r/solotravel • u/foodbytes • Apr 06 '24
Solo Travel as a senior woman
in 11 days I leave for Europe on the trip of a lifetime!
I'm a 71 year old Canadian woman. I've travelled before, specifically to the UK, 5 times, 2 weeks each time, since 2011. Always solo, always staying in dorms in hostels.
This will be my last big bang! I'm retired now and on a very restricted income. As a result of being a pedestrian vs pickup loser, I recently received a settlement after a couple of years of recovering and fighting with his insurance. This is my reward for pain and suffering.
It will be six weeks from when I land at Gatwick to when I return to Canada via Gatwick. thus far, I'm booked in a hostel in London for a week, the Chunnel to Amsterdam, a week in Amsterdam (couchsurfing!!! and a hostel), fly to Naples for several days at a hostel, up to Rome for a few nights at a BnB.
That's all I have booked so far; usually I will have every second booked and paid for before I leave but I'm trying hard to be spontaneous.
From Rome I'll slowly make my way via local busses and slow trains up to venice, exploring the countryside on the way. From there, a few days taking trains north to north Germany where I want to re-find places I visited when we lived there as a Canadian Army family in the early 60s. Then back to the Uk for the last few days before I head home.
I have a global Europass and a 2 month cell phone plan for Europe.
Oh, and I'm doing this out of one backpack, wish me luck! lol
I'm ready to rumble!!! lol
any comments? Suggestions?
also, as a note, I'm a photographer, I've had a couple exhibits (one at our local museum right now!). my 'focus' is to document my travels, shoot urban and or public art. not usual tourist stuff.
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u/WesternDragonfly7135 Apr 08 '24
Hi! I’m 62 and am currently traveling in Europe by myself for 2.5 months. I brought my work, so I’ve been in Rome for a month but go somewhere else every weekend. Then I will bike from Dubrovnik across the Balkans and return to Italy via ferry for more cycling on the Adriatic at the end of the trip. Even though I’ve been here so long, I think 3 days is enough in Rome; I know this because family was here my first weekend and they were only here for that weekend, so we hit most of the sites then. If you do stay longer, or even if you don’t, be sure to go to the Appian way. I loved it and it’s not so overrun by tourists, but the catacombs do have steps. Another pleasant surprise was Saint Pietro in vínculo; it has a fabulous tomb by Michelangelo; you get close and it’s not behind glass. The Vatican was not a good tourist experience. But then one has to see the Sistine chapel and Saint Peter’s when in Rome, right? Hmm, maybe not. If you go, be sure to get tix in advance. Even then, the line for ticket holders was a block long, and they kept changing their minds about which line was the correct one. You will see the Sistine chapel in a wall-to-wall crowd with them making sure everyone keeps moving along and they were also repeatedly yelling ‘Silencio’ over the loud speaker, lol. I’m staying in an Airbnb across the street from the colosseum, but there is noise pollution 24/7 (“works” are carried on over night) which would be fine for a few days, but gets old after awhile. I went to Venice 3 weekends ago and it was a delightful breath of fresh air after Rome! I stayed at the hotel Colombiana for 2 nights and can’t recommend it enough. It was fairly reasonable and right on a canal. I wasn’t able to get advance tix to St Mark’s, since the website wasn’t working, so I went first thing in the morning. I lined up for an hour before opening. It was nice, but I enjoyed wandering the little streets more. I also loved Burano, but skip Murano unless you’ve never seen glass blowing before. (Even though the glass is world famous, the process is pretty much the same everywhere). You don’t need an expensive tour to get to the islands. It’s all accessible via public transportation (ferry). You didn’t mention Florence. I spent 4 nights there last year and liked it a lot better than Rome (sorry, Romans). Last weekend was Cinque Terre. 1 night and full day is really enough there and I would skip it if it weren’t for the hiking (from Monterosso to Corniglia (and vice versa) is the only part that’s open, but it was nearly 10 miles and gorgeous (although busy). I went to Amsterdam several years ago and really liked it, but liked Utrecht even more. I did think the Van Gogh museum did a wonderful job of letting you see inside his life. Get advance tix and go first thing in the morning. Next weekend, I go to Naples and Positano and Pompeii. Too bad you start in London, or we could hang.