Travel tours designed just for women can make the experience of travel even richer by providing a safe and supportive space to try new things and embrace adventure in ways that might be different from ordinary tours. With everything from highly challenging physical adventures to cultured explorations of local food and historical gems, the world of women’s only tours offers something for every style of traveler: incredible experiences, new destinations, and new friendships for women of all ages.
Best travel tours for women
Whether you’re looking for mother-daughter trip ideas or women-led hiking or trekking excursions, the best travel tours for women offer exceptional female-only travel opportunities all across the globe.
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1. Italian Riviera and Cinque Terre Kayaking
Wild Women Expeditions
Wild Women Expeditions offers its Italy Kayaking Adventure tour for women several times throughout the year. This stretch of coastline (and the UNESCO World Heritage group of five villages whose pastel-colored buildings cling to the unbelievably vertical cliffs known as Cinque Terre) define Italian gorgeousness but can be overrun with tourists, which can give it a Disneyland feel if you visit in the normal ways.
Wild Women offers the perfect solution: Kayak your way around in the warm, hurts-your-eyes blue water of the Mediterranean. It’s a great way to see this remarkable area from water level, stay cool in the summer sun, and avoid the crowds above.
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The women’s-only travel company also arranges for some fabulous stays: one in a village only accessible by sea or hiking trail another a at farm where all the food is “zero kilometer,” sourced within meters of your meal. And after all that kayaking you’ll have earned some delicious pasta. The tour starts in Genoa, whose hauntingly tiny streets and Renaissance palaces are well worth exploring.
Wild Women Expeditions has more than 30 years of experience in more than 30 countries. The tour operator is an expert in providing experiences that let women test their comfort levels, have adventures, and grow. Its women only trips are designed for all skill levels, from the seasoned outdoor pro to those who are just figuring out how to pack their backpacks.
- Starting price: $3,995
- Length: 7 days, 6 nights
- Activity level: Active
2. Sedona’s Healing Arts For Women: Yoga, Qi Gong, Ayurveda and More
Road Scholar
For a slower-paced and more indulgent tour for women, Road Scholar offers a women-only immersion in the fantastic landscapes and food scene of the high-desert town of Sedona, Arizona: Sedona’s Healing Arts For Women: Yoga, Qi Gong, Ayurveda and More. Sedona has been long known as a center of metaphysical meaning and spiritual healing, and this tour allows you to experience a range of practices that promote self-healing, health, and longevity with sessions on yoga, meditation, Qi Gong, Ayurveda, acupuncture, and art therapy.
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The tour also includes opportunities to hike into the unique environment of Sedona’s red rock formations. Road Scholar is a non-profit senior travel tour company that started in 1975 as Elderhostel with a mission to create educational adventures for those over 60. Its scope has widened since then, and now more than 100,000 people a year travel with Road Scholar.
- Starting price: $2,499
- Length: 6 days, 5 nights
- Activity level: Easy
3. Experience Tanzania
Wild Women Expeditions
Another tempting women-only guided tour from Wild Women Expeditions, the Experience Tanzania trip is everything you’d hope for in a safari but strives to provide an even deeper experience than the typical safari tour. The itinerary includes a visit to a woman’s cooperative to help make cheese, roast coffee, and harvest honey; a visit to a local home; and another visit to group to Maasai women helping them milk cows, collect firewood, and fetch water. These unique experiences provide a fuller understanding of the lives and dreams of these African women.
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Accommodations are varied and spectacular, including a hotel with a view of Mt. Kilimanjaro, luxury safari tents, a lodge overlooking Ngorongoro Crater, and two nights in the Serengeti’s only female-run safari camp. Ample opportunities to watch the seemingly endless parade of animals including lions, elephants, cheetahs, leopards, wildebeest, and zebras are provided by safari vehicle but also on foot, as the trip includes several four- to six-hour hikes to go even more intimately into the landscape.
- Starting price: $9,995
- Length: 11 days
- Activity level: Moderate (the hikes are designed to be approachable for novice hikers)
4. Exploring New Zealand
Adventures in Good Company
Another gem from Adventures in Good Company, the Exploring New Zealand tour for women offers a range of adventures on the South Island, including hiking, biking, boating, and kayaking in the mountains, rugged coastlines, rainforests, and glaciers of this beautiful part of the world.
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The small group tour offers a mix of backcountry overnights reached by hiking with stays in interesting towns like Queenstown (a resort town known as the adventure capital of New Zealand packed with cool restaurants, bars, and boutiques) and Te Anau, the gateway to Milford Sound. There’s also a visit to a winery.
- Starting price: $9,995
- Length: 13 nights
- Activity level: Challenging (hiking 3-7 miles a day over uneven terrain and on rocky paths)
