Solo travellers
A large share of our guests travel by themselves. This page explains what that actually looks like on a Cooee trip, what a single supplement is, and how to avoid paying one where you can.
The phrase "solo tour" confuses people, because you are rarely alone on one. Here is the honest version.
Nobody is allocated a buddy. Sightseeing runs as a group, but free time is genuinely free — take an afternoon off, eat alone, go back to a gallery a second time. The specialist's job is to make sure you always know what's happening next, not to organise your every hour.
It's also the part that fixes itself fastest. Group meals are shared tables, and by the second night the seating has usually sorted itself out. On nights that aren't included, our specialists will point you at somewhere you'd be comfortable walking into on your own — that's a specific request worth making before you go.
Solo travellers are a normal part of almost every departure, not an exception the group has to accommodate. Ages vary widely. If it matters to you, ask your specialist what the party looks like on the departure you're considering — we'll tell you.
This is the single biggest cost question in solo travel, and the answer is usually explained badly. It isn't a penalty for travelling alone.
Tour prices are quoted per person on the assumption that two people share a room. A hotel charges for the room, not the head — so one person in a double room costs the tour close to what two would. The supplement is the difference, passed on rather than absorbed into everyone else's fare.
There are real levers here, and a specialist will work through them with you rather than quoting a number and leaving it.
If you're open to it, we can try to pair you with another solo traveller of the same sex on the same departure. It saves the supplement entirely. It also depends on someone else asking for the same thing — we won't promise a match we don't have, and if none comes up you'll be told well before departure with the supplement quoted.
Ask for the fare and the single supplement as two separate figures, not one total. It tells you immediately how much of the price is the trip and how much is the room, and it makes two departures genuinely comparable. Every quote we send breaks it out that way.
Solo isn't a separate catalogue — it's a way of joining the styles we already run. These are the ones solo travellers choose most.
Fixed departures with a specialist aboard. Company when you want it, logistics handled, and the format where solo travellers are most numerous. Small-group tours →
Your dates and your pace, designed around what you actually want to see. Worth considering if you've travelled before and know your own rhythm. Custom tours →
Exclusive use with your own guide and vehicle — including a party of one. More expensive per head, but total flexibility and no group to keep pace with. Private tours →
Fewer stops, longer stays and properties where a single room is a better experience. Single supplements are higher here — worth quoting side by side. Luxury tours →
A trip built around golf, wine, coffee, shopping or nature gives everyone aboard something in common from the first morning. Solo travellers often find these the easiest groups to join. All travel styles →
If you've not travelled alone before, a two or three-night trip is a low-stakes way to find out how you feel about it before committing to a fortnight. Cooee Local →
Every region we cover takes solo travellers. These are the ones asked for most often, and the reasons given.
Short flight, no language barrier, and a small-group format that works well for a first solo trip. Both islands in a fortnight, or one properly in a week.
New Zealand guide →Among the easiest countries in the world to be alone in — solo dining is completely unremarkable, and the rail network does the moving for you.
Japan guide →Long shared dinners and walkable cities. The classic small-group destination, and the one most often booked as a first escorted trip abroad.
Italy guide →Hard to do well independently and much better guided. Solo travellers make up a large share of every Red Centre departure we run.
Uluru & Red Centre →Safari is a shared-vehicle experience by design, which suits solo travellers naturally. Camps vary enormously on single supplements — we'll compare them.
Kenya guide →Europe, Asia, the Americas, the Nordics and Antarctica. If it's on our map it takes solo travellers; the only question is which departure and which room.
World travel guide →Not always. Some departures run with the supplement reduced or waived, and on others we can look for a same-sex room-share match with another solo traveller, which removes it entirely. Where a supplement does apply, we quote the fare and the supplement as two separate figures so you can see exactly what the room is costing.
Very unlikely. Solo travellers are a normal part of almost every departure rather than an exception. If it matters to you, ask your specialist what the party looks like on the departure you're considering and we'll tell you.
On many departures, yes — we can try to pair you with another solo traveller of the same sex to avoid the single supplement. It depends on someone else requesting the same thing on the same trip, so we never promise a match in advance. If no match comes up you'll be told well before departure, with the supplement confirmed in writing.
You travel with a specialist and a group, staying in accommodation we have chosen and using transport we have arranged, which removes most of the situations that make independent solo travel harder. We'll also brief you on anything specific to the region before you go, and one Brisbane contact stays reachable for the whole trip.
Then don't. Free time is genuinely free, and nobody is allocated a companion. Plenty of guests do the sightseeing with the group and keep their evenings to themselves. Tell your specialist that's how you like to travel and it will be respected.
No limit, and no single typical age — departures vary. Some trips skew older, some are more mixed, and specialty trips built around golf, wine or coffee tend to draw a wider spread. Ask about the specific departure rather than assuming.
Yes. A private tour of one is entirely normal — your own guide and vehicle, your own dates, nobody else along. It costs more per head than joining a group, so it's worth quoting both ways before deciding.
Tell us where you'd like to go and roughly when. A Brisbane specialist will come back within one business day with departures that suit solo travellers, and the fare and single supplement quoted separately.