double room. Friendshiptravel.co.uk, 0871 200 2035.
SPEED DATING
Solos Holidays is launching Albania uncovered, a holiday designed for people who are newly single or never been away on their own before.
And if you want to size up who is going, book your place on a Discover Solos Weekends to meet fellow travellers. The next one is on March 18-20 at the Meon Valley Marriott Hotel. ROMANCE RATING: DETAILS: Albania uncovered! — a seven- night tour departing May 6 or october 7 priced from £1,069 pp. Solosholidays.co.uk, 0844 815 0005.
ART OF ROMANCE
Creative types cannot fail to fall in love with florence and they may even meet their very own Michelangelo or leonardo lurking in am ask-making, fresco painting or paper-marbling class.
Penny Howard’s bespoke courses are designed for solo travellers and can be as short as one day or last a whole week. everyone cook sand eats together, and if the group is small enough, she invites them to stay in her private apartment. ROMANCE RATING: DETAILS: There are spaces on the one- day writing course in february at the Castella de Vincigliata costing £154 pp for the day, and on the culture and culinary trip on october 26-29 costing £1,728, including flights, workshops and a single room. Beyondtheyalladog.com, 07979 464640.