Cheers,

Bob

Interesting to read your comments re the TS aspects as a solo traveller on this trip, I really like the look of the new TS New England tour, but think I would only want to go on it if I could persuade a friend to book it too. (so may try the JY Alaska trip instead, if I decide to go to the US.)

Regards

Katy

Ann

Thanks for this, Bob.   I was interested in your comment about couples being unfriendly.   That was the reason I started going with JY because of a similar experience with another company - it's nice to know that it doesn't just happen to females (I had always thought it was because the wives regarded their husbands as God's gift to women and any single female could have only one thought in her mind).

Ann

So true Ann. I have done one trip (Norway)with TS as a single which wasn't too bad.  But I have found that as a single woman you get treated with a mixture of sympathy (poor soul hasn't got a man) and suspicion (she might want mine) It doesn't matter which company you travel with.  A pity JY has become so expensive.

Thanks for the review sounds as if the tour was well worth going on from what you saw. Glad there were some people who didn't mind sharing their time with you.

It's that point which would put me off travelling with TS, unless I had a friend in tow.

Glad you had fun

Cindy

Thanks for the comments - yes I did find the couples less friendly on this tour than the TS tour I did last year of the Balkan Peninsula.  But I suppose that's the luck of the draw.  I was very fortunate that I met a lovely lady from Northern Ireland (single traveller, husband unable to travel so she goes by herself) and we sat on the bus together every day and at most meals too.  She was great fun and has never used JY - so I did my best to convince her to give them a go!  I'd really like to do the TS Romania tour (and am still hoping that JY will be able to run it before I take the plunge with TS) and I might have a JY travel buddy to go with me if I do it further down the road.  I also want to do the TS Peru tour and again, I'd try to have someone to go with me rather than going on my own.  However at the end of the day, if I really wanted to do the tour, I wouldn't let the couples situation put me off doing a TS tour!

All the best,

Bob

All the best,

Bob

super review, Thanks,  Two ladies you lucky man. still it's what you go to see that counts,  I did Peru with TS and that too was a large group and some couples were unfriendly but it was the Tour which attracted me as it was a better one than JY offered, you will always find other single travellers on a TS holiday so it wouldn't put me off at all though I think i'd 99 times out of a 100 use JY and I suppose it is the luck of the draw as to who your felloe travellers are

all the best

Dave

I am off on a Travelsphere holiday to Sicily in two days. A friend is going with me otherwise I would not have done this particular trip. Like others have said I had a bad experience on my first trip as single traveller and have only travelled with JY since. I ave however also experienced a high number of friends travelling together on some JY trips which is also not ideal.

Will let you now how I get on

Lesley

I think that's a really good idea to welcome the single travellers (although perhaps not everyone would like it - maybe the rep could gauge the water). I've said in the past I would always go with JY as my first choice and TS if there was a tour I really like that JY don't offer.

I've been on 2 TS tours - Peru and Cambodia/Mekong Delta. Peru had just over 30 travellers. Most couples were very friendly. I got friendly with 3 other solos (tho technically they knew each other having met on previous trips). In Cambodia there were 3 solos in a group of 15. Thankfully this smallish group of 15 all got on very well. I think eating together helps - all our meals were included on this latter trip.

As you've intimated it's the luck of the draw and as you have said, if it's a tour you really fancy, give TS a go.

I reckon if you put it out there you were going to Romania, there would be a good few JYers who would join you. I can't believe this is still not a JY tour with many in the past on the forum saying they really want to go there.

Angie

Thanks for your comments!  As you probably read previously, I did the TS Balkan tour last Sept and found a lot of the couples very friendly on that tour so it certainly hasn't put me off doing a TS tour completely.  I could be wrong here, but I'm guessing that JY would love to put on a Romania tour as the demand seems to be there for it; however the fact that they haven't to date and that the TS Romania tour only has two single places for next year leads me to think that perhaps they are having difficulty in persuading Romanian hotels to make an agreement for sole occupancy.  I could be wrong, but I reckon that is the biggest factor in JY being able to provide a tour - or not, as the case may be!

All the best,

Bob

I was interested to read your review of Travelsphere's Baltic Explorer tour, and the TS group.  I think the mindset of a TS group is different to the JY group.  I was on JY's Puglia tour a couple of years ago and we joined up with a TS group in Lecce for a joint guided tour.  Try as we might there was no hope of  "joining in" it was very much a them and us.  

The evening before we left Calabria in 2013 a TS group arrived.  The bar was very small and when a couple of us thought we would have two of the three empty seats at one table we were met with such a hostile glare from the sole male occupant we quickly retreated.

Thank goodness there are always the friendly JYers.

Sylvia

Yes JY groups are always friendly!  I am still of the opinion (having done 3 TS tours) that the chances are that on any tour, as a single traveller, any of us would find either another single traveller or a friendly couple to socialise with - but I could be wrong!!

All the best,

Bob

You've certainly picked TS trips in the last couple of years that tick off a fair few countries in quick succession. Europe is certainly good for that! I like the look of the one you've just done - could be one for the future for me.

Angie

It really was excellent, with just the right amount of sightseeing and free time.  We saw the old towns in each of the cities we visited and each has its own unique character and history.  It was fascinating, with some amazing architecture.  We also saw some unusual places, such as a park in Poland that has a collection of soviet-era statues and learned the history of some of them and the hill of crosses in Lithuania, where people from all over the world place crosses to remember loved ones - very moving.  I also (finally!) got the chance to go up in a balloon in Tallinn and saw some great views of the city! 

All the best,

Bob

Angie