Top tips, tricks and hacks for your solo holiday

Whether you're all booked and ready to travel or need a little help to find your next break, here are some of our top tips and advice to help you make the most of your solo travel experiences...

Visas and Travel Requirements

Don't get caught out - always make sure you check the latest visa requirements and travel advice to ensure you have plenty of time to arrange documents and any essential inoculations.

And always make sure you have enough time remaining on your passport and remember if you renewed your passport before October 2018 any extra months that may have been added at the time may not count. So to work out your expiry date you'll need to count ten years from the issue date and not rely on the expiry date!

Bookmark these two links to your browser so that you can regularly check and stay up to date with government advice which can change from time to time:

Sherpa - Visa and Travel Info Checker
Foreign Travel Advice

Connect with other solo travellers

The Just You Community Forum is a fantastic place to connect with other solo travellers before your trip. It's free to join, simply click here to get started.

From discussing packing tips and how much money to take, to the best highlights on a Just You tour, it's the perfect resource to keep you informed.

Packing Tips

Your final documents will be shared 2-3 weeks before you travel, and this will detail your luggage allowance and specifications.

Especially for our classic tours where you move around a lot more, you may want to invest in some packing cubes and a laundry bag so that you can keep your clothing and toiletries organised and easy to hand. What's more they act as good cushioning for any fragile souvenirs you plan on transporting back home.

Keep you clothing nice and fresh and add some tumble dryer sheets into your suitcase, and of course there's multiple tips on the best way to pack your clothing, from fold and stack to fold and roll - you decide!

Love a brew the moment you get up? It's not always commonplace for hotels to offer tea and coffee-making facilities in hotel rooms, so it's worth investing in a travel kettle and tea/coffee sachets to ensure you have the best start to the day.

And of course you'll need to research which travel adaptors to take for the country you are visiting, and better still, it's worth investing in a couple of universal travel adaptors to cover you for all eventualities and all future tours that you set off on! Here's a great tool you can use to find out which kind you need to take with you.

Finally, a small tip on hand luggage. As well as any prescriptions you have to take, we also recommend packing enough clothes to cover a couple of days just in case you're hold luggage decides to go off on an unexpected adventure of its own! That will give you enough time to be reunited with your possessions, or to purchase a few items to see you through - just remember to keep receipts for the airline/travel insurance provider.

Clothing

Whether you have booked a Relax and Discover or Classic tour, comfortable footwear is essential. Terrain can vary and getting you to all the main sights can mean a bit more of a walk from the coach drop off point to your scheduled activity.

Cotton clothing that you can layer up and down is advisable to plan for all weather conditions and to respect cultural traditions. Lay out all your clothes before you pack to create a capsule wardrobe of clothing that you can easily mix and match throughout your trip.

Packing a selection of scarves is a great lightweight and multi-purpose item, doubling up as a cover all when visiting religious sites, to use by the pool, protect yourself from the sun, or even just to differentiate your clothing each day on tour. 

It's also worth using Holiday Director, Brian Croft's tip to pack and then remove a third before you zip up that case!

Currency and budgeting

Check your itinerary to establish what meals are included, and a quick google search of the cost of living for the country you are visiting will help you budget for food and drink.

There is a whole host of information on tipping including this Lonely Planet article, and your Holiday Director will be able to point you in the right direction as to what is customary. Remember porterage and breakfast are included in a Just You tour.

When it comes to tipping your Holiday Director, guides and drivers, generally it's at your discretion as to how much you would like to tip and show your appreciation.

Throughout your tour, your Holiday Director will be on hand to advise where the nearest ATM is so that you can withdraw additional funds if you need them.

This handy guide is a good starting point for getting the best exchange rates on the day. Always allow up to 2 weeks to order currency before you travel (especially for less common currencies), but if you're caught short, there's always currency exchange options at your departure and arrival airports. Selected hotels may also offer a currency exchange service but this isn't always guaranteed.

Before you set off on your travels, you may find it useful to download a free currency app that will work while you're offline. Just to make sure you're happy with the price of things before you purchase!

Getting to/from the airport

For door-to-door pick ups, you can avail of a direct booking service with Addison Lee which takes away the hassle of planning how to get to the airport. You can find full details of how to book here.

Depending on your flight times you may wish to book an airport hotel and parking package - some airports even have on-site hotels which give you that peace of mind that you're not going to miss your flight, and leaves you starting out the day feeling refreshed and not frazzled!

It's also worth signing up for airport parking emails and searching for discount codes to save an extra few pounds off your parking!

Using your phone abroad

Always go into the settings menu on your phone and switch off data roaming to make sure you're not surprised with a hefty data bill when you get home!

Alternatively, most phone providers offer bolt on packages which is a cheaper option. But we think the best option is just using the free WiFi service in hotels which is the best way to stay connected but not be glued to your phone. After all the real action is taking place all around you, so you don't want to miss a moment of it!

And if you're not sure, pop and see your local phone provider for help and support.

When you get home

Aside from the important rituals of getting the laundry done and making that all important 'proper cup of tea', there are some other things you may want to add to your list.

The best advice and recommendations for Just You customers comes from your fellow Just You customers! We would really appreciate it if you can log onto the Just You Community Forum and leave us a review of your experience to help other travellers plan their own solo holidays.

As well as sharing your holiday experiences, it's useful to include information about local life, costs of items, things to look out for, or bear in mind. You can also upload some holiday photos to bring it all to life.

Together we can help support the Just You community with the most up-to-date information from those in the know!

Do you have some tips you would like to share? Email us at editor@justyou.co.uk.