Hot answers tagged solo-travel
23
Non-airconditioned classes tend to have less strict ticket checks starting with the lowest class and gradually increasing till the highest class. Unreserved coaches are usually jam-packed with no place to sleep; you often have to travel standing even at night and not advised. Three-tier non-AC (three bunk beds in one 'column') and second class / two-tier ...
17
India does have a well-documented problem with sexual assault and harrasment directed at women. So I start off with the basics:
Try to avoid walking on streets that are not well-lit. This can be more of a problem than you think because the infrastructure in sections of big cities and / or smaller towns can be bad.
Know the emergency numbers. Police can be ...
13
As an Indian and a woman who has travelled a lot on Indian trains, I must tell you that train travel in India, even for solo women travellers, is largely safe. Sure, there are reported instances of theft, harassment - but where do you not hear them?
My advice: travel either by 2 tier or 3 tier A/C coaches. In sleeper or non-A/C classes, especially in North ...
9
Mixed gender onsen are indeed increasingly rare, and younger ladies frequenting them tend to wear swimsuits these days. Most of the remaining ones I know of are public, free and have no staff on site. They're also very basic, with usually just a single bath, so they're mixed more by necessity than choice -- there isn't really any alternative!
Nyuto (or, ...
7
Many people use couchsurfing's groups for this exact purpose!
I'm in the Georgia and Tbilisi groups and I would say the larger part of the traffic in both groups is travellers wanting to meet up with other travellers at their destination.
Note that you must join each group you wish to read, which of course means you also need to be a member of ...
7
This is very strange that LonelyPlanet says - between Khiva and Bukhara is 480km, and $15 - very small sum for such distance.
According to this post in Livejournal, one year ago such prices were to transfer:
For the taxi - 25000 soms per person which is double less you were offered
Bus between two towns - 13000-15000 soms. It will visit each village on his ...
6
Over the last few years I have traveled alone in touristed areas of Delhi, Kerala & Rajasthan. I am a 29 year old Caucasian woman. I have travelled alone extensively in Europe, North & Central America. I never felt unsafe, but I followed some basic rules.
Activities:
I did not go out alone at night. I mostly didn't go out at night except in the ...
6
Your budget is more than sufficient.
Regarding the visa; I've never heard that you need to specify your intended itinerary. It is the very nature of the Schengen space that you can freely travel between all the countries that are part of it. You need to get the Schengen visa from the country that you are planning to initially enter.
I would second the ...
6
Reply to #2:
A basic normal hostel should cost 20...25 Euro/Night in Western Europe, plan another 10Euro/Day for food. You could probably travel at 1000Euro/month.
Reply to #3:
I don't know about any rental agencies who would rent out motorbikes in Europe. Motorbikes are for people who have to commute to work each day, or for students who need to get to ...
6
For travellers who might want to take this route – the road is now in awful condition (worse than the Pamir Highway!), and takes around 8 hours. I travelled it in July 2012, and had a good, quick driver: we 'only' needed 7.5 hours of accelerating/decelerating/bumping/hitting the ground... We saw mini-buses and a few buses on the road; they took something ...
6
It is, in my opinion, quite safe to travel by train in all parts of Europe. Depending on the country (and the route), you always have an option of locking your stuff to the shelves above your seat (or berth). I never had any trouble traveling by train in Europe.
The only thing that I encountered in my travels was not a problem for me but it might be for ...
5
As hippietrail commented above, karaoke in Japan is strictly "boxes", individual rooms seating 4-10 which are rented by the hour.
So it's very much a "friends getting together" activity. I'm not aware of any means for strangers to meet up for "karaoke get-togethers". But with enough time it shouldn't be too difficult to make friends through other ...
5
Chinese tourist visas are fairly easy to obtain, although the Chinese visa agency in Singapore does state that reservations for flights and hotels are required for L visas. So I would suggest booking refundable flights and a hotel, then applying. Also, don't apply too early, because the validity of Chinese visas starts the moment they are issued, not on ...
5
Avoid Sleeper class. It's always crowded, and vendors keep streaming in and out.
AC coaches are safer and they also have an attendant (though may be be difficult to get hold of most of the times).
Second AC has two berths per side. There are curtains on all sides for privacy, but this may or may not pose some other problems.
Third AC is ok, with no ...
5
I think this is because you are using vacation booking sites, which make the basic assumption that you are part of a couple, as that is the most common scenario. It annoys me a bit too, as having three children makes the default 2+2 not suit my needs.
Using business travel booking sites the assumption is always one person, as this is the most common when ...
5
This won't fill all of your day—just 3 hours—but it's good enough a match that I'll mention it:
There are free walking tours of central Sydney that start every day at 10:30 and 14:30 from next to Sydney Town Hall (483 George St). See the tour page at imfree.com.au for more details.
Join us for our 3 hour Sydney Sights tour at 10:30am and 2:30pm at the
...
5
As far as I know, there isn't a law as such in India that prevents minors from travelling alone. However, each airline has their own policy on what circumstances an unaccompanied minor guest will be allowed on a flight.
Air India doesn't seem to offer too many details on its website but it does have an unaccompanied minor service, apparently. Jet Airways is ...
4
I spent a while in Central Asia in summer 2011.
While backpackers were few and far between, there were actually more cyclists than regular backpackers - seems to be a bottleneck point for the trans-Asia cycling groups, I did meet a lot of people doing hikes - in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Tajikistan is basically a country on top of mountains. It's ...
4
Sydney is one of my favorite cities, and has a ton to offer. A single day just wouldn't do it justice, as that can be the amount of time you'd spend just watching one of the many attractions. Here is a list from memory, which would suit your sightseeing preferences:
The Darling Harbor - The place you are staying is the tourist hub and provides great ...
4
Given you're staying in the city and have time restrictions, I'd suggest remaining the CBD generally, but here's the route I'd take if I was "showing off" Sydney (albeit in the opposite direction to what I've ended up with on Google Maps).
I'm going to list a lot of stuff below, more so that you can pick and choose anything of interest. Following that map ...
4
Ok, I was in Cairo in 2007. With the tensions some may have changed, but here are my suggestions:
Alexandria - it's only a few hours away, and there are connections to get there (my tour company just offered a day trip before the tour started). It was fantastic and I'm so glad I got to it - the new Great Library is cool, lots of old monuments and ...
4
I would recommend Intrepid Travel. They do both urban and nature small group tours. While they don't focus 100% on under-30 travelers, that's their target group. I don't know of any company that does good singles-only group travel. There are a number of woman-only room sharing companies but that doesn't sound like what you were looking for.
4
It is not directly related to your question but the www.hostelworld.com website is pretty good at judging hostels' atmosphere. I just sort the hostels according to rates and choose the one that is not too expensive. It also helps to read some of the reviews themselves.
I chose the hostel that way when I was in Lisbon and I was mainly sitting inside for the ...
3
It turned out that while there were separate areas for men and women for the indoor spas, outdoors, there was only a mixed section, and a section for women only. So being in the mixed section was not so much permitted as mandatory!
There is a slang term for males who only go to mixed gender onsen to see naked females. They're called wani (ワニ). Many Japanese ...
3
Few points:
While on the road, try to dress like Indian women. No, this does not mean that you have to wear a saree or a veil. Get a loose Kurta-Salwar (a long tunic that covers below the hips) stitched with a proper Duppata (shawl.) Use the Duppatta to cover your head, back and chest. Your attire should draw less attention towards yourself.
...
3
Here's what I did today, Day 2. I woke up earlier than I expected, and had no duties until 11:30, so after breakfast I headed out at 8am and walked north along the Promenade until I reached the end of it. Lovely views of the bridge. Then through some streets to Observatory Park. The observatory was closed, but nice views. Then down the bridge stairs to ...
3
I live in Sydney and when we have guests come we split the city up into 2 day trips. One of these focuses on the area close to Darling Harbour the other near Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House.
My suggestion is for the second option, as you will be able to get a good glimpse of Darling Harbour from your hotel. The bridge and its surrounds are supposed to ...
3
There are loads of tour companies that accommodate single travellers. I find it best to read up about the tour company before hand, some companies have a reputation for being all about partying and not about sight seeing and some, the opposite.
With any review make sure it's recent and for the same region as your going to. For example, a Contiki America ...
3
To bring down sticker price to help consumers to commit. Same reason flights used to be advertised before taxes. It also helps to bring down room charges that would be for the room regardless of the number of people (like city foreigner taxes), etc. In Canada they're slowly building legislation to adjust the way people advertise these prices.
There's also ...
3
Not all of them do. It definitely depends on which site you use, and what style of accommodation you are after.
Generally, people going on holiday often have someone with them - a significant other, so often it's based on 2 people sharing. Especially vacation prices.
However, if you're looking for say, hostels, it's on a per-person basis (eg ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
