13 small group tours to suit every travel style
Take the pressure off planning your own trip by joining one of these small group tours that cater to a range of different interests!
Traveling is a goal for many people, and an admirable one at that. Traveling has many health benefits, both mental and physical, as well as exposing us to different cultures, histories, and perspectives. However, even after someone gets over the hurdle of finding enough time off work, saving up enough money for the trip, and potentially hiring a sitter for their kids and/or pets, they may discover a new roadblock.
The actual TRAVEL PLANNING part.
First you have to figure out where you want to go, then you have to decide between flight routes, and then look up lodging, then learn a whole new transportation system, find places to eat, and things to do, and sights to see - maybe even in a different language. Sure, you can just hop on a plane somewhere, hope to find a hotel at a good rate when you land, and let the cards fall where they may...but that off-the-cuff type of travel doesn't work for a large majority of people. Especially if they are new to traveling.
And especially if they are Virgos.
Hiring a travel agent is one method to bypass the planning, and if that serves your needs then perfect! You're ready for a trip! But if you would prefer to not travel solo, for whatever reason, there's another solution for you: joining a small group tour.
Why Join a Group Tour
It's not always possible to travel with friends and families, at least not as often as one may like. Traveling solo is a reliable option, since no coordination with other parties are needed, but traveling solo is a different experience. For those that have social anxiety and don't like approaching strangers for conversation, solo travel can feel daunting. Similarly, there are some destinations, either for safety or convenience, where it takes more work to travel there solo.
A group tour can help solve some of the complications of not wanting to travel solo, but also not having pre-set people to travel with. There may also be apprehension around joining a group of strangers in a new place, but the comfort in that is everyone in the group is also in the same boat of wanting to meet new friends while traveling. Plus, everyone at least has an interest in travel, so it's a planted seed of connection.
Picking the "right" group tour is the other half of the apprehension, so it is important to get a feel for the vibe of a group tour before signing on. In general, it is easier to make good connections with others on smaller group tours, and also easier for the tour host and guides to cater to individual interests. There are even small group tours that are focused on specific hobbies such as yoga, literature, anthropology, and partying - so guests can be sure the itinerary is something they would enjoy and be engaged with.
Below are 13 incredible small group tours to check out for your next solo-no-solo trip!
Travelers Who Love Adventures
For travelers that love branching out into the great outdoors and tightening their grips on the reigns of adventure, Much Better Adventures is a travel company that focuses on small (7-14 people) outdoor group tours that take guests on the adventure of their life. Before the trip starts, everyone in the group is added to a WhatsApp chat so people can get acquainted before touching down in the new destination.
Examples of their tours include trekking Machu Picchu, wild camping and kayaking in Norwegian fjords, climbing Mt Kilimanjaro, and cycling the Silk Road. Much Better Adventures partners with qualified local hosts to put tourism dollars back into the local small economy.
Travelers Who Love Reading
Who said book nerds have to be solitary? If you want to experience a next level book club, join BOOKED Trips for one of their themed itineraries based around a best selling novel set in the destination of the trip. The small group trips are no more than 12 people and are curated to take guests on an immersive experience from the page to the place. BOOKED Trips is woman-owned and woman-centered, and guests of each trip have a virtual meet-and-greet beforehand as well as a WhatsApp group chat to get acquainted.
Some of their upcoming tours include Cape Town, South Africa (based on "Intruders" by Mohale Mashigo) and Mexico City, Mexico (based on "More Than You'll Ever Know" by Katie Gutierrez), but each encompassing a mix of amazing food, locally-led tours, and of course a bit of downtime for reading - or shopping!
Travelers Who Love Fitness
You don't have to forgo your movement and wellness routines while you're on vacation - with Ketanga Fitness group tours, you can combine the two! Fitness retreats are a mix of traveling to enjoy a destination as well as engaging the participants in their movement hobbies of choice. Compared to some of the other small group tours on this list, Ketanga Fitness has a slightly larger group (10-16 people), though still much smaller than the big name larger group tours so they are able to tweak each tour to its participants. The tours are focused on various forms of movements, so you can search by activity or destination.
A few fitness retreats they have done include boxing in Costa Rica, tennis in Mexico, surfing in Colombia, and yoga in the mountains of Canada. However, because there is a range of physical ability in the realm of movement, there are also small group tours that focus on fitness for specific demographics such as Odyessy Traveller (for mature travelers), Tapooz Travel (for Disabled travelers), and WHOA travel (for women fitness tours).
Travelers Who Love a Good Time
If you like to turn up, then you've just met your new best friends in The Roaming Republic group tours. The Roaming Republic was founded with the intention of building long-lasting connections between participants, and considering their extremely high rebooking rate...they've more than succeeded on cultivating an inspiring, engaging, and exciting environment. These co-ed community (both inter and intra) driven group tours can be as small or large as whoever signs up, but usually range above 15 people.
A few of their upcoming tours include a Kenya safari experience, New Years in Ghana, and even a women-only trip to Bali, and each tour specifies whether the participants can expect an upbeat non-stop party environment (aka, their "trap trips") or a more down-to-Earth cultural immersion experience. Either way, you'll come away with lifelong friends!
Travelers Who Love Food
One of the most compelling reasons to travel is to taste that destination's cuisine from the source. A small group tour that focuses their trips around food is Lost Plate Food Tours. Lost Plate Food Tours is a small family business that currently operates multi-day tours in China and Cambodia, allowing guests easier access to see more challenging parts of the country while also exploring the culture through food.
They provide an experience that guests truly cannot replicate on their own, highlighting small businesses that have been in operation for generations to give visitors a new lens to view the city and its communities. Another highly anticipating small group tour with a focus on traveling through food is Relish Africa Food Tours, coming May 2024 and dares travelers to fall in love with the African continent one bite at a time!
Travelers Who Love (Affordable) Luxury
As the name alludes, Broke Ass Girl Travel group trips are for the travel enthusiasts who want to stretch their travel dollar (or peso, euro, yen, etc etc) for as far as it will take them. Literally. The embodiment of bougie on a budget, these small group trips offer bucket list destinations for a fraction of the price, especially for solo travelers who would otherwise not be able to split the cost of a pricey overwater bungalow with another traveler.
Their upcoming trips will take participants island hopping to the beautiful warm beaches of Madagascar & Mauritius, hot air ballooning (and lots of fun dramatic photoshoots) in Turkey, and even grabbing a fun group together to see Usher in Amsterdam! For those who really want the group tour to do all the work, there are even options to include airfare with the trip costs.
Travelers Who Love Cultural Immersion
If you are someone who loves the more anthropological side of travel - the history, the language, the socio-political makeup, etc - then taking a small group tour focused on cultural immersion should be your go to. While there are many that focus on local connections and learning rom resident experts, one of the newest to hit the travel scene is I Got Your Black with their launch of the Afro-Mexico Experience.
The tour follows the story of Mexico's Afro-Mexican community, an identity that the government did not officially recognize until 2015, even though Afro-Mexicans contributed to Mexico's independence (Vicente Guerrero, Mexico's second president) and iconic dishes such as mole and horchata also have roots in Afro-Mexican culture. Beginning and ending in Puerto Escondido, Mexico, participants are guided through various Afro-Mexican towns and National Parks by Afro-Indigenous guides, showing visitors the seldom told -but all too foundational- truths.
Bouyant Travel is another culture-first small group tour, focusing on connecting members of the African diaspora to roots around the world. You can also take Indigenous founded and organized tours to experience a destination through a decolonized lens, such as Aboriginal and First Nation small group tours.
Travelers Who Love a Bit of Everything
And of course, for travelers who love a little bit of everything and want a mix of food, adventure, socializing, cultural activities, and downtime to explore individual interests, Meridian Boutique Travel is the perfect well-rounded itinerary! Operating in Japan and Portugal, two of the best countries to get you hooked on travel, these tours are consciously planned with each individual of the small group in mind to ensure everyone has a fulfilling and unforgettable experience.
Once you have the itch for travel, Meridian Boutique Travel even goes the extra mile to plan individual trip itineraries so you can take your own adventures without actually needed to do any trip planning! They provide the best of both worlds!
Creator Curated Group Trips
You can also often find travel content creators who lead group trips to their favorite destinations, often partnered with a bigger travel group tour company or organized themselves with local tour operators. You can choose these tours based on the influencer's personality, as the other people joining the group will likely be a similar vibe to the creator, but it's also good practice to look into the group tour's itinerary to make sure it is something you would enjoy.
A few content creators who lead fantastic small group trips are Kesi from Kesi To and Fro with her Follow the Fro small group tours, taking fun-loving travelers to Uganda, the Maldives, and even Antarctica. Eli from The Partying Traveler has solidified himself as one of the most engaging creator group tours for adventurous travelers, with his latest tour taking guests to the charming countryside of beautiful Pakistan. Lindsay from One Girl Wandering is known internationally for her solo travel tips, but also leads well-rounded small group tours with TrovaTrip to various destinations around the world.
Kay Kingsman is a fiction author and travel writer who prides herself on being a full-time silly goose. Along with being the first person to crip walk in Antarctica, Kay's writing has been featured in Forbes, Insider, Fodor’s, Viator, and more.