Thinking about a cycling tour but don’t have a partner who wants to come? You would be far from alone… literally. Across our last ten departures, from the Vikings in July 2025 to Hannibal in August 2026, 83 of our 207 riders came on their own – 40%. More than half of all our bookings (83 of 145) were for one person. Every single departure had solo riders on it, and one of them, our March 2026 Tasmania tour, was made up entirely of people travelling alone – this was a custom group of friends, many made on our tours as single riders who came together to create their own custom group!
So if you are wondering whether you will be the odd one out at dinner, the answer is no. Here is what our numbers actually show, why solo travel is booming worldwide, and what it is really like to ride an Odyssey without a partner.
Our numbers: solo riders versus couples
We went through the booking lists for our last ten departures and counted every rider who booked on their own against those who booked as a pair – partners, friends or siblings travelling together.
Solo riders made up between a quarter and nearly half of every departure, from 25% on The Odyssey in May 2026 to 48% on Shogun in October 2025. The outlier is Tasmania in March 2026, where all nine riders came on their own. Counted by booking rather than by rider, 83 of our 145 bookings – 57% – were for one person.
Solo travel is no longer the exception
Our numbers are not a quirk. Solo travel has gone mainstream, and group tours are where much of it happens.
- Interest is at a record high. Searches for solo travel hit 1.6 million in January 2026, and solo travel search terms have risen 230% over ten years, according to Go2Africa’s Luxury Solo Travel Report (TravelPulse).
- Group tours are full of solo travellers. Tourhub and TourHound report solo bookings at 46% of their transactions, up from just over a third in 2022, and Intrepid Travel says about half of its UK customers travel solo (Travel Weekly).
- Most are women. At Intrepid, G Adventures, Exodus and Explore, women make up 66 to 69% of solo travellers, and Saga found women over 50 are twice as likely as men their age to want to travel alone (Travel Weekly).
- People go to meet people. In Hostelworld’s 2025 survey of more than 3,300 solo travellers, 58% said they wanted to meet new people, up from 43% the year before, and 63% of first-timers planned to do it again (Axios).
That last point matters most. Going solo used to mean going lonely. On a small-group tour it means the opposite – you choose your own trip, and the company comes with it.
What it’s really like to ride solo on an Odyssey
The honest answer is that by the second morning nobody remembers who arrived with whom.
A cycling tour is a strange and wonderful social leveller. You spend the day riding the same roads, riding up the same passes, facing the same challenges and enjoying the same adventures – and then you sit down to dinner with people who have shared every kilometre of it. Couples often split up on the road anyway, one riding ahead with the fast group, the other drifting along at the back with the photographers… so a solo rider simply slots into whichever group suits their legs that day.
A few things make it easy:
- You are never actually on your own. Our guides ride with the group and the support van is always close by, so there is no getting lost, no fixing a puncture alone on a mountainside and no worrying about how your bags reach the next hotel.
- The groups are small. Our departures run to a maximum of around 24 riders, which is big enough to find your people and small enough that everyone knows your name by day three.
- Riding is optional, company is not. On a long tour you can skip a day, take a rest day in the van or wander a town on your own – and still have a table waiting at dinner.
- Our solo riders come back. At least 12 riders in this ten-tour one year window came alone on two or more departures, and one came solo on three tours in just over a year! People do not do that if the first one felt lonely and again this is a very short window, all our tours have around 70% repeat riders.
One more thing our booking lists show: “solo” does not always mean single. Several of our solo riders have partners at home who simply do not want to spend four weeks on a bike, and we regularly see someone ride with their partner on one tour and on their own on the next. Going alone is often just the most practical way to do the trip you actually want.
Rooms and the single supplement
The one real cost of travelling alone is the room. Hotels price rooms, not people, so a double room for one costs the hotel almost as much as a double room for two – and that difference is the single supplement.
It is the part of solo travel people grumble about most, and we know that, but unfortunately, it is impossible to avoid.
Here is how it works on an Odyssey:
- Your own room: As our rates are all calculated on 2 people sharing, if you want your own room, you have to pay the balance of the cost between 1 person being in the room and 2. This isn’t double but often close to this price, as hotels charge very similar rates for 1 person in a room or 2 – it is most often about 10% less than twin share (2 people). We calculate the Single Supplement from this difference in price. It ranges between 90 and 160 euros a night depending on the Odyssey.
- Sharing: If you would like to share a room then we will do our best to find you someone of the same sex to share with. This saves paying the single supplement and means you also get to share the journey with someone. If we cannot find you someone to share with, then you will have your own room and need to pay the single supplement.
- Where it varies: Sometimes, some hotels do not have rooms with twin beds. In these cases, if you are sharing, we will put you in seperate rooms at our cost.
Whatever you choose, you are not paying extra for anything else. The guides, the support van, the luggage transfers and the history are the same for everyone on the tour.
Solo rider FAQs
How many Bike Odyssey riders travel solo?
About 40%. Across ten departures from July 2025 to August 2026, 83 of 207 riders booked on their own, and every departure had solo riders.
Will I be the only person on my own?
Almost certainly not. Even our most couple-heavy departure, The Odyssey in May 2026, had six solo riders, and one Tasmania departure was made up entirely of solo travellers.
Do I have to pay a single supplement?
If you want your own room, yes. If you want to share with someone, No. Note if there is no one to share with, you will get your own room so you will need to pay the single supplement.
Is it safe to ride on my own?
You are not riding on your own. Guides ride with the group and support vehicles follow the route every day. And many of our riders ride along, single or otherwise. It is completely safe.
What if I’m slower or faster than everyone else?
That is normal on every tour. Riders spread out by pace, and the guides and van make sure nobody is left alone at the back. We support all riders to ride any speed. It is your Odyssey to enjoy how you want to enjoy it.
Which tour is best for a first solo trip?
Choose the tour which appeals to you most for culture, country, history – these are the tours where you will meet the most like minded people. All our tours cater for singles and couples, it is no different to us, we love having everyone on tour! See all our tours.