Women-Only Travel Options
Backroads travel inc.
Welcome back to Brooke In The Air! This week, we’re taking a look at something a bit different.
Boeing 747-8, the Queen of the Skies
Women are indulging in travel more often than ever, and the purpose for this has been clear: They are traveling to experience culture second and first and foremost to make friends with other women; to become accultured by acclimatizing and having a good-time with other women, they feel safer, and can broaden their horizons.
There’s a few notable organizations now that specialize in this:
AdventureWomen
Emblem for AdventureWomen
A company that’s been running trips exclusively for women since 1982. “It’s (traveling is) about building relationships, building community, and building friendships—that’s something unique,” Davis explains. Though the brand has been around for more than 40 years, it too has been innovating lately. This year, the firm launched a 12-day private-jet journey that will introduce travelers to women chefs, vintners, and entrepreneurs
across Europe.
Other companies are working to meet the need for women-only trips.
Backroads, for example, added its first batch in 2024 “as a bit of an experiment,” says executive vice president Avery Hale Smith. “We were all blown away by how immensely popular it became.” The company has doubled down for 2025, adding walking and hiking tours in more than a dozen new locations, including Nepal and Japan. “Women seem particularly interested in far-flung destinations,” Hale Smith says, “because they’re not necessarily places that they might go on their own.”
Backroads Inc.
EF Go Ahead Tours plans to launch its first women-only departures in 2026, with itineraries to destinations including Egypt, Ireland, Italy, and Peru. The company was motivated by guest feedback, says brand president Heidi Durflinger, who notes that 60 percent of women traveling with EF want “to rediscover themselves” through travel.
Emblem of EF Go Ahead Tours
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Cruise lines are also embracing the trend:
Aurora Expeditions - Antarctic Odyssey
Aurora Expeditions is putting together its first women-only voyage, an Antarctica odyssey aboard the 71-cabin Sylvia Earle slated for 2027 with a team of guides led by women.
Uniworld River Cruises
Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, meanwhile, is planning an inaugural women-only voyage this August, a trip through Burgundy and Provence hosted by Saturday Night Live alumna Rachel Dratch.
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More women-only travel agencies:
B&R main signage
Butterfield & Robinson’s women-only collection debuted in 2024; more trips are scheduled for this year. One option, an eight-day cycling itinerary in Southeast Asia, includes a meeting with a female guerrilla who fought in the Vietnam War.
GGtP - the organization that started it all
Girls’ Guide to the World
Started in 2009 as Girls’ Guide to Paris, this brand has now gone global, with deep dives like an eight-day late-summer Finland trip focused on why the country consistently ranks as the world’s happiest.
Pack Light main page
Pack Light Global
Founder Dawn Booker created this company to better serve Black women ages 40 and over, with itineraries such as a nine-day September island-hop in Greece that will blend sightseeing with beach time.
Road Scholar - LinkedIn
Road Scholar
This nonprofit, which focuses on educational vacations for people ages 50 and up, offers nearly 30 women-only departures, including a six-day tour of California art museums.
Wild Terrains motto
Wild Terrains
A small-group specialist, this company prioritizes supporting female-owned businesses. One of its bestsellers is an eight-day journey through Portugal, where guests get to paint alongside a Lisbon street artist.
Zephyr main signage
Zephyr Adventures
A new July trip for novice hikers includes wilderness-safety tips during a five-day tour of Montana’s Beartooth Mountains.
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