THE PEOPLE ALONE TRAVELLING TOGETHER CLUBis an Irish-based group set up with singles in mind. Aimed at those who want to travel but don't want to go alone, it puts the emphasis on friendship - although it has celebrated at least one wedding among members.
Membership costs €40 a year. The application form gives you an opportunity to provide a personal profile, so the agency can help you find like-minded room-mates (to avoid the dreaded single supplement) if you so choose.
Although the age profile is predominantly over 50s, all age groups are accepted and accommodated. It isn't all about travel, either. Social events are organised throughout the year, so that even members who aren't travelling can hook up with friends from previous holidays.
The Patt Club (Port Road, Letterkenny, Co Donegal, 074-9128238, www.thepattclub.ie) is currently offering a week's "friendship holiday" in Spain, departing October 12th, staying at Hotel Sol Principe, in Torremolinos. Tickets cost €535 per person, including return flights to Malaga.
As well as a Christmas-in-Fuerteventura option and a Christmas-market trip to Germany, it runs a number of long-haul options each year, with South Africa among its most popular destinations.
In February members of the club head to Cape Town for two weeks, with tours to a number of nature reserves and safari parks, as well as to Robben Island. The price here is €2,634.
Solitair, a UK-based company, has an even more extensive range of destinations around the globe. The website has a chat room where you can strike up relationships with other solo travellers before you even think about where you might like to go.
The company (40 Princess Street, Manchester M1 6DE, England, 00-44-161-2340080, www.singlesholidays.com) has a number of singles cruises lined up for the next 12 months, including one taking in Venice, Croatia, Turkey and the Greek islands. Departing October 18th, it costs from £1,299 (about €1,650) for an inside cabin.
Coach tours are another great way for singles to get to know one another, whether in search of friendship or romance. CIÉ Tours International(35 Lower Abbey Street, Dublin 1, 01-7031888, www.cietoursinternational.com) has a series of options, including an eight-day escorted tour to Russia, taking in Moscow and St Petersburg, priced at €2,439.
The tour operator will help you find a room-mate to share with if you're looking to keep costs down. It, too, attracts an older demographic.
If you're unsure of the general age group likely to be travelling, don't be afraid to ask before booking. Younger singles are well catered for. This is because even though they aren't marketed as a way of finding Mr or Ms Right, escorted adventure tours are very often a way of doing just that, particularly as, on average, about 60 per cent of those travelling on each tend to be single or solo travellers.
Fill any minibus with a dozen twentysomethings, at least half of whom aren't getting any, and, if nothing else, you have significantly improved your chances of scoring.
Throw in magnificent surroundings, adrenalin-filled pursuits by day and nights spent under stars and it's a wonder single young people holiday any other way.
Exodus Adventure Travel(through Abbey Travel, 43-45 Middle Abbey Street, Dublin 1, 01-8047153, www.exodus.co.uk) has an action-packed week of white-water rafting, sea-kayaking, mountain-biking, canyoning and hiking on offer in Turkey right now. There's optional scuba-diving and - here's a great chat-up line - tandem paragliding, too, all for a tour-only price of €610. Book before the end of August and you get a free dive package thrown in.
For a younger market again, Club 18-30(Thomas Cook Business Park, Coningsby Road, Peterborough, PE3 8SB, England, 00-44-870- 2421830, www.club18-30.com) has long been marketing itself as a way for young people to have a "good time". Think Ibiza Uncovered. Or maybe don't, if you're getting your parents to foot the bill. About a third of Club 18-30ites are likely to be travelling without their parents for the first time.
Flying out of the UK in September for a week in Palma Nova, Majorca, prices start at £180 (about €230) per person sharing.
Sandra O'Connell
DO'S AND DON'TS
• Don't get the wrong idea: this is more 35s-60s than 18-30s.
• Do try to mix with as many people as possible in the first couple of days. You'll soon find those you're most comfortable with.
• Don't turn up with expectations of romance. Although flings are not unusual, the holiday is more about the company. And there tend to be more women than men.
• Do get out and do sightsee on your own. You're more likely to tap into the local culture and beat off any danger of claustrophobia.
• Don't think you'll be stuck in group activities every day. Your only obligation is to have dinner with your travelling companions most evenings.
• David McKechnie was a guest of Antrim-based Friendship Travel (048-94462211, www.friendshiptravel.com), which arranges singles holidays in Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and elsewhere.
• A week through Friendship Travel at the 4reasons hotel, near Yalikavak, on the Bodrum peninsula, in September and October (the next available dates) costs €899 half-board (dinner with wine on five nights), including flights and transfers. Naturally, there is no single supplement. Flights are from Belfast International Airport, with departures on Mondays.
• The 4reasons (www.4reasonshotel.com) is a boutique hotel with 20 individually designed rooms and suites, many with balconies overlooking the Aegean Sea. It is a 20-minute walk, a short bus ride or a €5 cab journey into Yalikavak, a relaxed fishing town with a few small beaches, a marina and some decent restaurants. Unusually for the Bodrum region, you're more likely to meet Turkish tourists there than foreigners. It is half an hour by taxi (about €40) to the resort town of Bodrum.
