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Ever since I read Anne of Green Gables as a girl, I longed to visit Prince Edward Island where the novels are set. My husband didn’t. And so, at 56, I reached out to three adventurous women I’d studied abroad with in college, and they replied enthusiastically.
Our five-day trip organized by PEI Cycling Tours showed us we truly were “kindred spirits,” as Anne of GG would say. Biking from picturesque inn to inn, we followed the route but set our own pace pedaling through lush farmland, relishing PEI’s famed mussels and admiring scenic lighthouses. We felt no pressure to meet competitive goals of miles conquered. Two women chose e-bikes while another woman and I opted for sweatier rides. The whole trip shines like a gem in my memory, and I’m scouring websites for women-only options for 2025.
Ever contemplated signing up? Now’s the time! Worldwide, travel companies are increasingly coming up with trips to cater to this growing market. Many focus on women ages 55+ who often have the leisure and desire to connect with more of the world.
Here’s why to book one:
You’ll create new or deeper friendships.
A third of owner Cynthia King’s PEI Cycling Tours are women only, and she’s adding women-focused options, like a Nordic spa treatment. “Women want to experience adventure together because it's an intimate thing to do,” King says. On our tour, my girlfriends and I often switched roommates. One night I talked late with the woman I knew least, and we connected deeply about the challenges and transitions we’d faced.
Unlike trips with couples who usually sit together every night, on women’s trips “there's an openness to sitting next to someone new,” says Daphné Robichaud, who led 10 women on a Backroads hiking trip through the Alps. Ranging from their 20s to 60s, “everyone was very comfortable interacting.”
Women-only trips are “a different vibe totally,” says Joni Cobb, 71, of Longview, Texas, who has taken two women-only trips with Road Scholar. She says couple trips can get “cliquey.” She’s found women-only trips to be more “inclusive.” On her Portugal trip one women was slower or got distracted while exploring. “There was always someone who’d go get her,” says Cobb.
“With the women's-only trip, you get that extra camaraderie,” says Carmelina Borcella, a Wildland Trekking guide who led her first women-only backpacking trip in Utah last year. “It’s just a special energy being around all women and being able to connect on so many things — children, divorce, menopause.”
You’ll find like-minded, curious and adventurous women you may travel with in the future.
Cobb and several women from her Road Scholar trip to Quebec City later traveled to Portugal together and are now planning a 2025 outing. “You don’t have to go with someone you know because you’re going to know everybody in a day or two,” says Cobb. Some friends are surprised she ventures off without her husband, but she’s “not anxious at all. I’ll soon be with my 23 new best friends.” Road Scholar suggests books to read beforehand and invites local professors to speak, which she enjoys. “Everybody wanted to learn something new, or they wouldn’t be there.”
Judy Wilson, a leader for Natural Habitat Adventures who’s run 15 “Women in the Wild” programs around Churchill, Canada, also sees this pattern. “I often get women who meet someone, and they travel together in the future and then show up on another one of my trips,” she says. “You get lasting friendships.”
You’ll feel comfortable pushing beyond your comfort zone — or not.
Last year, Eileen Jacobowitz, 58, of Sacramento, wanted to celebrate her 23-year-old daughter’s graduation together without families or couples to deal with, so they chose a women-only Backroads trip to the Canadian Rockies.
“There's this level of comfort and connection,” she says. “They were smart and interesting and kind and supportive.” She found no competitive vibe that co-ed groups may have, even though she and her daughter have different comfort levels. “My daughter would hang back with the slower folks, and I would go out with the faster folks,” she says. “It worked out perfect.” In June, Jacobowitz and her sister will take another Backroads women-only trip.
Backroads offers regular and longer hiking options, and “truly, there's no pressure,” says Robichaud. “Throughout the week, these women were more and more comfortable going at their own pace. What actually surprised me wasn’t the strength, but the softness that came — the women waiting for each other and asking about each other's health and seeking advice.”
Wilson believes such trips help women develop courage and confidence. “It's part of putting women together and giving them the opportunity to be empowered and to do neat things that maybe they've been nervous about doing,” she says.
Solo traveler? Women-only trips are ideal.
According to several studies, like this report by Forbes, the majority of solo travelers are women. Robichaud believes that “the safety and the confidence that women can sign up and come and meet like-minded women to do what they love to do” is a top reason solo women find these trips so appealing. For women with partners who aren’t interested in traveling, like Cobb and Jacobowitz, a women-only trip enables them to do what they love.
“I’m trying to do all I can with the time I’ve got left,” says Cobb. “If I have a choice, I’m going with just women.”
(The trips above suit a range of budgets, from $999 for a five-day wellness retreat in California with Road Scholar to $7,299 for a Backroads hiking tour of the French Riviera with premiere lodging.)
Have any of you been on a women-only trip? Would you like to try one? Let us know in the comments below.
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