From Iceland to Tanzania: Here are the 10 best travel tours for women in 2023 and 2024
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 regular travel. From highly challenging physical adventures to more calm explorations of local food and historical gems, the world of women’s only tours offers it all – incredible experiences, new destinations and even new friendships to women of all ages.
Whether you’re looking for mother-daughter trip ideas or women-led hiking or trekking excursions, the best travel tours for women in 2023 and 2024 offer exceptional female-only travel opportunities all across the globe.
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1. Iceland: A mother-daughter adventure
The Iceland: A Mother-Daughter Adventure tour from AdventureWomen explores Iceland’s incredible natural beauty with activities including horseback rides to a thermal hot spring, All-terrain vehicle adventures through mossy lava fields, snowmobiling over glaciers and other options that get you out into Iceland’s spectacular surroundings.
From taking a city tour of Reykjavík to checking out glacier-topped volcanic peaks, hot springs bubbling out of the split between two continents, waterfalls and one of Iceland’s largest caves, this trip has all the elements to create some cherished mother-daughter bonding experiences.
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AdventureWomen is one of the oldest and most-respected all-women tour companies around, offering over 50 tours a year in 65 countries. Each trip offers dedicated AdventureWomen ambassadors who know the destinations inside and out and are available to answer questions and give advice at every stage.
- Dates: June 25 – July 1, 2023
- Starting price: $6,395
- Length: Seven days, six nights
- Activity level: Active
2. Bryce Canyon easy-active women’s hiking and camping
For an approachable active getaway for those of us who want to get deep into gorgeous wilderness, REI Adventures is offering a Bryce Canyon Easy-Active Women’s Hiking and Camping trip to two of Utah’s most revered parks, Bryce Canyon and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. This adventure combines easy hikes into this geographically stunning area with luxury camping in spacious tents with perks like warm showers and flush toilets. Coffee or tea is even delivered to the tents in the mornings.
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The itinerary includes a thru-hike on the Queen’s Garden trail in Bryce Canyon National Park and an easily accessible hike through a slot canyon in Grand Staircase-Escalante. Guides will be able to educate the group on the high desert ecosystem and geology. One evening includes a visit by a local astronomer to take full advantage of being in an International Dark Sky Park. For cooks in the group, there’s also a backcountry cooking demonstration.
REI Co-op Adventure Travel grew out of the outdoor equipment co-op started in 1938 with the goal of making outdoor adventures more accessible to all. It has been leading trips for decades with the goal of offering wholly immersive experiences in the outdoors and it has a number of travel groups for women in its tour lineup each year.
- Dates: Offered monthly from June to September 2023
- Starting price: $2,099 for REI members
- Length: Three days, two nights
- Activity level: Easy (on most days, the hikes are around 3 miles)
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3. Italian Riviera and Cinque Terre kayaking
Wild Women Expeditions offers an Italian Riviera and Cinque Terre Kayak tour several times throughout the summer and fall of 2023. 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 Disney-esque air 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 Wild Women have also arranged for some fabulous stays – one in a village only accessible by sea or hiking trail and a farm stay where all the food is "zero kilometers," sourced within meters of your meal. And after all that kayaking you’ve earned some delicious pasta. The tour starts in Genoa, whose hauntingly tiny streets and Renaissance palaces are well worth exploring.
Wild Women Expeditions has over 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.
- Dates: Five options available in July and September 2023
- Starting price: $3,995
- Length: even days, six nights
- Activity level: Active
4. Jordan: Women’s expedition
The Women’s Expedition to Jordan with Intrepid Travel is a definite don’t-miss opportunity, as traveling with an all-women group provides chances to connect with local women in a way that’s impossible in a mixed group.
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The tour includes several days in Amman where you’ll take a cooking class, go on a city tour and have tea with a traditional matchmaker. The itinerary also includes a visit to the Roman ruins of Jerash; a jeep excursion deep into the desert with an overnight in a tent and a chance to learn the art of henna with Bedouin women; two days to explore Petra, one of the marvels of the ancient world; and swimming in the Dead Sea with a visit to a women’s only beach. This travel tour for women is a great way to not only see this stunning country but to get to know the culture and perspectives of the women who live there.
Intrepid’s mission is to create positive change in the world through travel and in its 30 years it has grown to become the world’s largest purpose-led adventure travel company.
- Dates: Multiple departures in 2023 and 2024
- Starting price: $2,129
- Length: 8Eight days, seven nights (including one in the desert)
- Activity level: Moderate (walking in Petra and Amman)
5. Sedona’s healing arts for women: Yoga, Qi Gong, Ayurveda and more
For a slower-paced and more indulgent experience, the Road Scholar travel tour company 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 participants 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. The trip also includes opportunities to hike into the unique environment of Sedona’s red rock formations.
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This trip is offered by Road Scholar, a nonprofit that started in 1975 as Elderhostel, creating 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.
- Dates: Tour dates in May and September 2023 plus several in 2024
- Starting price: $1,949
- Length: Six days, five nights
- Activity level: Easy
6. Adventures in Patagonia
Adventures in Good Company has an itinerary to one of the most remote, rugged and stunning places on Earth: Adventures in Patagonia. This region, shared by Argentina and Chile, is still a pristine wilderness with snowcapped peaks, lakes, towering rock formations and glaciers. It’s a perfect place to go in a group – how else would you find the best trails – as the trip is physically challenging and being in a supportive, all-women environment is a fantastic way to push your physical limits.
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This trip takes you to the granite spires of Fitz Roy, Cerro del Torre and the Towers of Paine. Overnighting in some mountain refugios means that the hikes can really extend into the heart of the mountains and cover more terrain. There’s even a kayaking excursion on Lake Grey.
Adventures in Good Company is all about bringing women together to reconnect with their adventurous selves, physical abilities, other women, different cultures and the natural world in a noncompetitive way. Some participants even use their annual trip as an incentive to keep physically healthy for the rest of the year so as to be ready for the next adventure.
- Dates: Feb. 6 to March 9, 2024
- Starting price: $6,995
- Length: 12 nights: Seven in hotels or inns and five in mountain refugios
- Activity level: Very challenging (12-13 miles of hiking on some days with significant elevation changes)
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7. Mongolia: Nomads, eagle hunters and the land of Genghis Khan
Another tempting tour from AdventureWomen is Mongolia: Nomads, Eagle Hunters and the Land of Genghis Khan. Parts of Mongolia seem frozen in time, with some of the most unspoiled vast expanses of wilderness on Earth, unchanged since the times of Genghis Khan over 800 years ago. The nomadic herders who make their home in these spaces still live a traditional life and this tour offers opportunities to get to know these people and their remarkable way of living while sharing meals before settling into your traditional, portable ger shelter for the night. There are also opportunities to visit a family, watch how hunters work with trained eagles to take down prey and see astonishing displays of horsemanship and archery at a local Naadam festival.
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This travel tour for women starts in Mongolia’s capital city, Ulaanbaatar, continues into the 14,000-foot Altai Mountains with its spectacular Tolbo Lake, then on to the immense grassland areas of central Mongolia and finally to the Gobi Desert with its glowing Bayan Zag, or Flaming Cliffs, of orange-red sandstone – the site of some of the most important paleontological discoveries of this century.
- Dates: June 18 -28, 2023
- Starting price: $7,995 (land only, does not include internal airfare)
- Length: 11 days, 10 nights
- Activity level: Moderate
8. Experience Tanzania
Another tempting women-only tour from Wild Women Expeditions, the safari Experience Tanzania tour is everything you’d hope for (watering holes surrounded by animals, chances to see the “Big Five” animals as well as hundreds more) but strives to provide an even deeper experience than the typical safari tour. The Wild Women have found many fascinating opportunities to learn from and connect with local women. The itinerary includes visits to a woman’s cooperative to help make cheese, roast coffee and harvest honey; a local home; and a group of Maasai women helping them milk cows, collect firewood and fetch water – all experiences that 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 Mount 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.
- Dates: Two 2023 trips are available, early July and September
- Starting price: $7,995
- Length: 11 days
- Activity level: Moderate (the hikes are designed to be approachable for novice hikers)
9. Exploring New Zealand
Another gem from Adventures in Good Company, the Exploring New Zealand tour 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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This small group tour offers a mix of backcountry overnights reached by hiking with stays in small, 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.
- Dates: Limited availability in late October 2023, availability in March and late October/November of 2024
- Starting price: $7,595
- Length: 13 nights
- Activity level: Challenging (hiking 3-7 miles a day over uneven terrain and on rocky paths)
10. Charleston and Savannah: Quintessential Southern Towns
The tour company Women Traveling Together specializes in women-only tours for solo travelers. Its U.S. South tour to Charleston, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia, offers a great mix of history, walking and eating. With three nights in Charleston, there’s plenty of time to explore this 350-year-old Southern city with its grand homes and gardens.
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You’ll have a chance to see Charleston from the water on a harbor cruise. En route to Savannah is a stop at the beautiful seaside town of Beaufort, South Carolina, for a carriage tour and lunch. In Savannah, there is a walking tour of the historical district and time to explore the picturesque waterfront area.
Women Traveling Together was started in 1997 with the idea of providing travel tours for women, especially solo female travelers who didn't want to travel alone or as a single on a tour with mostly couples.
- Dates: Oct. 3-8 , 2023
- Starting price: $2,580
- Length: Six days, five nights
- Activity level: Easy
10 best travel tours for women in 2023 and 2024 originally appeared on TourScoop.com.
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TourScoop.com covers guided group tours and tour operators by offering comprehensive tour operator reviews, tour itinerary reviews, tour news and travel gear tailored to guided tour travelers. The views and opinions expressed in this column are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of USA TODAY.