From hearty festive meals in Europe to saying cheers atop a ski slope in the Swiss mountains, here are the best stays for mature solos – featuring all the trimmings
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If the kids have flown the nest or you’re just in search of a hands-off festive feast where you don’t have to stress over the roasties, singles aged over 50 seeking a home from home this Christmas can discover inviting destinations in December.
As everyone knows, filling those middleman days between Christmas and the New Year with purpose is already a challenge once the obligatory Christmas Day walk has been trodden and everyone exists solely in a daze of leftovers.
Whether a seasonal skier, Christmas market city breaker or a quintessentially British (and brave) Boxing Day dipper, there’s a solo holiday for everyone to switch things up for the festive period in 2023, with an added bonus of socialising with likeminded lone travellers the cherry on top of the fruit cake.
To get away this Christmas Day, here are the best stays to consider, from the winter wonderlands of the Austrian Alps to Prague’s enchanting Christmas markets complete with all the traditional cheer.
Christmas in Austria
Solos Holidays
Solos Holidays’ Christmas in Austria package includes seven nights of breakfast-included accommodation at the Johannesbad Palace Hotel in the centre of Bad Hofgastein, return flights, airport transfers and festive excursions for a magical Christmas spent in the Austrian Alps.
Think idyllic tours of the Salzkammergut district, a Christmas Eve gala dinner and a sleigh ride complete with celebratory glasses of glühwein, all while spending some relaxing alone time in Austria’s traditional winter wonderlands and steamy saunas.
Christmas in Austria from £2,807.50pp, departing 21 December 2024.
Chester Christmas cheer
Just You Solo Adventures
If any seasonal staycation can measure up to traditional family recipes cooked in your kitchen, it’s the Doubletree by Hilton’s a five-day Christmas in Chester break. This package is sure to feel like a home from home.
Festive feasting spans classic afternoon teas, a Christmas Day lunch with all the trimmings, and hearty breakfasts – which all count as part of your half-board stay. The historic sights of charming Chester can be discovered on walking tours of the medieval city, while invigorating Boxing Day dips are just across the border in Llandudno, North Wales.
Christmas in Chester from £1,347pp, departing 23 December 2024.
Prague for Christmas
One Traveller
One Traveller’s Prague for Christmas city break promises an enchanting five-day stay among the alluring markets of the Czech capital. Accomodation at Hotel Botanique, return flights, private coach transfers and all breakfast and traditional evening meals are provided in the package, alongside guided city tours, a Christmas Day lunch cruise on the Vltava River and an evening folklore show on Boxing Day. Guests will also have free time to grab an indulgent lunch from the Yuletide markets.
Prague for Christmas from £1,760 departing 23 December 2024.
Christmas at sea
Iglu Cruise
Christmas cruises from Southampton to the romantic shores of Hamburg, Rotterdam, Bruges and Normandy’s Le Havre sail singles to the delights of gothic architecture, gentle canals and, of course, artisan Christmas markets laden with all things mulled and fried. Full-board festive dining on MSC Cruises’s MSC Preziosa, and plenty of entertainment and activities on deck complement spacious cabins to unwind in after excursions on shore.
Christmas Northern Pearls Cruise from £1,579pp, departing 20 December 2024.
Yuletide slopes
Solos Holidays
Solos Holidays is offering seasoned skiers a chance to cruise the Swiss mountain slopes of chocolate-box Les Diablerets, with a seven-night half-board (including one traditional raclette evening) stay at the Hotel Les Sources.
Return flights, transfers, welcome drinks and a Christmas Day dinner are included, the Glacier 3000 ski scene is a short shuttle bus away and the sprawling Meilleret ski area is accessible via a gondola just 400m from the hotel. A lively après scene makes the Les Diablerets slopes the ideal spot to raise a glass with new friends this Christmas.
