Want to travel to Italy but nobody you know wants to go?

Have specific dates for your holidays but none of your friends

have the same options?

Does your spouse want to stay home this time?

You're not alone --- you're part of the fast growing single

traveller market. As a frequent single traveller in Italy and

elsewhere, here are my tips on companionship, safety, money

matters, and quality of life for travelling solo in Italy and

beyond.

Companionship

1. Look for restaurants or hotels with communal tables. It's easy

to start a conversation over a meal. Choose restaurants with

tables close together so it's easy to strike up a conversation.

2. Break up your time alone with half or full day tours with a

specific focus so you have fun with people of similar interests.

Ask your travel agent or local tourist office for city walking

tours, day wine tours or other short trips.

3. Find tours that cater to single travellers. We send many

singles to two companies who accept a solo traveler, one family,

is in Chianti and one in Sorrento. They give cooking lessons in

their homes; there are always people around for company. A family

member takes the single traveller on the same excursions as a

group.

4. And if you want a congenial travel companion for your trip?

Look to sites like http://www.travelchums.com to set up your

profile & find a travel companion among their members.

Safety For Solo Women

5. No matter what hour of the day, if a street is deserted you

may not want to walk there. In general, stick to streets where

other people are walking. Walking along the Arno River in

Florence at 10:00 p.m. is wonderful. Walking down a deserted

little street in mid-afternoon may not be wise.

6. Dress in ordinary clothes, leave jewellery at home. Take a

handbag with a shoulder strap you can put diagonally across your

chest. Walk with a strong, confident bearing; don't look like a

victim stay alert. All the above apply in any big city. In small

country towns relax a bit, little happens there.

7. What about men chatting you up? Just like at home, stick to

public places until you're comfortable. If you're not interested,

politely say "no thanks" as many times as it takes.

Money Matters

8. Find tours that have no single supplement. We have a few

cooking tours in Italy without the supplement. Ask us! Other

tour companies in Italy, some walking tours, match you up with

a roommate. Hikers are a nice bunch in general. Be open to new

people, & make friends!

9. When looking for a hotel, email the hotel directly about a

single room and don't book online. Any other special requests

you have such as a request for a quiet room not over looking

the street can be made at that time.

Quality of Life

10. To give yourself enjoyable meal experiences, go to

restaurants on the early side (12:30 for lunch, 7:30 for dinner,

7:00 in big tourist cities) and get the best seat. Then no one

minds if you occupy a table for two with a front row view of the

sea or the parade of life in the piazza.

11. Accept help and reach out to other travellers. If someone

offers to help you carry your suitcase up the stairs in a train

station, say yes, thank them and give them a big smile.

Have a happy time travelling solo in Italy or beyond!