Oktoberfest or Jazz Fest 5 Top Ways to Go: For all travelers but especially for solos, a really good plan for a special trip is to go in time for a local festival. Why is that? Two reasons: 1. Beyond the popular tourist route, it is a view into the culture of your destination. 2. It is a way to join in the celebration not just be a spectator. One challenge is that like holidays, prices go up for popular festivals. In each case, use our Home Page booking engine for 800,000+properties at all prices to coincide with your date and destination for the best deals. Choose flights as far ahead as you can so you don’t miss out.

Here are 5 ways to go:

Option One: Jazz Fest: New Orleans each spring. Bed and breakfasts are found in some classic old homes inside the city limits. See, for example, our listing for the Maison Perrier B&B. Unfortunately, the rate goes way up for Jazz Fest so do look outside the city for B&B’s.

Besides the music festival, you can sample top dishes and strong rum drinks.  Historians will find much to see and learn in the French Quarter.  Thrill seekers can take an alligator bayou tour.

My personal insights: New Orleans was my favorite United States city to visit as a tourist! I am likely biased since most of my life I have had family there! Some of my fondest periods as a 12 year-old was joining family for a fancy lunch at the famous Garden District neighborhood’s Commander’s Palace. To my delight, they have an enormous bird cage with a vibrant plumaged Toucan. I had never seen such a colorful bird with a really huge bill. The area had everything from antebellum houses that looked like a movie set to really spooky (at least as a child) above ground cemeteries. They also still had an electric street card still running through the major route through St. Charles. (The “Street Named Desire?” I have ridden it, but it had become a modern bus no longer providing a romantic vestige of Tennessee Williams’s fabled novel!) Beyond the tourist-draw of the French Quarter, there are an array of other options. One of my favorite ideas is to go on a guided boat tour through the bayou. While the Spanish Moss and cypress trees have charm, in warm months the mosquitoes can be brutal Be sure to pack insect repellent and wear long sleeves.

Option Two: Oktoberfest: Germany: If you love a party, this is it! I spent a summer as an Exchange Student during my school days. Being in Germany in the heart of Europe was both great as a standalone extended stay and as a vantage point to visit Belgium, France and Austria.

To fit right in to OktoberFest women should find a Dirndl and Schürze, an apron. You may find them in OktoberFest season online. Men and boys all don traditional Lederhosen. Very young girls also sometimes wear lederhosen! A word of caution to fashionistas who fancy having their own pair of these chic leather pants! If they are on your “must have” list, I have it on good authority how to get your own pair. This is what one enterprising traveler made work: She popped into a local shop and explained to the puzzled sales assistant that she was looking for a pair of Lederhosen for her “young brother back home”. He was naturally about her height and weight. It is not clear that any shopkeeper really believes this tall tale. In any case, our adventuresome traveler has not yet been publicly spotted sporting her very own Lederhosen to date.  (See lodging options outside the city at our new free, search engine, the SoloTravelPricingTracker.net. We found a popular B&B outside of Munich, a good value for Oktoberfest.)

Option Three: Oktoberfest, Namibia in southern Africa. This is just right to add to a safari. Namibia’s Skeleton Coast is said to be one of the most beautiful in the world. Also, it is a little less crowded as many tourists are just now finding out about it. Its top city and capital, Windhoek, has a strong Germanic history. That makes for an exotic way to have an Oktoberfest to remember. For safaris and lodgings, go back to our search engine at SoloTravelPricingTracker.net for tours as well as lodging. Can’t make up your mind? Looking for literally one million hotels and B&B’s? Click our Solo Trekker 4 U Home Page in our Booking.com search box. One that looked like a good solo option was the Olive Grove Guesthouse!

Option Four: Tuscan fall festival in Montalcino. You never need an excuse to go back to Italy. This ancient walled city in the heart of the countryside is the site for the Oct. Sagra del Tordo. For medieval enthusiasts, this is the place to see colorful reenactments.  See our listing for Il Palazzo Boutique B&B.

Option Five: If you want to see an Indian festival, do plan ahead. However, there are so many festivals you will find almost one a day to choose. I happened by chance last Aug. to arrive one day before the annual Hare Krishna Festival in Delhi. All were welcome. Our group made its way through the huge crowd to find a colorful temple with bowers of bright flowers and joyful chants. A leading one I just missed as it occurred right as I was leaving is the https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ganesh-Chaturthi festival. It lasts for ten whole days so it is perfect to experience as a tourist. It is a celebration of the  Hindu god of prosperity and wisdom. For lodging, there are many economical listings on our Booking.com engine.  A luxury option, but well-priced, is the fabled 5 star-Imperial Hotel in Delhi which has had a double room priced for solos. Two new friends I met on my first day in India took a taxi through Delhi’s unreal traffic to have “high tea” at the Imperial. Historians will be pleased to see that the site has been perfectly preserved, including the table where Gandhi spent hours negotiating the division of India in 1947.

For more options from unrated to 5-star, home stays to hotels, please return to our booking engine on our Home Page. There is something for every budget. Be sure to check prices for one adult. Do also see what the solo reviews have to say.