Guide · By Single 60s
Finding a travel companion over 60
Someone to share the view with, whether that's a friend for one cruise or a partner for every trip from now on.
How do you find a travel companion over 60?
Start with people you already enjoy spending time with, then widen the net: group tours and travel clubs, classes and interest groups at home, and friendship and dating sites where people say they love to travel. Get to know someone properly before you book anything big, agree on money and rooms in advance, and try a short trip together first.
Plenty of people put off the trip they always wanted because they don't want to go alone. Others travel on their own quite happily but would love someone to share dinner with at the end of the day. A good travel companion can be a friend, a partner or something in between, and the right one makes a trip twice as good.
This guide covers where to look, what to settle before you book, and how to stay safe with someone new.
Friend, partner or something in between?
Be clear, first with yourself and then with anyone you're talking to, about what you're hoping for. A travel friend shares the itinerary and the occasional dinner, books a separate room and goes home to their own life. A partner may share everything. Some companionships start as one and become the other, and that's fine too, as long as neither of you is pretending.
On Single 60s, open to adults 18+ and made for the over 60s, friendship is one of the choices on every profile, so people who would simply like company on their travels can say so from the start.
Where can you meet a travel companion?
People you already know
Friends, neighbors, former colleagues and friends of friends are often the best bet, because you already know how they behave when the train is late. Tell people you'd love someone to travel with. You may be surprised who says "me too".
Group tours and travel clubs
Tours and clubs for older travelers mix people who are traveling alone, so you get a feel for each other over shared meals before you plan a trip of your own. Many friendships start at the back of a tour bus.
Classes and clubs at home
A language class before a trip abroad, a walking group, a photography club or a history society puts you beside people with the same interests, and regular meetings let you get to know them slowly. Our guide to where singles over 60 meet has more ideas.
Single 60s
Cruises are among the interests members can add to their profile, and your daily suggestions take shared interests into account, so people who love to travel tend to turn up. Status updates are a gentle way in, too: a post asking for advice on a coastal town or a river cruise gives people an easy reason to reply. Every member has some chat rooms, and VIP adds more, along with private group chats for up to 50 people, which are handy when several of you're planning an outing together.
What should you agree on before you book?
Money, pace and rooms are the usual sore points, so talk about them before anyone pays a deposit.
- Budget. Agree roughly what you each want to spend on hotels, meals and outings, and how you will split shared costs.
- Rooms. Separate rooms, a room with two beds or a shared bed: be clear, and be comfortable with the answer.
- Pace. Early starts or sleeping in, a full program or plenty of rest, museums or beaches.
- Time apart. An afternoon each to do your own thing keeps a long trip happy.
- Health and mobility. Walking distances, stairs, medicines, and any condition the other should know about in an emergency.
- A plan B. What happens if one of you is unwell or wants to come home early.
Questions to ask a possible travel companion
Before you plan anything together, a relaxed conversation over coffee will tell you a lot. Some questions worth asking:
- What's the best trip you have ever taken, and what made it good?
- Do you like every day planned, or do you prefer to see how you feel?
- Are you up with the sun or happiest with a late breakfast?
- What do you usually spend on a hotel and a meal out?
- How do you feel about long walks, early flights and late nights?
- Is there anything about your health I should know about if we travel?
Listen to the answers, and give honest ones of your own. Two people who both love a slow morning and a long lunch will travel happily together; an early riser with a list of sights and someone who likes to linger may need to plan carefully, or plan separate mornings.
Why a trial trip helps
Before two weeks abroad, try a day trip, then a weekend somewhere easy to reach. You will learn more about how you travel together in two days than in months of messages: how each of you handles a delayed train, a disappointing hotel, a long day on your feet and the check at the end of a meal.
If the weekend goes well, plan the bigger trip together, so that you both have a stake in it. If it doesn't, you have lost very little, and you may still be good friends at home.
Costs, rooms and the single supplement
Many cruises and tours charge people traveling alone extra for a room to themselves, often called a single supplement, which is one reason people look for a companion. Sharing a room with two beds avoids it, but only share with someone you know well and feel comfortable with. Separate rooms cost more and give you both somewhere to retreat to, which on a long trip can be worth the extra.
Keep your own money, cards and passport, and buy travel insurance in your own name. Pay your own share directly where you can rather than sending money to the other person, and book refundable rates where possible until you're sure of each other.
Staying safe with someone new
Meet several times close to home before you travel anywhere together. Tell family or friends where you're going, with whom and when you will be back, and leave them a copy of your itinerary. Keep your phone charged and a little cash of your own.
If someone you haven't met in person suggests a trip and then needs money, for a flight, a visa, a customs fee or a hotel deposit, stop replying and report them. It's a textbook sign of a romance scam. A genuine companion meets you first and pays their own way, and the other warning signs are in our guide to spotting a romance scam.
Making the most of traveling together
Talk each evening about tomorrow's plans, and be honest if you're tired. Take turns choosing what to do. Laugh about the things that go wrong, because something always does. And thank each other: a good companion has made your trip better, and saying so costs nothing.
A companion for one cruise or someone you share every trip with from now on: either way, the first step is the same, and it's a simple hello. If friendship is what you're after, friendship over 60 explains how the site works for that.
Travel companion questions
Can I find a travel companion on a dating site?
Yes. On Single 60s you can say you're looking for friendship, add cruises and your other interests to your profile, and talk to people who want the same before you plan anything.
Should travel companions share a room?
Only if you both want to and know each other well. Separate rooms cost more but give you both space, which helps on a long trip.
How should we split the costs?
Agree on a budget before you book, pay your own share directly where you can, and keep a simple note of shared costs such as meals and taxis.
What if we don't get along during the trip?
Take some time apart, talk calmly about what isn't working and fall back on your plan B. A trial weekend first makes this far less likely.
Find someone to share the view
Make a profile, add the things you love and say hello to people who would like to see more of the world.
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