Travel trends are obviously something we keep tabs on at Backroads, and for 2026, our experts are noticing even more solo travelers signing up for our immersive, active adventures.
We see you, solo travelers! And we’re here to help you get out there. Backroads recently launched more than 100 trip dates featuring reduced single supplement fees—and on some trips you’ll pay nothing extra to stay in your own private room.
That means you can let your inner extrovert shine by day and then settle into introvert mode by yourself each night to recharge. These savings make solo travel more accessible and affordable, and they add a note of “hushpatality” to your trip—another trend for 2026.
How to Take Advantage of Solo Room Savings
There are two easy ways to book this cost-saving Backroads offer:
- Call us (800-462-2848) and let one of our consultants know you’re planning to travel solo and you are specifically interested in booking a departure with Solo Room Savings.
- Head to Backroads.com, navigate to the Travelers subhead, and on the drop-down menu, click Explore Solo Room Savings. From there you can select your preferred Destinations, Activities and other Filters. Private-room savings vary from trip to trip; for details, click the blue View Dates button.
⭐ Tips to trim costs: The more flexible you are with destinations and dates, the more options you’ll open up for savings. Of course, on any trip, we still offer the option to be paired with a roommate and pay no single supplement. Learn more here.
Why Book a Single Room on a Backroads Trip?
According to Forbes, Millennials and Gen Zers led the increasingly popular solo-travel charge in 2025. But Backroads has been welcoming solo travelers for decades; in 2024, we hosted more than 4,000 solo travelers. We love the dynamic these guests bring to the group, from young adults just out of college and testing their independence to adults in their 80s who still enjoy regular active exploration with other like-minded adventurers.
There’s no reason solo travel should intimidate you on one of our group trips! On the contrary. Ben Lilly, a longtime Trip Leader, said that solo Backroads trip-goers are quickly adopted into the fold like family. Laura Leever, who joined our Sardinia & Corsica Multi-Adventure Tour, said, “I was on this trip solo and between the leaders and others in our group, I never felt alone. We were definitely a family for the whole trip! Memories for a lifetime.”
There are a number of reasons why you might book a Backroads trip as a solo traveler—with a private room—on a Backroads adventure. Here are the top six.
1. Privacy and Comfort
Having a room to yourself means you can unwind exactly as you please at day’s end, without having to adjust to a roommate’s habits or preferences. Stay up reading until midnight, take a FaceTime call with your boisterous kids, crank up the thermostat, sleep in your skivvies with the nightlight on, scatter your belongings like confetti and hog the bathroom. It’s as you like it in single-room scenarios.
2. Peace of Mind, Especially in a Foreign Locale
“Being alone in a faraway land can make you feel exhilarated yet vulnerable, but that's no reason to dial down your ambitions,” said Trip Leader Kirstey Moreland. “Traveling solo within a group creates a degree of security. You can embark on the adventure you dreamed of, leveraging the flexibility of Backroads to do your own thing or join the group whenever it suits you, knowing that support is always on hand.”
Maybe you regularly travel solo in the United States and Europe, but the thought of navigating rural Japan by yourself—where you can’t speak or read the language—has always given you pause, even though that’s one of your bucket-list trips. Backroads leaders have you covered from the moment we meet.
And Backroads heads to several countries where English speakers are typically most challenged, including Colombia, Laos and Morocco. This year we offer Hiking & Walking Tours (including Women’s Adventures) in Colombia from December through March; Biking and Multi-Adventure Tours in Laos between October and December; and Hiking & Walking Tours (including a Women’s Adventure) in Morocco in April and again from September through November.
Ruth Ann Pritchard, a solo guest on our Santorini & Crete Multi-Adventure Tour, said the experience reshaped how she defines vacation: “I never had to think about logistics... Any hiccups occurred in the background and were never experienced by the group. It was an incredibly pleasurable experience without stress or worry.”
At Backroads, having on-the-ground, regional experts means we can offer guests experiences that are out of the ordinary and certainly off the beaten tourist tracks. Laurie Chapple, who was part of our Italy & Slovenia Hiking & Walking Tour, seconded this: “We went places I never could have found on my own and I have been planning trips for over 45 years,” she wrote.
3. Freedom and Flexibility
Both qualities are a big deal at Backroads. As a guest, you have the freedom to hike and bike at your own pace each day. Or maybe you wake up feeling like you want to forego a morning of miles on the bike to sleep in and then read your book on the balcony of your private room. No problem. Thanks to our robust support teams and vans, you always have that option.
"It's your vacation!" Moreland tells guests, and the Backroads leaders make every effort to accommodate your preferences. "Our trips are a template, not a formula. And although you’ll be presented with a daily itinerary, the choice is yours to follow all of it, part of it or none of it.”
With 30 years of business and leisure travel under her belt, Backroads guest Julie Scanlon-Young questioned whether an organized group trip would hamper her happiness with solo travel, especially “having the flexibility to change plans. Boy was I wrong,” she wrote after her adventure with us. “I did have the freedom to choose my daily activities, and I enjoyed the camaraderie of my fellow travelers/cyclists! Thank you for opening up this new form of travel to me!”
Freedom and flexibility are also very important for young adults traveling with their parents. This is another instance of when booking a separate room can be invaluable. Backroads offers trips specifically for Families with Teens & 20s, with more than 50 trips to choose from and lodging at stellar hotel properties.
4. Less Decision Fatigue and Social Fatigue
Planning a trip is increasingly complicated and stressful—you might deal with anything from securing national park reservations to finding a waterfront hotel with available rooms with a view. Instead, you can just hand the whole planning process to Backroads and eliminate stress from the get-go.
Social fatigue is also a real thing. Which is why having your own space to reset at the end of the day with a group can feel essential, whether you’re an introvert, extrovert or ambivert. Time spent in a private room could turn into the “quietcation” part of your Backroads trip.
5. A Chance to Meet New Friends
Putting yourself out there to meet new people is not always easy. But Backroads trips are a great way to connect with others who love the outdoors. Bonding over a beautiful view, a thigh-burning bike ride or an amazing dinner brings us together—we see it happen trip after trip.
“I believe that this is where group excursions really shine. I can't tell you how many times I've encountered groups of friends who originally met while they were on a Backroads trip and continue to vacation together years later,” said Moreland.
6. It Boosts Your Self-Confidence
Who among us hasn’t looked at a solo traveler with admiration? That brave person has pushed aside fear of the unknown in pursuit of exploration, and in doing so inevitably reaps the rewards of growth, new friends, trust in their own intuition and self-discovery. It’s one of the best reasons to travel.
Having a solo traveler along on a Backroads trip is ultimately an uplifting experience for everyone, because their can-do attitude is infectious. Said Lilly: “It's fun to see a solo traveler on trip because they inspire us to get out there and send it.”
