Why More Women Are Traveling Solo, Together

A few months before her wedding, Mackenzie Gange-Anderson took a vacation to Morocco. But she didn’t go with her soon-to-be husband. Instead, she went with a group of women she’d never met before. “The women-only aspect really appealed to me,” says Gange-Anderson, a human resources analyst from Chicago. 

During her eight-day adventure through the Atlas Mountains with Intrepid, Gange-Anderson had the chance to learn about traditional ways of life. She drank tea in a cave and swapped stories with women goat herders. She had dinner in a private home, feasting on chicken tagine and homemade bread. And on long hikes between villages, her fellow travelers became friends.

“It just felt good to have other women around, all looking out for each other,” she recalls.

Women opting to travel with other women is now one of the biggest trends in travel, according to Virtuoso, a collective of luxury-minded advisors. Today, more than 70 percent of all solo travelers are female, Virtuoso says. About half of those individuals are divorced, separated, or widowed, meaning many women are intentionally leaving a partner at home—and seeking the sense of security and sisterhood that comes with a small-group trip.

“It’s not just about traveling,” says Paige Davis. She’s the president of AdventureWomen, a company that’s been running trips exclusively for women since 1982. “It’s also about building relationships, building community, and building friendships—that’s something unique,” Davis explains. Though the brand has been around for more than 40 years, it too has been innovating lately. This year, the firm launched a 12-day private-jet journey that will introduce travelers to women chefs, vintners, and entrepreneurs
across Europe.

Other companies are working to meet the need for women-only trips. Backroads, for example, added its first batch in 2024 “as a bit of an experiment,” says executive vice president Avery Hale Smith. “We were all blown away by how immensely popular it became.” The company has doubled down for 2025, adding walking and hiking tours in more than a dozen new locations, including Nepal and Japan. “Women seem particularly interested in far-flung destinations,” Hale Smith says, “because they’re not necessarily places that they might go on their own.”

EF Go Ahead Tours plans to launch its first women-only departures in 2026, with itineraries to destinations including Egypt, Ireland, Italy, and Peru. The company was motivated by guest feedback, says brand president Heidi Durflinger, who notes that 60 percent of women traveling with EF want “to rediscover themselves” through travel. 

Cruise lines are also embracing the trend: Aurora Expeditions is putting together its first women-only voyage, an Antarctica odyssey aboard the 71-cabin Sylvia Earle slated for 2027 with a team of guides led by women. Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, meanwhile, is planning an inaugural women-only voyage this August, a trip through Burgundy and Provence hosted by Saturday Night Live alumna Rachel Dratch.

For Katie Gallagher, a Glenshaw, Pennsylvania–based pharmacist, traveling solo with like-minded women has become a way of life. Having taken her first AdventureWomen outing in 2017, to the Canadian Rockies, she’s now gearing up for her 14th trip with the company: a safari in Tanzania.

“Women in general are caretakers for other people, and there’s a level of burnout with that,” she says. “Trips like this are a magical kind of escape.”

MORE OUTFITTERS FOR WOMEN-ONLY TRIPS

Butterfield & Robinson

B&R’s women-only collection debuted in 2024; more trips are scheduled for this year. One option, an eight-day cycling itinerary in Southeast Asia, includes a meeting with a female guerrilla who fought in the Vietnam War.

Girls’ Guide to the World

Started in 2009 as Girls’ Guide to Paris, this brand has now gone global, with deep dives like an eight-day late-summer Finland trip focused on why the country consistently ranks as the world’s happiest.

Pack Light Global

Founder Dawn Booker created this company to better serve Black women ages 40 and over, with itineraries such as a nine-day September island-hop in Greece that will blend sightseeing with beach time.

Road Scholar

This nonprofit, which focuses on educational vacations for people ages 50 and up, offers nearly 30 women-only departures, including a six-day tour of California art museums.

Wild Terrains

A small-group specialist, this company prioritizes supporting female-owned businesses. One of its bestsellers is an eight-day journey through Portugal, where guests get to paint alongside a Lisbon street artist.

Zephyr Adventures

A new July trip for novice hikers includes wilderness-safety tips during a five-day tour of Montana’s Beartooth Mountains.

A version of this story first appeared in the June 2025 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline “The New Girls’ Trip.”