On package vacations, single travelers are often hit with a dreaded "single supplement" to the base price. To avoid it, you can agree to room with other single travelers or find a compatible roommate before you go, from one of the many roommate-locator agencies.
Travel Buddies Singles Travel Club (tel. 800/998-9099; www.travelbuddiesworldwide.com), based in Canada, runs small, intimate, single-friendly group trips and will match you with a roommate free of charge. TravelChums (tel. 212/787-2621; www.travelchums.com) is an Internet-only travel-companion matching service with elements of an online personals-type site, hosted by the respected New York-based Shaw Guides travel service. Backroads (tel. 800/462-2848; www.backroads.com) offers more than 40 active-travel solo trips to destinations worldwide.
For more information, check out Eleanor Berman's latest edition of Traveling Solo: Advice and Ideas for More Than 250 Great Vacations (Globe Pequot), a guide with advice on traveling alone, either solo or as part of a group tour.
