i'm not a single female, but have travelled on my own many times.
i would look to a hotel rather than apartments as it should be less lonely. you will at least have some people to speak to at the pool or bar etc, and you don't have to worry about trying to eat out on your own. also try and choose a hotel that has some sort of night time entertainment; even if it is no good it is still an option rather than having to go to outside bars on your own.
while it is great to be on your own during the day when you are lying in the sun, it can be very lonely at night if you don't meet other people. you have more chance of meeting some suitable company in a hotel.
while greece may be your ideal destination, search the lo-cost airlines first to see where you can get a cheap flight to. a break in spain may be more affordable.
then search the likes of travel republic or alpharooms to see about cheap accommodation, if you can find such a thing in the school holidays. thomson also do room only deals and they can be good value, and the hotels are usually good.
check all the hotel reviews on both here and trip advisor before you book anything.
enjoy your break, wherever you go.

Good advice above, I am a single female and have travelled alone many times, the first was in 1987 when I went to Antigua, I returned about 6 times. I have also a cruise but I really wouldn't recommend that, I departed from Fort Lauderdale and the boats now are just too big.

After a few years of going on dive holidays with friends I went to Mexico last November which was my first AI. I found it OK lots of doing nothing during the day and in the evening there was entertainment if you wanted it, after dinner I would either have a drink in the lobbies and use the hotel wifi or stop at one of the bars, where people are more than happy to engage in conversation, the bartenders will also chat if it isn't busy. I am going back in September mainly to dive but days of doing nothing, I had an offer from someone to arrange a condo but the all inclusive hotel option seems the best, no shopping to do and no washing up
I don't about Greece as I have only been once and that was a long time ago, again with friends so I can't comment on the "hassle" factor of going out alone.

Hi FeeBee I am a female and I do travel alone, in fact yesterday came back from a week in Costa Brava, one of my most fave places, as some parts are still unspoilt.

I tend to book my holidays package, you can of course get them lots cheaper if you DIY, but for me I like the added security of booking with someone like Thomson. This reent holiday was an AI Hotel, and it was a family Hotel however I did think most children would be at school, but the Hotel was full of children from UK France, Germany and Spain so I would not recommend it for a single traveller really as the whole hotel catered for Family Fun.

Anyway, I have done a few cruises and I do love them better than land base holidays, because you see lots of place albeit a whistle stop without having to pack and unpack, however cost for a single person can work out a lot. To get a 'good' cabin you have to pay well over the odds on under occupancy which does put the price up, hence I had a land based holiday. So I am looking at Adult only holidays for next time and hope they are not too coupley.

Madeira is lovely by the way - went there on the cruise in March and would definitely return. Sorry not much help on ideas

Thanks for the replies jimd-f, Feebee and Miss Pink.

Has anyone else got any advice they'd like to offer?

BTW I'm in my early 50s. When I've been away before we've met guys in their 40s and 50s who were travelling alone but never a woman.

Hi maggiemay22 ... while you wait for further feedback, you may find this previous topic of interest:
http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=134458

David

Thanks David. I've just had a look at that thread.

I certainly wouldn't want to share a room!

I am fairly independent and don't go on pre-booked, guided excursions. We usually hire a jeep for a few days and explore on our own. Of course that's fine when you're with someone but I think I would still do it on my own.

I'm fine about the daytime, I'll just chill out with my books, but it's the evenings that bother me. I don't want to 'latch on' to someone (single or a couple) but it would be nice to have someone to talk to in the evenings.

It's possible that my friend and I could compromise, we have been on short breaks in the uk together, but I think we'd want different things from a holiday abroad. I'll keep looking around the internet.

My cousin uses a holiday company for singles....Friendship Travel - he usually goes to Turkey altho' I think they do Greek islands as well...he's made loads of friends and sometimes they arrange to go to same place for their next hols to meet up again. Everyone's in the same boat (single)

Hi Maggiemay22, I too am a woman who often travels alone and I would suggest that you have a look at Tunisia for a hotel-based holiday. If you look on the Tunisia forum here you'll see that it's quite popular with a number of single female regulars.

As you are stuck with school holidays you'll need to select your hotel carefully if you want to steer clear of families with kids but they do tend to stay in the main at the big AI hotels and those hotels which do HB or FB only tend to be mainly adults in my experience. Also, it's often possible to get a good deal re any single supplement. During the school holidays there probably won't be many 'no single supplement' deals around but I never paid that much per night for a 'sole use of a double' deal - way cheaper than what you'd usually pay in the Med.

Also, I never felt uncomfortable having a drink on my own of an evening and in fact rarely did - there was usually always someone happy to have a chat. And as most evening entertainment is hotel-based it's easy to either join in or sit it out and you don't have to leave the hotel in order to find something to do. Also, most of the hotels are situated in groups within the same grounds and guests staying in one are free to use the facilities in any of the others so you can 'shop around' between them asfely and easily and see which one suits you best for either a quiet drink or something more jolly depending on your mood.

I was often invited by people to join them in visiting somewhere and sometimes others would ask whether I minded them joining me if I mentioned that I was planning to visit a particular place. It never felt that either I was latching on to them or vice-versa and it certainly didn't mean that we then did lots together but it was quite nice to, for example, share a taxi to go to the market in Nabuel when staying in Hammamet and do some joint haggling!.

I'm not sure that I'd fancy hiring a jeep or car and driving around on my own simply because the rules of the road seem to be very different over there but it's actually very easy to get around using public transport which is also very cheap. And I always felt safe travelling around on my own.

SM

Definitely some food for thought!

I hadn't given Tunisia a thought but I'll have a look.

As I said before I've never been one for going on excursions nor have I been one for staying around a hotel bar. Of course, that's when I've been with someone and we've explored the area, tavernas, restaurants etc.

At least I know now that I'll be okay to go on my own, the question is where. It's a nuisance that I have to stick to school holidays but there's nothing I can do about that.

I have been on holiday alone before, I went to Turkey and alhtough it was a quiet holiday I did enjoy myself and founf lots of people to talk to. I actually had a friend with me for the first part of the holiday and then she went home but I stayed on so I didn't go there alone.

Most packages will either have limited availability for singhle rooms or charge you a lot extra so I would suggest booking your accomodation separately as you will just pay for the room with no under occupancy charges. We went on holiday to Greece last year and and stayed in Mastihari on Kos, it is a nice, quiet relaxing resort where I would feel comfortable on my own. There are some nice apaprtments for reasonable rates even in the school holidays.

If you like sailing another option could be to do a gulet crusie in Turkey, they do cruises for singe travellers or you could join one with other groups of people if you prefer. It is a great way of meeting people and you wont have to eat alone or sit on your own in the evenings, of course you can also find a quiet corner if you do want time to yourself too.

Thanks Kedi Yavrusu.

I'm going to look at gulet cruises. I thought the general opinion of women going to Turkey alone was that they were only after one thing!

I went to Kefalos on Kos (with OH) a couple of years ago and enjoyed it there (wouldn't want to go to Kardamena or Kos Town.)

I've been looking at alpharooms and hotels4u - still seem to charge extra for single occupancy so I'm going to look at privately owned accommodation.

maggiemay22 wrote:

I thought the general opinion of women going to Turkey alone was that they were only after one thing!

Only if you believe Take a Break

I lived in Turkey too and spent a lot of times wandering about alone and I have always felt very happy there. A lot of hotels and apartments have their own websites and if you book direct they will just charge a standard rate per room.

Lol!

I went to Turkey a couple of years ago for the first time and loved it.

Hi Maggie. There might be another single lady on HT who could go with you? If my OH isnt bothered about going away, i will be looking for someone to go with . Gx

The obvious answer is one of the specialist singles holidays companies. Just put "Singles Holidays" in Google and limit it to UK sites. We did have a thread on this topic http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=43446&p=1463256&hilit=singles+holidays#p1463256 but it ran out of steam. Word of warning though, we have a serious complaint ongoing about the T&Cs of a company called Solitair, best avoid them until it's sorted. Maybe even ask for help checking out any company you've never heard of before booking anything.

The specialist singles holiday sites seem quite expensive.

I'm thinking of booking a flight and looking for acommodation separately.